In the NL a lot of people are either afraid of or concerned about fireworks and are calling for a nationwide ban, with the government looking into it – despite the fact the only fireworks we have now are basically simple fountains, cakes and ground-spinners.
Keeping that in mind, let me show you a part of one of my vacation videos.
This is Shorou Nagashi, the Spirit Boat Procession festival and was recorded in Nagasaki, Japan. It was recorded about 15 years ago and being part of Japanese culture it is still going on today.

Now, Here’s the thing: saying “fireworks is dangerous” is the same as saying “speeding is dangerous” – it is not!
Speeding isn’t dangerous, the inability to see what’s coming is what makes it dangerous. Also, speeding when there’s ice on the road may not be the smartest idea.. But normally when there’s enough grip, you can see everything clearly and you are being very conscious about it, it’s no big deal. Getting faster from A to B in itself has got nothing to do with it.

Likewise with fireworks, if you understand how fireworks behaves and you are being conscious while handling it, the danger subsides.
As crazy or questionable as some of the things shown in that video might seem, like dancing in a big pile of firecrackers or holding them up above the head while jumping, walking around there next to them I felt very safe at all times and I had nothing but admiration for it. That is because these people know what they are doing – they know how fireworks behaves and they are minding the environment. And as you might have noticed, the police there know it as well. They are not trying to stop anyone, instead they are facilitating it. And that is for a country that has a lot of strict rules, go figure!

I don’t know how to communicate this, or even if it is possible. But the question of justice has concerned me greatly of late. And I say to any creature who may be listening; there can be no justice so long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exercise in exceptions.

Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek The Next Generation

Context

When you see fireworks you may see chaos and danger, but people that have more than 20 years of experience with setting off fireworks, like me, know from first hand experience that those shots from regular cakes, rockets and firecrackers, things like that, are nowhere near powerful enough to set a wooden structure on fire or to destroy anything. Hell.. when I was a child my family used to nail these big spinners (+/- 20cm wide) onto wooden poles in their own garden, essentially making a big wall of fire right on top of it and guess what; there never was any problem, aside from one of them occasionally refusing to spin. That wall of fire might become a problem when there’s a roof in the path of the firing line, but like I said before;

CONTEXT!

The only situation I see where those small shots from cakes and rockets setting things on fire is for example when someone has a couch with fabric on top in their garden or balcony and one or a few of those shots end up landing on the couch. But if you’re worried about that, simple solution; take the fabric off on new years eve and put them back on after. Or put a cover on top of it to protect it. Because yes, another part of the problem is some people not taking proper preventive measures, whether they’re setting off fireworks themselves or not.

By banning stuff you aren’t solving the problem, you are ignoring the problem. That is because the problem might not be what you think it is. It all comes down to either Human error or perception. And when you know that, you know where your attention should really be directed towards. Banning things is like fighting symptoms, searching for the underlying cause is actually understanding and remedying the problem.
Context makes so much more sense than universal law.

There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

Ayn Rand

I don’t expect government to do anything with this. After all, being masters of double-speak, they like nothing more than fighting and setting people up against each other. (To give you an example, look at how they say they want peace while simultaneously continue to supply weapons and have voiced their wish to continue until the other side caves in to their demands). Because were they to teach or show people critical thinking skills instead, it threatens their control. And extending into distraction: More often than not they ignore an important issue or they make a big deal out of nothing.

Fortunately I am not focused on them. I am focused on you, the reader. And you have plenty of power, even when it seems like you don’t. And this truly is about more than just fireworks or safety versus danger, this is about keeping free independent thought alive. Things that seem dangerous can be perfectly safe. And at the other hand, things that seem safe can be extremely dangerous. No matter the topic, if you take things at face value, you’ve only got a small part of the picture. If there is one thing I want you to remember it is this:

Nothing has inherent meaning; context and perception is everything!