The Precautionary Principle

A Modern Form Of Superstition

The precautionary principle is not much more but medieval superstition cloaked in pseudo rational and scientific language. It exploits human fears whether real or imagined. In many cases it is thinly veiled demagoguery and populism, because the rhetoric of caution appeals to many.

An Unnecessary Deceleration Of Human Progress

To use a hyperbole: If our ancestors had already lived by the precautionary principle, we would still live in caves. In too many cases it is being applied to excessively restrain human progress, economic activity, and individual freedom. Human progress without taking risk is not possible.

A Convenient Tool For Power Hungry Politicians

It gives ever so eager politicians all the leverage to impose their biased worldview onto the rest of us. It is being used by politicians to legitimize all kinds of superfluous and arbitrary government interventions and regulations. It is a big government principle.

An European Obsession

In particular, the ever so sophisticated Europeans are obsessed with it as they have enshrined this pseudo principle, e.g., in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. European community environmental policy “shall be based on the precautionary principle …” (Article 130R(2)).