The Island of Logic

http://www.islandoflogic.com/index.php/2008/07/04/lawsuit-possible-after-teen-killed-by-six-flags-ride/

On this Independence Day, which some are now naming so aptly Dependence Day, I want to talk about personal responsibility. As in the words of one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson, “I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it”. Thomas Jefferson believed in the merits of hard work and the belief that we are the ones that are most responsible for our own lives and not a government forcing others to take responsibility for us. This nation was built on the princples of personal responsibility and we have a Declaration of Independence and Constitution that reflect these values. I find it interesting that last year I also wrote about personal responsibility. Follow the link above. It seems to be a reoccuring subject with me every 4th, but I can’t just sit by and say nothing when I see one of our founding principles trampled on with impunity by those that currently hold power.

Whose fault is it that we have the current government in place? Whose fault is it that it looks like we are going to elect a Socialist as President? Whose fault is it that our politicians seem to be interested in spouting populist viewpoints rather than speaking the truth? Is it the integrity of our elected officials or is it the integrity of the electorate? I constantly hear people complaining about politicians, but I don’t see much complaining or blame being placed on ourselves. I am actually including myself in this. The reason that I am writing about this is because of a business networking luncheon that I attended yesterday. The controversial topic of “What’s Bothering You” came up. I was amazed that I kept hearing the refreshing viewpoint that the lack of personal responsibility is what has got this nation to its current point, and the people speaking were even speaking about themselves. The reason that our nation is at its current point is not the fault of the politicians but the electorate of which they are a reflection. Our founding Fathers designed a government by the people for the people and that is exactly what it is. The reason our nation’s government is in its current state is the fault of us as the electorate. We no longer take responsibility for ourselves, and we have removed God from our lives. If we want to change this country we need to start by changing ourselves and encouraging those around us to change. We need to start by turning back to God, and taking responsibility for ourselves. If this happens among us; that is when we will start seeing our government began to reflect the founding values upon which this great nation was built. Currently the way that it stands, the reason that our “Conservative” candidates seem to take on a more populist viewpoint is because the electorate is demanding it. The flaw with a government, by the people for the people, is that when 51% of the people start to believe that the other 49% owe them something, it will happen. Now I believe that the form of government that our founding Fathers put together and signed on September 17, 1787 is the best form of government on the face of the earth, but it is only as good as the people backing it. When the values and morals of the people degrade we cannot expect anything less from the government. We often hear the statement that Washington changes people, and I believe that is true. We need to however look a little deeper and see why this is true. Why is it that seemingly principled people capitulate after they have been elected? Well first of all, politicians are people just like we are. They base their personal value and worth on their jobs and careers, just like we do. We will do almost anything at times to keep our own careers and jobs; maybe even shifting our principles and values a little. It’s because our careers identify who we are and give us a feeling of self worth. When a politician, arriving in Washington, feels that he needs to give in a little to the principles that he was elected for in order to keep his job; his constituents need to take action. We need to start making them realize that their careers are in jeopardy if they violate their principles; however we need to hold ourselves to that same standard. Washington will never change if we don’t change first.

Lawyer: Lawsuit possible after teen killed by Six Flags ride (http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8580338)

I know I am weighing in a little late on this story, but when I was watching Fox News yesterday morning and all the “experts” were arguing about whether Six Flags was liable or not, I decided that I had to say something. Besides everyone knows that I can’t shut-up about anything. My question is, “Whatever happened to personal responsibility?”. Everything is always someone else’s fault. Criminals aren’t responsible for their actions anymore, it was their rough childhood, it was the Twinkies they ate that clouded their judgement, they were insane at the time, etc., etc.. If someone does something stupid, it’s never their own fault. Humans are known to do stupid things from time to time, and sometimes they die because of it. Come on, the kid crawled over two six foot high fences, covered in warning signs. Obviously, he really didn’t have much of a head to lose. The last time I looked, city streets, subways, and railroad tracks aren’t surrounded by fences and warning signs, but it is common knowledge that if I run onto any of these and there is oncoming traffic or trains, that I will probably die. I haven’t heard of the city government getting sued the last time a kid ran into traffic after his ball. Instead of someone getting awarded a large settlement in this case the kid should instead be awarded a Darwin Award. The “pop” noise that was heard was Mother Nature sanitizing the gene pool. Ok, that was a little sadistic and cruel, and my sympathy and condolences do go to the family. I do sympathize with them however, primarily because my own family will probably also experience my untimely death because of some stupid action on my part. I am simply basing this on a past history of stupid accidents that I have had. I do beg of my family however, to not file a lawsuit on my behalf. It will be my fault for being stupid. I do not need the stupid action that resulted in my death aired on the 5 o’clock news and printed in the local newspaper headlines, Local Stupid Man Performs Stupid Action That Results In His Death, Family Suing. Please, just dig a hole and kick me into it, and tell everyone that it was just a misfortunate accident and spare them the details. I do want to leave with a small shred of dignity. You may say, “What a dumb subject for Independence Day.”, but I say that this fits right in with the ideals of the Founding Fathers when they penned the Declaration of Independence. They championed the ideas of freedom and personal responsibility. We just need to get our country back to those founding ideals. I would like to give this story my own headline: Lawsuit possible despite teen being killed by his own stupidity.

Now a case that does deserve a lawsuit is the story about the woman who died on the Emergency Room floor. This is disgusting. (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/03/hospital.woman.death/)