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Yes - sometimes people make mistakes. And sometimes governments make mistakes. I would put it to you that the government makes a lot of mistakes and that the consequences of government mistakes are huge (because they are forced on everybody & governments often spend billions making their mistakes look good instead of removing the mistake). In relation to forcing responsible behaviour (for example, on a ban of gambling for certain hours, or baby seats in cars) there are several things to consider - not least of which is how many people regularly make mistakes (not to mention who defines what a 'mistake' is). If only one person on earth was going to make a bad decision, then I think you'd agree it would be inappropriate to restrict the rights of everybody on earth for the sake of the one. My suggestion is that parents will generally make the right decision, so the laws are mostly irrelevant. In some cases, the laws will require people to make sub-optimal decisions (as with strawman's example) and in some instances it may improve the decision making (presumably your point). I suggest parents will know better than the government more often than not - and then when they don't, such parents are unlikely to care what the law is anyway. Finally, while there may be less beaten babbies than car accidents - those are the wrong stats to be considering. You have to look at how many there are compared with a realistic counter-factual (as well as factoring in other benefits and costs).
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