# Texas's limited government too limited to respond to wildfires

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texass-limited-government-too-limited-to-respond-to-wildfires/595624>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 8, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texass-limited-government-too-limited-to-respond-to-wildfires/595624 "2011-09-08T16:50:11Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texass-limited-government-too-limited-to-respond-to-wildfires/595624/61 "2011-09-12T21:16:15Z")

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> [@gatorslap](#):
>
> Did you read the same article I read? The article is placing blame on the government’s lack of proactivity in this case. How on earth does that prove that the government shouldn’t be proactive?
> 
> The government should have enforced stringent safety regulation. This wouldn’t have happened if they had done so.

I didn’t say the government shouldn’t be proactive, I said the government wasn’t proactive. The world would great if the government _could_ be proactive, but it can’t.

If the government was proactive, we’d have locked cockpit doors on Sept 10th, 2001. We’d take our shoes off in security on December 21st, 2001, not on the 23rd. And we would have been limited to 3 oz bottles of liquid in a 1qt bag before August 2006, not after.

> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> Yes, yes, we all know that you feel the solution to the problem of inadequate regulations is to then remove the regulations in their entirety. Makes total sense :rolleyes:

It makes sense when you realize the regulations are ineffective, and people will die as a result. And when you realize the presence of regulations causes people to go through life blind to all the harm that may befall them.

> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> Or if you have a situation where a corporation causes death as a result of “a company that exploited weaknesses in a lax system of oversight”, we all know that your favored solution is not to make the oversight less lax, but to eliminate it alltogether, since the corporation will then magically do the right thing. :rolleyes:

A corporation will never “do the right thing.” But what if we removed corporate personhood, and started charging people with murder and manslaughter? If the people working for that company knew about potential dangers, they should go to jail. People should be held accountable for their actions (or lack their of). I don’t know why you’re against that.

So the _company_ violated some regulations, and now it will get a fine. Great world we live in, but 8 people are dead.

If a group of terrorists set off a bomb in that neighborhood, killing 8 and destroying 32 homes, how would you like them dealt with? A few fines for violating some regulations about the transportation of explosive material? Imagine if Al Qaeda had the foresight to register for LLC status.

Right now, GM is using its bankruptcy filings to avoid past liabilities. Essentially, regulations ignored by the old GM won’t count against the new GM.

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