This just popped in my head this morning. I remember learning in a college course on Law and Economics about the evolution of tort liability over the past few hundred years. In short, originally there was very little recourse against a manufacturer, but as people became more urbanized the courts have slowly shifted the law to be more in favor of the consumer.
I.E. 150 years ago if a product harms you then presumably you didn't use it right so it's your fault. Whereas now if a product harms you it's the manufacturers fault because it was either defective or they didn't warn/educate you properly.
My professor posited that this was due to decreased mechanical knowledge of the city dweller versus the farmer. Farmers being generally very knowledgeable about mechanical devices since they have always serviced their own small machines etc.
So as a result, all products now come with additional costs in the form of safety switches, 10 paragraph warning booklets, and a padded price to cover contingent lawsuits. In short, our increasing specialization has created an entire industry of lawyer's to manage the potential tort liability, which I could argue is a net loss to society.
Even more to this point, do you realize how difficult it is to organize something formally in the United States? If were to lead 10 of my close friends on a hike there would be no issue, but If I led some strangers I'd have to get them to sign waivers, go through a 15 minute pre-hike education speach, and definitely limit the activities to only the safe safest. It's not even worth it.