It is astounding the degree to which Safetyism has permeated the culture of this country. The idea that everything is dangerous. Which is a different thing than understanding most things – including taking a shower – carry with them a degree of risk. The latter not being much to worry about when due care is exercised.
Safetyism is this idea that everything is dangerous and thus everyone must be “kept safe” – which is to say, prevented from doing whatever those obsessed about the danger of everything say isn’t safe. Such people used to be in the minority. They appear to have acquired operating control over the majority.
Which is why everyone – so it seems – appears to be afraid of doing anything.
The possibility that it might snow tomorrow is enough to trigger a precautionary panic and close the schools. The instilled fear of that is triggering people to be afraid of the rain. You have probably rolled up behind a driver with his hazard signals on doing 20 MPH below the posted speed limit . . . because it is raining.
Soon enough, they will do it because it might start raining.
We saw Safetyism etiolate during the mass panic event of 2020-2024, which continues to linger as evidenced by the people you can see practically everywhere you go who are still wearing “masks.”
Because they want to be safe.
Middle school-aged kids aren’t allowed to play outside alone because – you know – something might happen! Elementary school-aged kids don’t trick-or-treat at Halloween anymore, either. It isn’t “safe.” Instead, they are taken by car to the local school where they collect their candy safely in the gymnasium. A grown man with gray hair three times the legal age is expected to show ID to a kid a third his age in order to buy a bottle of wine. Because otherwise – so the assertion goes – a kid might manage to buy a bottle of wine and that would be . . . well, you know.
There are no more signs at hotel pools that say: Swim at your own risk. Much too risky, that. Someone who can’t swim might try, drown – and then sue the hotel for not having a sign up to warn people who can’t swim that they do so at their own risk. It is much too risky to permit adults to weigh risks and take judicious action on their own initiative.
It is now necessary to have a locked fence of gate to prevent people who can’t swim – or read – from drowning in pools at hotels that are not supervised by a lifeguard.
Washing machines can’t be opened once started – as to throw a shirt in that you want to add to the load – because the lid locks closed once you start the cycle. Because it isn’t safe to have washing machines with lids that can just be opened to toss a dirty shirt in like you used to be able to do, pre-Safetyism – because someone else has decided there’s a risk a kid might dive in while the machine is on. Never mind that you haven’t got kids who might go for a spin cycle swim. Everyone who buys a new washing machine must be kept safe against the possibility that a child might get into the laundry room and go for a spin cycle swim by diving into an unlocked washing machine.
Riding mowers stop mowing if you put them in reverse. Because it isn’t safe to reverse with the blades still turning. Push mowers shut off if you let go of the handle – apparently to forestall the danger presented by an unattended mower that someone might put their hands under. Some new cars won’t reverse if you leave the door open a crack so as to be able to look back. It is much safer to just look at the touchscreen image of what’s behind you.
Most new cars have GPS so we don’t have to use paper maps anymore. But most of these GPS-equipped cars won’t let you enter a destination while the vehicle is moving.
You know why.
What’s the source if Safetyism? Probably the conditioning. I can remember when it began, back when I was in high school. Back in the ’80s. I began to notice little things – such as those “baby on board” signs. Seemed innocuous, if silly. Apparently, it is ok to drive without concern for the safety of adults. But if there’s a baby on board . . . 
But it was a harbinger.
Next – inevitably – came safety seats. Because it isn’t safe for adolescents to ride in a car unless they’re strapped into one. It was safety seats that poured gasoline onto the Safetyism fire. Two generations have grown up strapped in and so marinated in the idea, from their babyhood through their early teen years, that it is not safe to get into a car.
That driving is dangerous.
And by implication (as well as training) so is everything else. It became a kind of religion to keep everything safe. People would even say so – as in stay safe – which became a kind of sickly-sad parting during the mass panic event of 2020-2024. People were afraid to vote – in person – and so we ended up with Joe Biden during those years.
Luckily, we did not end up with Kamala Harris.
But Safetyism has by no means been repudiated and won’t be until there is another cultural shift in the opposite direction. Not in the direction of reckless flippancy. But back toward a general attitude that risk is not just a part life but that there is a danger even greater than risk in not taking them sometimes. Because if you don’t then in a very real way you aren’t living, except in a biological sense.
And – more to the point – you’re not growing up.
Because grown-ups understand that taking risks is part of life and that being afraid of everything is a kind of childhood that never grows up to face the world, take risks, have some fun – and get things done.
. . .
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The points earning, gaming society rewards, at grocery store or to buying online.
Needs to be added too.
I work with (not for) several big construction companies here in Boise, Id
They all have safety points award that if enough points earned, they could order from catalog
coffee mugs,hats,ect.
I always ask them how many points I need to earn for a Taylor Swift blow up doll.
After tailing them four racial jokes in a row. And jumping down in a trench that they are so scared to do because of the Conditioning you talk about Eric.
Some of these safety seminars I have attended over the years are nothing short of a Marxist struggle sessions. They go around the room and have you stand up and confess you are committed to *their* safety program no matter what. [Are you a safety denier?] I’ve argued our job is to manage *risk*, not eliminate all safety hazards no matter how small… at all costs. My comments were never welcome.
Case in point, a large client demanded installation of fall protection where we offloaded trucks because they noticed the guys standing on the flat beds were up over 4 feet (their rule not OHSA 6-feet) with no fall protection equipment (PPE). On the fall hazard scale of 1-10 this is a 1. Tell that to the widow of the guy when his lanyard wrapped around the wheel of the forklift that cut him in half. But he was being safe and compliant.
This is called chasing diminishing returns. Shall we talk CO2?
The rise of the safety cult begins in the mid 1980s IMO. It became a new form of controlling other people and making their lives more difficult.
Thing is living in my world of antique stuff I have only vague understanding of how bad things have gotten. Is the locking washer a front loader or a top loader? It has no business locking a top loader. Front loader I can understand because it would cause a flood. But if the drain pump fails you’re SOL. There was always a switch to turn off the spin cycle if the lid was opened. Easily defeated when it goes bad or when one wants to see what’s going on during a spin cycle.
Everything now seems so over complicated for no good reason. For stupid features nobody needs, making something cost $100 more to save $2 in energy, and safety derangement syndrome. Now stuff doesn’t last and is difficult to impossible to repair.
Top loaders do. I dunno about front loaders.
During COVID hysteria, how many here remember the narrative from corporate media & the Klaus Schwab types that said “Nobody is safe until everyone is safe!” (Vaccinated)?
Yeah, good luck with that one.
It doesn’t matter what “it” is, there are always at least a few who won’t do it, no matter how strongly you attempt to convince/force them. Always.
There’s what, 6-8 billion of us? Ish? That means there’s still a decent number of people at the tails of every bell curve, on both sides. Some of them, I wouldn’t recommend pissing off, and they aren’t all in prisons.
To this day, there are STILL people p!$$Ed at those who refused to comply with nonsensical COVID diktats from government despite the fact the “non-compliers” ended up being RIGHT.
Hi Eric, et al,
In point of fact, the “training” of young minds via “public education” has effectively conditioned the majority of “graduates” to dependency on government to make decisions for them…..the people who created the public school systems in the U.S., primarily Horace Mann in Massachusetts in 1850, used the Prussian model. John Taylor Gatto writes effectively about this.
Propaganda is really effective…..look at how the Covid hoax was sold in such a way that in spite of the hoax being exposed, people still wear masks, get the slab jab and act like total assholes towards “anti-vaxxers”. None of this is based on evidence, but to the conditioned masses, whatever some sociopath like Fauci or Gates bloviates must be true. Maybe RFK Jr. will help but color me skeptical.
WRT safety, that should be, in a truly free culture, up to individual choice. It’s telling to me how like Good Germans some of my friends, relatives and acquaintances have become. But hey, I’m just a trouble maker…..
You know what really “grinds my gears”? The fact that a lot of people seem to have ZERO recollection of the past, other than it being “a dangerous time”. Never mind the fact that THEY themselves got along just fine! NO! Apparently, we were all just a bunch of reckless barbarians, even just 10 years ago! We must all be forced to live in “pods” against our will, “for our saaaaaaaaaaaaaafety”!
Human lifespan and memory is far too short to allow for proper advancement. It’s as if it is intentional.
When something is forgotten the ruling and political classes push their scams over again or exploit the lack of living memory of something that would expose their scam. For example once those who could remember the 1930s passed away the climate change/global warming scam really went into high gear. Exploiting that few to none with living memory were left alive to counter their lies.
The ruling and political classes have been recycling the same basic scams for thousands upon thousands of years. So very many of them focus around how the powers that be can keep us safe if only we obey them and give them our wealth. The dangers always a complete scam or at least very exaggerated with the ability to keep us safe from them nonexistent or close to it.
Eric,
Good article. I only disagree on use of seatbelts, and that you again forgot the real culprit: the retarded peanut farmer’s wicked witch.
Roaring thru the upper hills of Sausalito making deliveries in a English Ford with a bench seat, I went around a curve slightly too fast. My scrawney ass slid across the seat. Fortunately I didn’t lose control or hit anything. Had to change underpants when I got back to the store though. Fortunately, there was Huffaker Engineering in Mill Valley that put some sense into my head regarding seatbelts and shoulder harnesses. Further training for SCCA A/Sedan solidified the real world need for seatbelts. Also, there was a REAL reason the roof in old F-150s was called a “headache board”…..
Thanks, Nike!
If I’m remembering correctly, the feds required seatbelts (lap belts) be installed in new cars in the early-mid 1960s; shoulder belts were added circa 1970. Claybrook and (later) Bob Dooooooole’s wife got us air bags. And so here we are!
‘NHTSA, then called the National Traffic Safety Agency, required all new passenger cars to have safety belts beginning on January 1, 1968. This requirement was included in one of the agency’s initial Federal motor vehicle safety standards, based on the laws of 32 states. NHTSA required other types of new motor vehicles, such as sport utility vehicles, vans, and trucks, to have safety belts beginning on July 1, 1971.’
https://www.nhtsa.gov/es/interpretations/11695jeg
In 1961 Wisclownsin passed the first state law requiring seat belts to be installed. Other states piled on. By the mid-1960s, manufacturers were including threaded seat belt mounts in the floor pan, but only installing belts in states that mandated them.
I recall retrofitting seat belts to one mid-1960s vehicle which had the mounts, but no belts installed.
Hi Eric,
Yup, right around 1962/3 seatbelts were introduced. They weren’t mandatory, but you could buy a “kit” and install lapbelts yourself. Shortly after my scrawney ass sliding incident, I bought a kit for my Dad’s Willys Station wagon and installed them. Of course, the area I lived in then was known as “sports car heaven” (sports car road races in Golden Gate Park!), so the concept of seatbelts wasn’t “from Mars” as it was to folks back east.
On the wicked witches: isn’t it amazing that all these homely females that hate cars and driving manage to get into positions of power that allow them to take revenge on the car guys from their high school days that wouldn’t date them or drive them around in their hot rods?
Nike
Eric,
I forgot to ask: is your avatar advocating getting rid of Alpha’s?
N
https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2020/08/31/clovers-revisited/
Thanks helot. Good to know. Was worried Eric didn’t like Fix It Again Tony’s…
I hate the “Baby On Board” signs but I did see a reworded version that made me laugh. It said “Babies All Up In This Bitch”.
I did see one late ‘80s, “Pervert On Board”
That and the “My Kid Beat Up Your Honor Student” bumper sticker.
And yet people still partake in risky behavior e.g. skydiving or bungee jumping. My first time in the Army, I had an airborne billet (at Fort Bragg, not the fake and gay fort liberty). Anyhow yes it was risky, but the risk was managed by competent cadre during jump school, competent jump masters while in a unit, and by competent riggers, load masters, flight crew, etc.
The point is, there’s no fun without risk.
Fucktards have taken over.
Case in point. https://tinyurl.com/32pj89f4
Clowns in gowns need to be held accountable for the destruction they have caused by listening to and ruling in favor of the imbeciles that refuse to take any responsibility for their own lives and actions.
Have you encountered the modern crosswalk, equipped with yellow strobe lights on a sign and also embedded in the road. But best of all, those that have yellow hand flags in a bin on each side, which you can take and use to wave at traffic as you traverse the lighted gauntlet from one side to the next.
I did/have seen signs with yellow solar powered strobe lights on a sign but never embedded in the road. Soon we will be walking thru tunnels in order to be truly safe. In time a few generations later our progeny will be spending enormous time indoors.
Nature will set you free. Follow nature.
“Soon we will be walking thru tunnels in order to be truly safe.”
Apparently, Los Angeles used to have pedestrian tunnels all over the city. Today, most of them have been fenced off, or even sealed up, ironically, due to safety concerns. I guess too many people ended up “disappearing” in them.
Yes flash lights, wave a stupid fucking flag, but for the love of god never turn your addled brained head to see if traffic is stopping. That use to work.
Every day 120 people succumb to injuries suffered in highway accidents.
You take your chances, risk is always there.
When you board an airplane, the plane could nose dive, crash, it will be all over, it is high risk to fly at 39,000 at 483 mph.
You still do it, fly in that silver bird to see the Pyramids along the Nile.
Driving highways is a greater risk than flying in an airplane to a destination.
The statistic does exist, in 2023, 40990/365=112 fatalities per day in the US alone on roads in America.
Take I-10 across Arizona.
If 112 people died each day from a plane crash, nobody would fly.
Trump needs a dose of Jimson Weed to tame what is left of his goofy useless brain. The world’s greatest useful idiot.
“in 2023, 40990/365=112 fatalities per day in the US alone on roads in America”
Those are astounding numbers. I can only imagine how many accidents there are.But then again there are about 330,000,000 of Usains. Not totally of the same mind set. Well maybe not united but united only if Martians attack.
Exactly! If we have to spend our entire lives dodging death (which is obviously futile), then what’s the point of being alive in the first place?
Great and timely article Eric.
Got the axe from Panasonic Automotive Wednesday.
Safetyism is at least partially to blame for me being laid off just this week.
In November, Apollo Holdings (APO) gained controlling interest in Panasonic Automotive, 3 business days later, they announced “voluntary” buyouts to everyone 62+ with 5+ years there. The 62+ers were given until January 31st to accept or reject the offer. Come February 12th, I, along with 47 more silver haired employees, was given the walk of shame (I’m 55). Everyone who was 62+ and rejected the initial “voluntary” offer was also given this walk (with the exception of sales)
I’m fortunate enough to have lived well beneath my means for multiple decades. I feel bad for those who haven’t, and those who didn’t see this coming.
It is a very bad time for silver haired engineers to find a job in the auto industry.
That’s why I decided I’m not going to waste a lot of my time on my resume and job searching I’m all in on working for myself now – even if that means no income for the next year, and only 10% of my previous income in 2 years.
As long as I can grow it year-over-year -I’ll be OK with this. I have no delusions I’ll grow my salry at anywhere near this rate at any large corporation.
I will be posting at least weekly, and then the goal is daily articles / Youtubes once I get the hang of it.
I need to do some deep dives into how to monetize this.
I will dedicate an article to each safety mandate, and do my best to estimate how much each mandate eats away at people’s median income.
Here is the first. I need to spend more time editing. I realize this is far too long and rambling.
https://socialmediaiskillingyou.com/2025/02/14/the-automotive-oems-have-made-a-deal-with-the-devil-at-least-in-the-land-of-the-free/
I laffed out loud at this bit of your essay:
‘NHTSA found that adults 70 and over account for 26 percent of backover fatalities.
‘This reads as if 70+ year olds are killed by getting backed over when playing behind the rear wheels of cars. Those obnoxious and annoying 70+ year olds you always see playing down on the pavement behind cars. I hate those people … They’re everywhere.
How about a little empathy, bro? I was just stealthily crawling around the Whole Foods parking lot, nicking shiny loose change that posh soccer moms dropped from their recyclable grocery bags. /sarc
Seriously, you’re off to a good start: humor, world-class snark, and (most importantly) a deep knowledge of your subject matter. Good luck!
Thanks Jim.
Yes – you really need to be careful. I damn near killed by elderly neighbor Gail in 2017. She was 83 at the time. You see – this was in the olden days before we were all saved by backup camera mandates. I didn’t see her playing marbles behind my back bumper. If my wife wouldn’t have shouted at me at the last minute – she might be gone:)
Sorry for the job loss.
I left automotive in 2022. Better that you get out now before the bottom falls out completely. Based on your writing, it seems that you are aware that things aren’t good within the industry.
Will be interesting to follow your posts and progress.
Appreciate that burn it.
I have a feeling this is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It gave me the kick in the ass needed to pursue something different. And I’m getting 6 months of pay for doing nothing.
I really disliked my job. Hated it most days. I call it “chaotic boredom.” I was burned out of program management 5 years ago. The golden handcuffs were the only thing making me come back every day.
I hired in ten years ago managing 2 smart witch PNs totaling $2M annual revenue, and finished managing 147 PNs totaling $109M annual revenue. Despite this fictional sounding revenue under management growth, my real salary is / was less today than when I stared a decade ago. This is using the governments own, shall we say, “optimistic” CPI numbers.
10,800% revenue under management growth – for a pay cut measured in real wages. Followed by a walk of shame.
The message has been received loud and clear: I have zero growth potential in this industry.
If I never hear the term “KPI,” again – it will be too soon.
Brilliant article! You especially got me with this paragraph:
“Superior technology never requires a mandate. Have Cathode Ray Tube TVs been banned? No. – they didn’t need to be banned. Did landline phones get banned? No – they didn’t need to be banned. The people calling for “banning the things” are always the bad guys. No exceptions.”
Amen to that, and everything else you wrote! We need more writers like yourself (and Eric, of course!
) to tell it as it is. No more politically-correct BS, no more pride-bow-colored fluff! Just the truth, with a dash of humor!
Good luck with your venture!
That was an enjoyable read. Not too long for me at all. I look forward to more.
Hi Blake I enjoyed your article but you know a smart anvil with a knock sensor connected to a Raspberry Pi might be useful for training itinerant blacksmiths over Zoom as it would allow for precise gauging of the hammer blows. Or maybe not.
Hi, Blake, I’m saddened to learn of your fate.
All that you foresaw finally happened.
I’ve been a witness to this intentional destruction of our country over the past 60 years … and angered by the concomitant and inevitable implosion of the once-great auto industry into which I was born and raised.
On the plus side, it’s wonderful to “hear” your voice again in writing.
Please keep it up — great work!
My prayers are with you and your loved ones as you begin to navigate life independent of the auto industry (such as it became).
I’m in agreement with Helen Keller. Safety is an illusion. Life is a terminal disease. Get over it.
Government is an unnecessary parasite, they use safety as an excuse to control us. When parasites control the host, the outcome is insanity, which is what we experience every day under government control. The Amerikan tax slaves have never been unsafe as they are now, for instance the War of Terror has made us unsafe because we have blowed up so many other nations they seek vengeance. The CIA calls it blowback.
All these wars, taxes, and controls on us has also led to runaway monetary inflation, gold has gone vertical, now the USA economy is unsafe, home prices at record unaffordable highs, young people are unsafe because they can not afford to buy a home. The bottom line is whatever the government does is makes a mess of it, destroys every moral value along the way: schools, health care, food supply, money, national security, transportation, etc.
I have not bought any eggs in months, because of government intervention in the market. Whatever excuse they have, is not justified, a chicken egg is not worth a dollar each. Government is an unnecessary evil – a protection racket. We are the least safe ever because they are protecting us.
I bought a new washer back in 2013, not knowing how much they had changed, and not in a good way. Had the stupid lid lock, and the reliable bottom suspension was no more, replaced with cheap suspension rods that caused it to do a dance with loud thumping if the load was even a tiny bit unbalanced. I hated that thing, so for Christmas this year (after doing research this time) I bought myself a new Speed Queen TC5 washer, which is still made like the old time washers. No lid lock, strong agitator, bottom suspension. I LOVE IT! And it really gets clothes clean, too.
Yes sir! Speed Queen for us as well, about 8 years ago. Clean, fresh clothes load after load. Probably due for a drive belt, but zero problems. And repairable! Stainless steel drum so well worth keeping as the forever washing machine. Porcelain drums will degrade over time and get rough, sandpapering cuffs and collars.
Yesterday we had our first real morning commute snowstorm of the season. Most people stayed home but of course many ventured out to make it to work. Most of us were pretty good about keeping distances and whatnot, and even the roustabouts in their “big boy” RAMs were keeping a pretty good space cushion.
The number of SUV looking vehicles in the ditch and median were notable though. Every one of them were of the AWD/CVT/all season radials ilk. Most looked like they had just caught the edge of a slush pile and spun out, only needing a pull to get back on the highway.
Which begs the question, why? I’d bet half of them were in “snow mode,” while the other half weren’t because the driver forgot that snow mode existed. Even with traction control, AWD and doodads to keep you in your lane they still end up in the ditch. Perhaps the reason they ended their trip short was precisely due to the safety features, giving them the confidence they desired to take on the storm instead of waiting a few hours for the sun to come up and the plows to get to work. Instead, their memory of Friday morning will be one of “CODT needs to do something!” instead of trying to be a better driver.
I’d say 99% of the people who ventured out to work yesterday made it to their destination, albeit maybe they punched in a little later than usual. Their cars had a lot of safety equipment, some probably had none. Many probably forgot that the safety equipment was available.
Interesting to note, the afternoon commute was wet. The sun had melted off the snow on the road surface but there were puddles of standing water for a few miles. By the time I got past Rifle the roads were dry, yet traffic was still moving at five under PSL. Amazing how quickly people accept the new normal even when unnecessary.
At the height of COVID hysteria, people who refused to wear face diapers or take that experimental mRNA COVID jab were also called DANGEROUS.
And during the confirmation hearings & the Senate vote for now current HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Kennedy was even called “Unqualified”, “Dangerous conspiracy theorist” or “Dangerous Anti-vaxxer”. Uh, I don’t remember anybody calling the Biden Thing’s HHS Secretary, Xavier Bacerra, UNQUALIFIED, as, IIRC, he had NO experience in the medical field, but instead was California Attorney General before getting the HHS Secretary gig.
RFK is a lawyer. Most of the people on capitol hill are lawyers (notable exceptions are AOC being a bartender and Elizabeth Warren being a Native American), so they know how stupid most lawyers can be. Thing is, he’s a good lawyer AFAIK. They’re not so good since they went into politics.
Hi RK,
From what I’ve read about RFK Jr, he was once an environmental lawyer who successfully sued government agencies and even got the Hudson River cleaned up. In the case of him being confirmed as President Trump’s HHS Secretary, I would say the reason every single Democrat Senator voted NO is they either want their donations from Big Pharma to continue, they reflexively oppose whatever Trump wants out of pure hatred for him, or a combination of both.
Yeah, did you notice John that you (and others who refuses the jabs) never got an apology? No “gosh, you were right”. Instead, they turned around and blamed the un-jabbed for the health problems they are now having. These people will never learn.
Yes, Shadow, I have noticed that. People who warned about effects from the jabs were called “Conspiracy theorists”, “Anti-vaxxers”, or “Vaccine deniers”. Why, even natural immunity via recovery from a COVID infection was deemed a DANGEROUS CONSPIRACY THEORY.
And yet, there are STILL people out there who peddle the blatantly obvious BS involving the COVID jabs. They’re likely the same people who still believe that Trump colluded with Russia to become President, the 2020 election was clean & secure, the nonsensical Ukraine War was started by Russia, Trump is Hitler 2.0, etc.
On the local news in Michigan, two child fatalities supposedly caused by the “flu” were noted.
I wonder if these two children got the covid “jab”?
It would make sense for those who got “jabbed” with the mRNA poisons to have adverse reactions, including perishing from the flu.
EVERYONE I know who got “jabbed” is having continuing medical issues, from Bell’s Palsy to recurring cancers which were in remission before their “jab”.
I’m surprised they didn’t try to say those deaths were caused by BIRD FLU, which appears to be the latest boogeyman sociopaths in government and corrupt public health bureaucrats want people to be afraid of.
Safetyism really is a cult, and part of what The Daily Bell would often describe as, “directed history”.
Consider, “… As a bonafide conspiracy theorist, I’ve come to believe the world’s most important conspiracies would be impossible to pull off absent a prior conspiracy to staff these organizations with clone thinkers who will never question or challenge the official narrative.
That is, it seems statistically impossible that 100 percent of MSM editors would all reach the exact same conclusion about the “safety” of a rushed “vaccine” or the imperative of locking down society.
Per my view, the people who hire and fire journalists clearly conspired to hire only people who will advance and support the most important authorized narratives.
Expressed differently, if no conspiracy to protect bogus narratives existed, 10 to 25 percent of newsrooms would presumably be staffed with journalists willing to question claims of powerful bureaucrats.” …
https://brownstone.org/articles/in-defense-of-conspiracy-theorists/
Consider also, the role industry operates in much the same way. If individuals do not ‘toe the line’ & parrot the Safetyism mantra in all aspects of operation they are weeded out, marginalized, etc.
It trickles down the organizational tree. The hiring process weeds out those who don’t figure out how to write/say the correct Safetyism phrases in interviews & maintain that throughout employment. I.e. workers get fired if they mention anything remotely like Helen Keller’s quote, “Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.”
The Safetyism Hive Mind is solidified this way. It is practiced so widely in industry it spreads into personal life & viola, you have people saying, “Be Safe” all on their own. Like robots?
Much of this is driven by the fact that it’s almost universal that in order to get hired you must have a 4-year degree. This way everyone is indoctrinated/marinated in the same Leftist Ideology. It then becomes little more than learning the secret handshake and people do it without thinking. Anyone that doesn’t know the handshake is considered not of the body (h/t Star Trek TOS). GovCo indoctrination centers are great for weeding out the non-compliant through punishment or psychotropic drugs.
Hey, if I never learned the “secret handshake” does that mean I’m not of the body?
[instead, they are taken by car to the local school where they collect their candy safely in the gymnasium.]
Corrected;
instead, they are taken by car to the local government school where they collect their candy safely in the gymnasium.
Blame the lawyers/cops that perverted the just-us system,,, the Doctors, Nurses,etc that have perverted the medical system,,, the politicians that perverted the political system,,, and most of all,,, the nice people that allowed it all to happen.
Modified: “the local government [co-ed prison] school”
“School is a 12-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know.”
https://objectivestandard.org/blog/john-taylor-gattos-damning-critique-of-the-us-school-system
Its time to remove the warning labels and let nature sort things out, as it should have
Safetyism is one of many false religions, like environmentalism, that have sprung up as our society has stopped believing in God, or at least God in the Judeo-Christian faith tradition.
When you stop believing in God, it doesn’t mean that you believe in nothing—it means you believe in anything. That’s because humans have what seems to be a hard-wired religious drive or instinct. So basically, people are driven to seek God as much as they are driven to seek food and water.
Unlike the real God, the fake and gay gods of safetyism and environmentalism offer no atonement, no redemption, no salvation, and no better world to come on earth or in heaven.
They only offer endless prophecies of fiery doom unless the gods are appeased with sacrifices, like EVs and safety devices. Which is generally how paganism works—doom and sacrifice—except for a few at the top.
Then there is also the idea that this life and this world is all we have and when it’s over, it’s over, so we must preserve it at all costs—no matter how miserable it makes us.
So that’s what safetyism is—a false god that, unlike the real God, will never satisfy.
Well said. When you believe that you get one life and there is nothing after, then you seek safety from death at all costs.
RE: “then you seek safety from death at all costs”
That does not explain all the churches which closed their doors out of an abundance of caution & a fistful of fear.
…There’s much more to it.
Churches are in a pact with government (ie the Devil) to protect their tax exempt status.
When the government says jump – they said how high.
Don’t mistake churches and organized religion as having a detente to God over government.
Pains me to say that but it is what it is. 2020 cannot be denied. Churches sold out and rolled right over demonstrating who their real master is.
“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” not some 501c3 government organization
Those churches and those pastors/priests simply showed their true colors. A good religion is a search for truth. Some are pretty successful, many are navel gazing cults.
RE: “Safetyism is one of many false religions, like environmentalism, that have sprung up”
None of it, “sprung up”. It’s just made to look that way. It’s all purposefully created.
See my comment above.
Related: Watermelons:
“… if “we” are successful, “our great grandchildren or great-great grandchildren may be prepared to acquiesce in social arrangements that our children or grandchildren would not.”…
https://mises.org/mises-daily/watermelon-summit
Either way, safetyism, environmentalism, and other false religions are what you get when you get rid of God, no matter how you do it.
What makes Hell, well, so hellish is that there’s no God. So when you get rid of God, you get Hell—which is what we’re getting.
Part of that Hell is that environmental, health, and safety matters are not handled with cool and careful scientific analysis of pros and cons and costs and benefits, but rather heated religious fervor.
I can’t tell if it is cause or effect, but safetyism means you are property of the state.
The state is seeking to keep its property in pristine condition.
The end result is that you are under even more of their control.
At the same time, Dan, when you cease to be useful to the State…then the State doesn’t care about you.
“The state is seeking to keep its property in pristine condition.”
Worse yet, they make the slaves best the costs of their own safekeeping.
The safetyism cult further results in the “no risk” ethos society wide.
Stagnation of ideas permeates everything.
Look at Hollywood. No original scripts or stories, just the same superhero movie sequel #17.
Politics? Let’s keep it safe and have presidential candidates who were alive when Hitler and Stalin still were too.
Technology? More screens. Larger screens! Multicolored curved screens!!!
AI is just a rehashing of ideas already here. How does that end? Distilling those ideas down to an echo chamber of the most popular/common thoughts?
No risks = no rewards.
Those screens and who’s controlling them are a big part of the problem. Humans are wired to seek out novelty, especially if it is dangerous. Hollywood caters to this aspect of human (actually mammalian nature), as does the “news.” People who have high levels of empathy see a tragic moment, real or imagined by a writer, and feel the event taking place to them. Even though it isn’t and almost certainly the actual event is nothing like what’s imagined by the viewer.
Where it really goes wrong is when real life isn’t the same as the screens. Then people intentionally place themselves in danger because they want a thrill that cannot be satiated by the screens. Worse still are the people who prey on these gullible people. They milk them for money, or worse, trick them into leaving their dull life behind for a promise of adventure. When the “victim” finally sees the light it’s probably too late.
That explanation sure sounds a lot like the motive behind a huckster trying to sell everyone on cars that drive themselves, robot slaves and trips to Mars.
Since the Tylenol incident in 1982 we’ve been living in a Sealed For Your Protection society. No danger is too small to address with maximum vigor.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. To quote my long departed gram.
Re: lawnmowers. you almost can’t cut the lawn anymore with how much safety crap is on them.
but they are very easy to remove/defeat. switches taped over or jumper’d.
Hi CrisinIn. Any of those mowers I just hold the safety lever down with a cheap spring clamp from Dollar Tree, it holds good enough but you can yank it off fast if you need too.
Zip ties are even easier and cheaper.
True enough Ernie but at least with a spring clamp you don’t need to pull out your Buck knife or Leatherman to get it off in a hurry.
Sorry I misread that and thought you were saying hose clamps. Yep many modern push mowers are hard to kill without that lever. There used to ne better options which grounded the magneto.
Driving safely with legislative immunity — here we go again:
‘Authorities confirmed on Friday a new case of an Arizona politician being pulled over for driving well above the speed limit. State Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican, was stopped along the eastbound U.S. 60 near Power Road on Jan. 22 after a DPS trooper clocked him driving 89 mph in a 65 mph posted zone.
‘DPS officials say the trooper recognized and verified him as a member of the Legislature, documented the stop, and did not give him a citation, citing the legislative immunity clause in the Arizona Constitution. Hoffman could’ve faced a low-level misdemeanor charge of criminal speeding in Arizona.
Earlier this month, Rep. Quang Nguyen, a fellow Republican state lawmaker, introduced a resolution to end legislative immunity for traffic violations.
“Elected officials should not have special privileges that allow them to break the law without accountability,” said Nguyen. “The people we serve are expected to follow traffic laws, and legislators should be no different. If a lawmaker is caught speeding, running a red light, or committing any other traffic violation, they should face the same consequences as everyone else.”
https://www.azfamily.com/2025/02/15/arizona-state-senator-drove-20-miles-over-speed-limit-mesa-freeway-dps-says/
As everyone in government knows, it’s not illegal when we do it.
Much of this is due to the feminization of society. When Karen is literally in power, she is going to scold you like the Mommy that she is. This is why Trump produced such an over-the-top reaction by these people. He is the antithesis of Mommy Hillary and “Mommala” Harris.
The other major factor is the tort lawyers. Every thirty seconds on television there is a commercial for the ambulance chasers telling how many millions you can get from your car accident, your “slip and fall,” or your workplace injury. They target the dumbest people and the ghetto blacks, and they have black actors saying “Mah law-ya gots me eight million dollas afta mah car accy-dent.”
One of these scumbag lawyers actually has a prominent office directly across the street from the Emergency Room of the Level I trauma center…
Hi X,
It’s true. I found out that the owner of my gym closed up the other day – when it snowed all of about 2-3 inches – because she was worried someone might slip and fall… and sue. This is what’s become of what was once America – where if you slipped and fell, it was because you slipped and fell and not because it was some other person’s fault that you did.
Hi Eric,
I don’t blame her. We live in a sue happy society. I would not let my cleaning lady or clients to visit my office when we had the 8” of snow fall in early January and the temperature didn’t increase above 28 degrees. My parking lot was a literal skating rink for two weeks. Did I go to work everyday and ice skate my way to the front door? Of course. I wasn’t worried about my safety. If I fell and busted my leg I wasn’t going to lose my net worth. Everybody else? I didn’t trust them not to come after me if they missed a step or fell getting out of their car. When people can sue (and win millions) for spilling coffee on themselves an individual has to protect themselves and their assets.
Hmm, the lawyer class imposing & widening the cult of Safetyism.
Clever Devils.
And just a tidbit of info on what certain tribe started the sueathon I ll give you two guesses. Money for nothing, chicks for free.
Which also plays into the insurance racket.
Hi, RG! At least 80% of the freeway billboards here in NorCal are ads for personal injury law firms. Another indicator of a failing — if not completely failed — society.
And sue they will. Coworkers wife had a small storefront bakery and retail shop about 30 years ago. Rented the space, not owned by her.
A women “tripped” and fell into her open door way (summertime) then sued everyone related to that doorway, curb, sidewalk for a “shoulder injury”.
The city told her to pound sand, the curb and sidewalk were per city codes and were not deficient. The building owner told her the same thing. My coworkers wife’s business insurance paid off the POS woman’s lawsuit. They were furious- “you insurance people constantly complain in the media about frivolous lawsuits yet won’t fight an obvious scam”. “Cost more to fight it”.
“Well, fight a few and win then you’ll have less scams”. Insurance not interested, long term cost vs keeping that quarterly stock price up.
The last part, the coworker found out the POS women was married to an insurance adjuster & had quite a history of collecting payoffs for “slip and fall” episodes.
Nailed it X,
The proliferation of lawyer ads and the idea that anything that might happen to you is someone else’s fault has ruined society. Nobody takes personal responsibility for anything and they view an accident as a winning lottery ticket. It’s the reason I have an umbrella liability policy on my house – which also requires me to have an H.O. policy – even though the house was paid off years ago.
These types of personal injury suits are nothing new.
My Mom, in the early 60’s, sat on a jury where a man was suing his employer and the maker of a piece of machinery. Seems he lost an eye while working with said machine. The fact that his employer had repeatedly told him to wear his safety glasses was ignored. He didn’t and lost an eye. The majority of the jury had the attitude “somebody has to pay for this man’s injury”. My Mom’s attitude was, “Yeah, HIM.” Needless to say she was ignored and the jury awarded this guy some cash.
Times change, people don’t.
Want to drive safe, comrades? Elon’s got the answer. USA TODAY told me so:
‘”Drive it and you’ll never go back. Until you drive it, you’ll never know,” said Rodney Best, 71, from the front seat as the Cybertruck drove him around St. Petersburg, Florida.
“It just makes sense to me, the fact that it’s Elon Musk designing it, because he’s so smart, and it’s got all these saaaaaafety features.”
https://tinyurl.com/yeyyrfcz
Safety sells? Oy. Makes me miss the good old days of ‘sex sells.’
Hi Jim. Certain cars have that look that you fall in love with at first glance and if you’re lucky enough to own know you’ll try to keep forever. And then there’s what Tesla builds, a truck that looks like what an eleven year old would draw with his new protractor and cars that look like a serpent from the front.
Hi Jim,
Don’t you find it interesting that liberals used to LOVE Elon Musk for his Tesla EVs but now they HATE him, particularly after he bought Twitter a few years ago pledging to make it a free speech platform, and hate him even MORE after he supported Trump’s 2024 presidential run. And according to that USA Today story you posted, more people who identify as conservative are buying Teslas. If so, it’s almost as if it’s conservatives who now love him, even though they hated him not too long ago for his EV grift and taking part in that scam known as CARBON CREDITS.
Being that Elon Musk is still a technocrat who supports carbon taxes & wants to implant chips into people’s brains, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on what he does in the Trump 2.0 administration, as conservatives may blindly cheer if he does something that they’d excoriate a looney liberal Democrat for. There’s also some speculation that Musk wants to replace various government positions with AI or implement a nationwide social credit score system.
Hi John,
I think Musk might have his leash tightened shortly, one thing Trump cannot abide is being upstaged. I can’t find the link but there was a clip of Musk with his kid, X, in the Oval Office (seriously this guy’s supposed to be a genius and he names his kid X? what a dildo). The kid said to Trump “you’re not really the president”. Trump let it slide but won’t forget it, do you suppose the kid heard his daddy say that? Not a good look.
Hi Mike,
That clip you spoke of is likely to fuel the narrative from corporate media & deranged Trump haters of “Elon Musk is the real President!” Ironically though, if someone were to say that Joe Biden wasn’t the real president when Biden was in office, those same people would have called that person a CONSPIRACY THEORIST.
You’re right Mike.
The corruption is being exposed quickly by Musk. Most around here knew about it since beyond forever. Always thought the foreign aid was a simple matter. Give a bunch of $$$ to dictators, who then serve their population a free bowl of gruel or two, buy some weapons from the US, then put the rest into their Swiss bank accounts [minus a campaign contribution to two.] Apparently its much much deeper and more convoluted as young Chelsea [assface] Clinton demonstrates
Musk is running the table in a humorous fashion. President Trump better step up quick and keep up. The judicial branch needs pimp slapped good and hard or Trump will once again fail before he begins. If he cant find some inner strongman we will know for sure Trump is no more than a performative Agitprop artist.
Norman,
Corporate media & people who are thoroughly propagandized are already running the narratives “There’s no proof of _____ fraud!” or “_____ corruption is a right wing conspiracy theory!”
In the industries I worked in risk mitigation was part of every job performed. For example if you started a fire that destroyed an oil refinery Chevron would not be happy that you saved them the couple hours of setup costs it would take for the proper spark containment.
Safety though must be appropriate to the risks expected but funny things happened during the recent plaque. Companies that would fire you for taking your safety glasses off in the work area started telling you you could take them off to wipe them because the face diaper made your glasses fog up in minutes. Very strange as Spock would said.
The new cars are so complicated with so many blind spots it makes me wonder how they can be driven safely at all. Best to scrap everyone of them and we can go back to driving bubble top Impalas like God intended us to. The only thing that might make sense is not being able to change the destination in the navigation system when moving but that begs the question of why the passenger would not be allowed to it.
Until then we call at least sing along to the following song….
Men Without Hats – The Safety Dance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi86ZiOlIVo
Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs fame put out a good video on risk, safety and risk aversion. His premise was that if we followed every mandate of the safety first crowd, we would not be able to get anything done.
He is absolutely correct…
Nobody Works- Nobody Gets Hurt!!!!!
Sounds like the path they recommend. Glad I’m not paying though.
Three months ago, we thought the long national nightmare was over. We were wrong.
‘A new poll reveals that former Vice President Kamala Harris would be the Democratic frontrunner for governor of California if she were to enter the state’s 2026 race to replace term-limited Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
‘In a hypothetical gubernatorial bid, nearly 6 in 10 Democratic primary voters in California – 57%, would vote for Harris, according to the survey by Emerson College Polling/Inside California Politics/The Hill.’
‘My plans are to be in touch with my community, to be in touch with the leaders and figure out what I can do to support them,” Harris told reporters. “I am here … the right thing to do, is to show up in your community …”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/kamala-harris-frontrunner-become-californias-next-governor-poll
Booze and BJs, keep me right
As long as we can make it to the show tonight
We’re comin’ to your town
We’ll help you party it down
We’re an American scam
— Grand Funk Railroad, We’re An American Band
Hi Jim,
She doesn’t have a chance. Ric Grenell will win. Yes, America, CA is going to go red.
Especially if the voting system is under heavy scrutiny. California used to be reliably conservative, and still is a huge largely rural state. The only place they win is with machine politics in large urban areas.
That’s a BIG “IF” too. It will require all the illegals to be deported, NO electronic voting, NO absentee voting, paper ballots ONLY with valid ID, and, NO democrats or League of Women Voterfrauds counting the ballots. Otherwise, it’s business as usual in the PDRK.. people’s demokratiske republik Kalivornja.
Has Kalifornia finalized its vote tallies from the past election yet? I thought they were still counting…
Have you been into the sauce? Leopards cannot change their spots. Commies are going to commie. I will wager one bottle of wild turkey that Ric isn’t winning.
I will take your bet, Nova. I am not a fan of wild turkey so I would prefer a good vodka.
Roger
‘Safetyism has by no means been repudiated and won’t be until there is another cultural shift in the opposite direction.’ — eric
Risk-takers end up being displaced to other pursuits. Free climbing, for instance, which would have been considered insane by alpinists of the 1960s.
Meanwhile, actual safety risks go unaddressed. The very elderly lose both muscle mass and balance. They regularly take falls, breaking brittle hip joints. But there aren’t enough helpers to escort them 24/7, nor do most want to be nannied that way.
Surely climbing tech and robots could be adapted to belay them as they shuffle to the bathroom. Whereas the current approach is to let them fall, then have Medicare pay to replace the broken hip joint. ‘Move
fastslow and break things,’ as the tech bros say. Sheesh.Eric, I would submit that it started long before the 1980’s. In fact, more like the 1880’s when the Progressive Era began. The nannyism of the WCTU (founded in 1874) and others expanded and gave us Drug Prohibition starting in 1906 with the Pure Food and Drug Act and it’s been downhill ever since.
And, it won’t stop until these “Do Gooders” are stopped.
As Captain “Red Legs” Terrill stated in The Outlaw Josey Wales, “Doin’ right ain’t got no end.” And, you probably know how he was stopped. But, in case you’ve forgotten…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KSRL2Edsck
What would Josey Wales do?
https://www.soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14889797
Don’t know about you, but I’m danm tired of people telling me to “stay safe “. So I started shooting back with I’d rather stay free. Mostly get the deer in the head light look.
Yes to that!
Along with ‘enjoy the rest of your day’.
Does the day up ’til now not count?
I won’t go further but to say ‘Yinz keep living free, at least as much as we get away with.’
I was thinking, maybe of replying:
“I’m not a Communist, I’d rather stay free”
Or, “I’m not into Marxism, I’d rather be free”
Or, “Safety is over-rated, being free is more fun”
Not a Number: “…but I’m danm tired of people telling me to “stay safe “.”
Being of advanced age but, among other things, still climbing trees with chain saws and walking on roofs, I often hear “You be careful!” My reply most of the time is “Nah. I plan to do something really stupid to see if I can’t hurt myself.” (Of course, someday I likely will. But maybe I will have driven them away so they get no satisfaction when I fall.
)