06.30.08
caveat emptor
My mother got me a neat set of tumblers for my birthday, good for mojitos.
A label was still stuck to one of the glasses when I unwrapped them. Pottery Barn Baja HB, Hecho en Mexico. That got me to pondering- what if these glasses are contaminated with lead?
They probably aren’t, I guess. I’m just thinking about the old Libertarian thing about how no one would dare put out a defective product, because the market would judge them swiftly, and they would be run out of business. But this isn’t true. Look at the contaminated Chinese toy scare from a few months back. Manufacturers cut corners, or didn’t consider lead toxicity, or didn’t really understand what they were producing, and lead ended up in products destined for the mouths of children. Some toys were recalled, a few factories picked up new names and business licenses, a few retailers lost some holiday business. But market forces didn’t work as a deterrent.
So, it’s plausible that I have contaminated glasses. If it’s true, maybe the defect will be found, judgment rendered, glasses recalled, and the manufacturer will go out of business.
But I’ll still have lead poisoning. Oh sure, maybe a small settlement check. But I’ll still be brain damaged (moreso!)
I propose a new free market ethic. To start, every responsible citizen should have a degree in electronics, a degree in organic chemistry, a degree in mechanical engineering, certification as an electrician, and a mass spectrometer in their kitchen. Anyone who doesn’t take these simple precautions is being wildly irresponsible.
