John Stossel, co-anchor of ABC’s 20/20, discussed capitalism and chance last week at a lecture he gave in Davis Auditorium of Sturm Hall.
Governmental control was the focus of his talk, as he posed the question “How much government do we need?”
He also discussed political tendencies in the media, saying a conservative has little or no chance of getting a job in the media. “I think drugs should be legal, prostitutes should be legal and homosexuality is perfectly natural, yet they call me a conservative because I believe in free market,” Stossel said. Because of his libertarian beliefs and his criticism of liberal media, he said he has not been well liked among colleagues and viewers. “The other day some lady came up to me and asked ‘Are you John Stossel?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘I hope you die.'”
When he did a segment called “Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?” he spent half a year compiling information debunking myths about dying. Since terrorism has been a recurring fear since 9/11, he focused on that compared to more realistic circumstances that cause death. He found that even if 9/11 happened every three years, it only takes four days off a human life, compared to murder, which takes 93 days off your life. Driving takes 182 days off your life, and smoking almost 2,000 days. In general, he found that “wealthier is much healthier.” People with a low income die seven to 10 years sooner than people who have a more regular income.
Stossel said that he is a fan of risk-taking, but thinks that people are just too afraid to take any chances. If people knew the risks of swimming pools, they wouldn’t be so popular, he said. “What would people say if someone said, ‘I want to put big tanks of water in people’s backyards! It would kill 800 kids a year.’ Would this be approved today?”
He asked “Why have we become such wimps? Why do we let government decide yes or no?” The media, he explained, is using the scare tactic about everything: radiation, pesticides, exploding BIC lighters and poisonous lawn chemicals, to name a few. Trial lawyers benefit by bringing scare stories into courtrooms, trying to gain money and reputation. They make us scared of the technology that has increased our life span 30 years.
As a young reporter, Stossel said that he admired former presidential candidate Ralph Nader. “He got America to think about safety, pursuing it with single-minded passion. Now he reminds me of a train that has gone off track but won’t stop,” he wrote in his book Give Me a Break. Stossel’s complaint was that Nader has no interest in ranking risks. In Stossel’s view, people who pursue their own self-interest are heroes, not people like Nader. He said that real heroes are the kind of people that teach, do what they love or try to make a buck in the process.
Stossel also criticized the FDA and its approvals and warnings for new drugs. It costs $1 billion and takes 10-15 years to get a new drug approved. The FDA also puts warnings on every drug and tells people not to take certain drugs because of the side effects.
“Don’t we own our own bodies? No, the government says,” Stossel explained. “The government just says yes or no. We say yes, no, more or less. Don’t we have more choice?”
Certain drugs have nasty side effects, causing even more problems than the original problem. Stossel brought the pamphlet that accompanies a pack of birth control pills as an example. “If anyone read it, no one would take the pill,” he said. Since people are already dying from medicines despite FDA rules, he suggests eliminating them. “More people might die in the beginning, but certainly more people would live in the long run. Sometimes I’d rather have the chance of a heart attack than have continuous bleeding in my stomach,” he said of his own experiences.
A question and answer session and a book signing followed the lecture.
