I read the article when it was published (I pretty much religiously read his essays in the New Yorker), and I get it that he was just pointing out that there are paradoxical alternatives that aren't really under consideration, and just musing on them.
And that kind of brings us back to the whole Who Is Malcolm Gladwell And Why Do We Like Him question. He's great at pointing out these funny little inconsistencies, like how increased airport security yields fewer incidents with increasingly horrific results, but he's not great at finding solutions. On the other hand, that's not his intent. His intent is to noodle. And what a great noodler he is.
But it's when we say, well why NOT try it? that we have to face the real reality world and see why it wouldn't fly.
By the way, I thought he might be at a new low point in this week's New Yorker. I depend on MG to find me people and things I would never hear about otherwise -- the diaper guy, for example -- and I gather that the Dog Whisperer has a television show.