Precautionary Principle

Throughout learning about the Rwandan genocide we have noticed how the United States takes a hands-off approach to foreign diplomacy. Rather than intervening in the Rwandan genocide early, to try to prevent mass murder, the United States decided to keep their hands out of the situation. With regards to foreign diplomacy and other sectors, the United States has had a Laissez-faire approach. This brings up the “precautionary principle”. This is a principle that states that “the introduction of a new product or process whose ultimate effects are disputed or unknown should be resisted”. It is a very simple concept.

The precautionary principle is best displayed by the recent Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes. The Model 8 has crashed twice in the past six months. In reaction to this knowledge, the European Union “suspended all flight operations of the Boeing 737 Max 8 model in question”. However, the United States has not suspended all flight operations of the Max 8. Rather, Southwest and American Airlines are still using the Max 8. Southwest and American Airlines said, “they have analyzed data from their thousands of flights with the planes and found no reason to ground them”. Another large difference between the US and Europe is that rather than talking to scientists and researchers, the President talked to Dennis A. Muilenburg, the chief executive of Boeing. During this conversation, Muilenburg convinced Trump that the FAA had everything under control and that there is no reason to ground the planes.

This shows how detrimental our hands-off approach can be. Not only, does the United States not intervene early to stop crises. Once there is a majority consensus to discontinue a certain action, the US debates whether to do it. This is a serious problem that puts lives at risk. The US has the intel and capital to prevent such issues. However, our reactionary conduct inhibits us from solving problems effectively.