Are you suggesting punishment doesn't act as a deterrent? Which alternate universe are you speaking of?
I'm not sure why you always have to add something provocative to your replies. No, I do not write (not speak - this is a text based communication medium) of an alternative universe. It does seem your logic skills, however, are severely impaired. (About the same level of insult as your "universe" comment, so it must be allowed under the TOS.) Maybe we can tone down the sarcasm and communicate like we are not in grade school?
Yes, punishment acts as a deterrent. But isn't registration the subject of discussion? Your statements attempted to refute my assertion that registration does not equal safety.
Feel free to explain how punishment for non-registration is a deterrent for unsafe flying? It isn't. The punishment only serves to deter non-registration.
Punishment for unsafe flying will deter unsafe flying (a point I have attempted to make several times). Registration has NOTHING to do with that. Punishment for unsafe flying will be the same deterrent whether or not a registration scheme is in place.
I don't understand how you make these unfounded leaps between unrelated subjects.
I prefer to keep things on topic, However, since you are a moderator and have brought it up a few times, I would like to comment on your "wish" for testing and licensing of drone operators. Such an assertion is both selfish and unnecessary. You view it from your own little world as a pilot and, like many others in various hobbies and occupations, feel that you have some special entitlement to area you operate in (in this case the national airspace). Your view the topic is from a very narrow perspective.
Why not take your "idea' one step further. Why should we allow ANY recreational or private aircraft? They only clog up the airspace, create a safety concern and emit necessary CO2. I have read about many more private aircraft incidents with death and/or injury than I have about drone incidents. Maybe we should ratchet up the safety and training for these pilots - multi year government run classes with mandatory testing and recertification every six months. No more of this "privately owned" flight school. Let's also stop all the random flights and limit all recreational or private flights to two or three specific days each year. On those days you get to fly (with a government auditor sitting beside you) for up to one hour in a specially designated airspace. Over the ocean, not over land. All those private planes only endanger commercial flights. You have no "right" to the sky. Let's leave it to the big commercial operators.
Hyperbole, but it begs the (rhetorical) question - why is YOUR recreational pursuit more important than someone else's? I have seen it with more than a few groups who want exclusive access to an area and resent any other group sharing that space. Each refuses to share and will not compromise. In the end, the groups end up fighting amongst themselves, and everyone loses.
You have your mind set and refuse to see the other side. You are so set that you refuse to apply common sense logic to the discussion. Don't get me wrong... you are entitled to have a positive view of registration and I respect that view. Only disagree with the unreasonable and illogical justifications for this view. I like the color blue... I it because I like it. I don't try to claim that is is a "safer" or "better" color or that it cooks me dinner.