Consent

(Conversation between the Secretary of Defence and the Chief Commander of the Army continued.)

The seasoned soldier asked, "Well, let's be pragmatic. Even if your plan works, would it be sufficient to turn away enough member of our army ?"

"Quite right. It may not. But we could do more." The government official seemed confident.

"Eh ?"

"You see, we've got to explain all the pros and cons of this armor to whoever getting it. All soldiers are encouraged to come and take one, but, before doing so, they have to receive a full explanation by dedicated officials and then sign a consent, in order to prove that they understand the potential risk - say, hurting their back, slowing down their movement, or whatever." The secretary explained.

The naive general hesitated, "Do you mean a lengthy procedure to get the armor would turn them away ?"

"Oh, that's the minor part of it," the politician-to-be chuckled, "The real point is: They would all think such an elaborated protecting mechanism to the administrator would mean the risk of wearing the new armor is real and substantial !"

PS. You may think the conversation I recently described weird - that could not be what actually did happen. Yes, I tend to agree. Nonetheless it proves again the very principle: It is usually impossible to tell an ingenious crook from a complete idiot.