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LETTER: One death is too many?

Updated April 21, 2020 - 10:20 pm

Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear is just the latest person to say, “One death is too many” (Thursday Review-Journal). Alas, that is a ridiculous position.

Governments have policies and people choose to engage in actions that result in thousands of deaths every year. Here are just three examples:

1. If the maximum speed limit were only 30 mph on all roads throughout the United States, thousands of lives would be saved.

2. People choose to smoke cigarettes, and the government allows their sale and consumption. Thousands die every year from their harmful effects.

3. During the 2018-2019 U.S. flu season, 34,000 people died. No one was quarantined, and the business of the country went on.

When dealing with millions of people, there is a cost-benefit analysis inherent in every decision. The idea that we should all remain huddled in our homes until the chance of deaths is zero is not a realistic position. I agree with Mayor Carolyn Goodman: It is time to open Nevada for business.

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