Society today, in 2004 in America, is ludicrous. People who have no intelligence or common sense can do something INCREDIBLY stupid and turn around and get filthy rich by suing someone else. People who break the law often have more rights than those who have been violated. The world is becoming emotionally scarred by the constant barrage of violence that comes out of our entertainment and information resources, from movies to the news to video games to TV.
Now don’t get me wrong about this. I’m not saying that violent video games, movies, or information necessarily lead to violent behavior; I’m not particularly prone to violence, and I regularly watch violent movies and play violent video games. And I’m not saying that stupidity, violence, greed, or any of the other “social ills” are anything new. What I am saying is that America is treading a path that can only lead to darkness, not the enlightened society that so many would have us believe.
For example, why is it that someone can break into a house, illegally and of their own free will, get hurt, and turn around and sue the home owner?
Why is it that a man could put has brand new Winnebago on cruise control, get up and go back to make himself some coffee (resulting in a crash, of course), turn around and sue Winnebago for over a million dollars (and a new Winnebago) – and WIN – in a trial that actually went to court?
Why is it that a man can shoot his neighbor’s dog with a pellet gun (who happened to be tethered to a pole in the ground), accidentally get close enough to the dog that the dog attacks him, and then turn around and sue his neighbor for medical expenses?
Why is it that a burglar, who robs a home while the family is on vacation and gets locked in the garage for three days (forced to dine on dog food and coke), can turn around and sue said family for trauma and anguish?
Does our legal system even work any more? Of course it does. How many violent and dangerous people would be on the street today if it didn’t?
The problem lies not (at least 100%) in the legal system. It lies within the jury. Within the everyday people it is meant to protect. Because those people are not perfect, the legal system cannot be.
I, for example, believe that if some individual is going to willfully, knowingly violate my rights to safety, to freedom, to security – whether it be to break into my home or to steal my car or . . . I firmly believe that said individual no longer HAS any rights. That person made a choice. A choice to break the law, to infringe on my rights and endanger not only myself but those around me. So if they trip and fall and break a leg, then that’s the cost. If they fall on a knife, then that’s the cost. If they get locked in the garage and starve, then that’s the cost. They have NO rights left. The fact that they could turn around and sue ME? For what, using my house? Securing my possessions? Protecting my family? I don’t think so. I think that’s absolutely ridiculous.
Endanger me or those I care about, willfully violate my rights, and lose yours. Turn the tables around – if I willfully violate you or your rights, by breaking into your home uninvited (for example), then I have chosen to give up my rights. Simple as that.
And I think that those of us with any sense left need to stand up and put on the brakes of society. Enough is enough. If Tim Eyman can put initiatives in front of the voting public, so can anybody else. Societal change starts with our caring enough to speak up. So shout loud.
Ok. My rant for the day is over.