I kind of agree. I feel like the word "unnecessary" in that sentence guts it. Of course we should ban unnecessary and wasteful things. If the question was "should we ban plastic bags completely in favor of re-usable ones" might get a very different answer. I would definitely say yes to the first question but I also sometimes forget to bring my reusable bags to the store and then definitely always get the disposable ones if it's more items than I can carry in my hands.
> Of course we should ban unnecessary and wasteful things
i strongly disagree with this; in almost all cases, the choice of what is unnecessary and wasteful should rest with the individual person most affected by it, not some kind of political authority or social consensus. even when it's legitimately a question of public policy—alcohol, for example, an addictive drug that causes massive amounts of crime and something like 5% of the world's human deaths—pigovian taxes are far preferable to outright bans. alcohol is a useful cleaning fluid, for example, and an effective antidote to ethylene glycol poisoning (though in rich countries safer antidotes are now available)
kim jong un has banned unnecessary and wasteful hairstyles, which is the road down which 'of course we should ban unnecessary and wasteful things' generally leads
i find it rather horrifying how casually people promote totalitarian ideologies like this nowadays
All I'm saying is the word "unnecessary" in that question clearly is a "weasel word" because, just like you're saying, it's subjective and also greatly weakens the statement. Usually unnecessary things with negative externalities are easy for people to say "sure let's get rid of that, it's not providing value". I think you're caveating something which only furthers that sentiment.
i agree that it's a weasel word, but it isn't enough of a weasel word to justify your conclusion. we should abstain from unnecessary and wasteful things, and perhaps in a few cases we should tax them, but very rarely should we ban things simply because they are unnecessary and wasteful!
