Editorials

Information technology is complicated. And so, for those who do not understand how it works, it may be dangerous. The same is true for cars and rotary saws. Risk management is not just for certified professionals to practice; we all manage risk. The little sister who guides her younger brother across a busy street, the advisor to a president regarding a matter of national security—these people manage risk. They—we all—have to consider probabilities for success and failure, for living and dying.

The consequences of the lockdown of businesses and the curtailment of travel by State governors in response to the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 are many. The main purpose of the regulation is limiting the pandemic. The regulation has helped to achieve that goal. Many of the economic and social consequences, while unintentional, are nevertheless undesired and harmful.

At least 15 States have passed resolutions declaring pornography a public health crisis. Others are moving in that direction. Ohio now has H. R. No. 180—a resolution “to declare that pornography is a public health hazard with statewide and national public health impacts leading to a broad spectrum of individual and societal harms.”

Let us hope that all the revelations about sexual crimes and indiscretions that occurred in decades past will embolden those who have been violated to report attacks quickly. There are several reasons why victims of crimes of all sorts do not press charges against the perpetrators or ever acknowledge that crimes have been committed: fear of reprisal or embarrassment, a sense that no one will believe the stories told, hopelessness where disparity in wealth or status between victim and violator is stark.

Every now and then the most profound questions arise. Just a look at the clear night sky splattered with stars reveals a scale—immensity—against which the measures of our little lives wither. The view can prompt the biggest questions—questions about how it all began and where it all is going, questions about our importance or insignificance in the universe—and are we alone?—even the ultimate question 'why is there anything at all, rather than nothing?' We are on a dangerous path. It can be uncomfortable. Most of us do not pursue very far the answers; we can recoil at the consequences.

[Published in the Congressional Record—Appendix, May 6, 1965, pp. 2235-2236.]

Putting a hand deep into the punch at a party is a deviation from polite behavior that typically does not signify much else except, perhaps, retrieving a ring, grabbing a piece of fruit, trying to shock, offend or amuse people. Such an act is generally considered uncouth but apolitical: it does not express an idea or opinion, but only reveals at most an urgency to snag something, or convey an attitude or emotion.