[goatcode]

Should we treat all behaviors that are associated with a significantly increased mortality rate the same way, or should we pick and choose depending on the political and social context at the time, like we do with seatbelts?

[scoopertrooper]

Few other behaviors associated with increase mortality can also turn you into a missile.

https://youtu.be/bdW_3oQFO0c?t=42

[goatcode]

Be that as it may, that wasn't the point I was replying to.

[scoopertrooper]

Is not missiling into another person a form of externality?

[goatcode]

Perhaps, but that's not what the comment was addressing. If it were, your point would not address living after having become a missile.

[wizofaus]

I would say we generally do exactly that, when the threshold is significant enough and it's a behavior that has no beneficial/ safe level (we tax and restrict cigarettes heavily, but not so much overconsumption of food etc. Arguably we should/could have penalties for failing to get enough exercise, though there are almost certainly better ways to reduce dangerously sedentary lifestyles).

[goatcode]

>Arguably we should/could have penalties for failing to get enough exercise, though there are almost certainly better ways to reduce dangerously sedentary lifestyles

This is my point: we pick and choose, and we're subject to the whims of society, when it comes to what we deem unacceptable. Citing a collective norm that potentially could have been influenced by societal ebbs and flows is not an objective argument, ever.

[wizofaus]

Absolutely - regulation is hard. I wonder if there are successful instances of government using big-data/ML to determine where, when and in what manner it makes sense to apply it. And would people vote for governments that relied solely on that for what legislation to enact...

[colinmhayes]

Generally yes. That’s why sugar taxes are needed and popular with economists.

[goatcode]

What would you say should be the threshold for increased mortality that would subject a given behavior to heavy taxation and regulation?