Here’s an interesting article sent to me by reader “CB”.
The number of toaster related deaths in the world this past year was 45. This is up 12 from last year, and up 15 from two years ago. The number of toaster related deaths in the US alone was 17, nearly a 7% increase over the past year. This year toasters have killed nearly ten times more people worldwide than the deadly polio virus, and no one disputes what a terrible plague polio has been on society.
“At the steep rate that toaster deaths are increasing, the entire human race may soon be wiped out,” claimed Dr. Willie.
Now its a fake news story, I did a little bit of searching both for follow-ups to this or the real-world toaster death rates, and I’ve found many similar but different variations of this.
But here’s the interesting rub. Those who talk about “Gun Death” as a valid metric, seem perfectly willing to look the other way at the vastly larger deaths caused by auto accidents, or even the subset that is simply caused by drunk drivers. They look the other way at things like heart disease or malaria. Etc Etc.
How many deaths are an acceptable amount by toaster? Obviously to these people the gun is different. Why? BECAUSE the gun is different!
