At 00:16 19-7-01 -0500, Dan Minette wrote:
> > There are a few problems with this. You're comparing two things you can't
> > compare: people falling off roofs in *Europe*, and people dying in car
> > accidents in the *US*. If you want to do it right, you'll have to
>calculate
> > both rates for either Europe or the US. With calculations based on actual
> > data of course, not assumed numbers -- but I'm sure you already realized
> > that. :-)
> >
>
>Is the European death rate on the highways 100x that of the US? Are you
>aguing that 1 in 100,000 is much too high of a figure for death rate per
>climbing on the roof?
I don't have those figures handy, so I can't make comparisons on death
rates. But that wasn't what I was referring to anyway -- the problem was
that you were comparing *absolute* numbers:
>climbs on the roof 5 times a year, and there are 250 million households in
>Europe, then if everyone had solar power, it would be responsible for about
>12,500 per year.
^^^^^^
>If all of the household electricity in the US (roughly half
>of the electricity in the US) were to come from nuclear, that would increase
>to just under 50 driving deaths per year.
^^
You compared the *absolute* number of solar-panel-cleaning Europeans
falling off the roof to the *absolute* number of working-at-nuclear-plants
Americans getting killed in traffic.
> It's the same as the higher radiation exposure you get when you're
> > an airline pilot or a worker in a nuclear power plant: you know the risk,
> > and you accepted it when you signed your contract.
>
>But, its a much lower risk.
That's irrelevant. I was only arguing that *every* job comes with risks.
> >If you can't accept the risk that comes with a job, don't apply for the
>job.
> >
>
>Let me get the arguement straight. It would be better for thousands to die
>at the work place than any number to die elsewhere? Industrial safety isn't
>important, only personal safety?
I think you're reading way too much into my statement. If a job comes with
a risk of you falling off a roof, and you don't want to take that risk,
should you apply for that job?
It's like driving a car: when you drive a car, there is a certain chance
that you will die in a car accident. You know that, and you accept it when
you get into your car. If you don't want to take that risk, don't get into
the car.
Jeroen
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