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On Personal Responsibility
Jul. 2nd, 2003 08:52 amOne of the major problems with American today, if not the world (certainly America, don't know about the rest) is a lack of personal responsibility.
It really saddens and disgusts me when you see this constant barrage of situations and cases where some responsibility and common sense would make a world of difference.
But hey.. we have no reason to need to be responsible. The law has seen to that.
If I malign lawyers often, it's because.. well, they deserve it. Not all lawyers are terrible corrupt people.. maybe it's even some sort of vocal minority that keep taking these high profile cases of people suing because they couldn't take any sort of responsibility, but the profession as a whole has done NOTHING to try and stop this.
That's why I hate lawyers.
I keep seeing these cases...
People suing McDonalds because they MADE them Fat
People suing companies because they couldn't be bothered to do explicitly what the directions said or use some sort of common sense (If it's small and swallowable, it should not be given to young children. You should not be wrapping it around your neck. etc.)
People suing the big tobacco industry because they "didn't know" how bad cigarettes were for you (Come off it. They've been teaching that to us since grade school. Weren't you watching?)
Why should we use common sense? I mean seriously.
I need money. I'll do something so utterly stupid it's not funny.. then find some nice lawyer to represent me against the company of the product I use, sue them.. hey, i'm rich!
This is acceptable behavior in America. No one's tried to put a stop to it. Lawyers keep taking these stupid cases. People keep making the claims.
You see this in other industries too.
Like Computer Science.
Let's say Manufacturer A creates Program B. Program B is buggy.. it crashes computers, it doesn't work with all hardware, it freezes mid-run.
So what does Manufacturer A do? They put it out anwyays? Then, eventually they'll put out a patch.. for a reasonable price.
It isn't just Windows, folks.. its all sorts of programs.
Why is this sort of thing acceptable? This isn't acceptable in other industries. If Ford put out a car that died half way down the highway or that suddenly blows up unexpectedly, they would be responsible for it.. for quite a few billion dollars worth of damage (Hell, look at the Firestone case from a couple years back)
I'll tell you.. I think they need to start doing with Computer Science what they do with Engineering.
Want to write code? Get yourself a Liscence.
See.. if an engineer designs a building that collapses, he is personally responsible for it. He would lose his job, his liscence, probably do jail time.. because he's liscenced!
If a computer scientists devided a program, however that.. clogs AT&Ts Long Distance for over 12 hours or causes a Space Shuttle to think it's got a problem it doesn't.. or whatever.. then they, too, should be responsible for their mistake. Especially today where the world is becoming increasingly wired.
If Microsoft programs were responsible for the terrible excuse for code they send out (and the even worse patches), then not only would you see upgrades less than once a year, but Windows might actually be a good OS.
Responsibility, people! We need to be responsible for what we do and what we say.
Over here, in Buffalo (probably other places), the city is dying because not only is anyone willing to take responsibility for their stupidity and their politicking, but they're so busy being stupid and playing politics that no one's trying to fix anything.
Our one big hope.. a control board that will take control of our finances (that we can't handle), is being fought with tooth and nail (they're in court on Thursday. Not sure the specifics yet.)
Another example..
Bush? Iraq? That is the fault of EVERY CITIZEN IN THE UNITED STATES.
Yes, I put the responsible exactly where it belongs.. right on your shoulders.
We all allowed Bush to come to power.. by either voting poorly (unfortunately why I liked Nader, a vote for Nader was essentially a vote for Bush) or, worse yet, not voting at all.
Democracy (well, we're a Republic, but that's not the point) is a joke when less than 50% of the population votes (and that's only during President Elections. Other elections get generally 20% less than that.)
Alot of you think "Well, my vote is worthless. No one listens to me again." And you're right, to a degree.. *1* vote is generally meaningless, but votes are like dollars.. collect enough of them and you've got some real power.
Your vote itself may not be enough to mean anything, but if everyone who criticises Bush now (well, everyone America) had voted against him to begin with, perhaps Bush would not be president, perhaps we would not have gotten involved in Iraq or made such a mess of afghanistan.
It's all about responsibility. We make choices every day. Important ones.
We're a fat nation because we CHOOSE not to eat right or exercise
(McDonalds the problem? Ha! If we all went back to eating better again, I bet you'd find that to keep business McDonalds would change their menu to accomodate us)
We're a stupid nation, because we CHOOSE not to learn or keep voting down or taking money our of efforts to help us learn.
We're a dirty and pollution nation, because we CHOOSE not to really care about cleaning ourselves up, especially if it might cost too much money (Heil, the almighty dollar, our King, our god!)
It amuses me that so many Americans are so sure that we're the best country in the world. That all countries on the world should be lucky if they were like us.
Personally, I think we're nowhere near that good. We're a poor, pathetic, dirty, disgusting and MOSTLY greedy little country bent on World Domination.. either through politics, war or business.
And we, the citizens of this country, have allowed it to be so.
Happy (almost) 4th of July.
It really saddens and disgusts me when you see this constant barrage of situations and cases where some responsibility and common sense would make a world of difference.
But hey.. we have no reason to need to be responsible. The law has seen to that.
If I malign lawyers often, it's because.. well, they deserve it. Not all lawyers are terrible corrupt people.. maybe it's even some sort of vocal minority that keep taking these high profile cases of people suing because they couldn't take any sort of responsibility, but the profession as a whole has done NOTHING to try and stop this.
That's why I hate lawyers.
I keep seeing these cases...
People suing McDonalds because they MADE them Fat
People suing companies because they couldn't be bothered to do explicitly what the directions said or use some sort of common sense (If it's small and swallowable, it should not be given to young children. You should not be wrapping it around your neck. etc.)
People suing the big tobacco industry because they "didn't know" how bad cigarettes were for you (Come off it. They've been teaching that to us since grade school. Weren't you watching?)
Why should we use common sense? I mean seriously.
I need money. I'll do something so utterly stupid it's not funny.. then find some nice lawyer to represent me against the company of the product I use, sue them.. hey, i'm rich!
This is acceptable behavior in America. No one's tried to put a stop to it. Lawyers keep taking these stupid cases. People keep making the claims.
You see this in other industries too.
Like Computer Science.
Let's say Manufacturer A creates Program B. Program B is buggy.. it crashes computers, it doesn't work with all hardware, it freezes mid-run.
So what does Manufacturer A do? They put it out anwyays? Then, eventually they'll put out a patch.. for a reasonable price.
It isn't just Windows, folks.. its all sorts of programs.
Why is this sort of thing acceptable? This isn't acceptable in other industries. If Ford put out a car that died half way down the highway or that suddenly blows up unexpectedly, they would be responsible for it.. for quite a few billion dollars worth of damage (Hell, look at the Firestone case from a couple years back)
I'll tell you.. I think they need to start doing with Computer Science what they do with Engineering.
Want to write code? Get yourself a Liscence.
See.. if an engineer designs a building that collapses, he is personally responsible for it. He would lose his job, his liscence, probably do jail time.. because he's liscenced!
If a computer scientists devided a program, however that.. clogs AT&Ts Long Distance for over 12 hours or causes a Space Shuttle to think it's got a problem it doesn't.. or whatever.. then they, too, should be responsible for their mistake. Especially today where the world is becoming increasingly wired.
If Microsoft programs were responsible for the terrible excuse for code they send out (and the even worse patches), then not only would you see upgrades less than once a year, but Windows might actually be a good OS.
Responsibility, people! We need to be responsible for what we do and what we say.
Over here, in Buffalo (probably other places), the city is dying because not only is anyone willing to take responsibility for their stupidity and their politicking, but they're so busy being stupid and playing politics that no one's trying to fix anything.
Our one big hope.. a control board that will take control of our finances (that we can't handle), is being fought with tooth and nail (they're in court on Thursday. Not sure the specifics yet.)
Another example..
Bush? Iraq? That is the fault of EVERY CITIZEN IN THE UNITED STATES.
Yes, I put the responsible exactly where it belongs.. right on your shoulders.
We all allowed Bush to come to power.. by either voting poorly (unfortunately why I liked Nader, a vote for Nader was essentially a vote for Bush) or, worse yet, not voting at all.
Democracy (well, we're a Republic, but that's not the point) is a joke when less than 50% of the population votes (and that's only during President Elections. Other elections get generally 20% less than that.)
Alot of you think "Well, my vote is worthless. No one listens to me again." And you're right, to a degree.. *1* vote is generally meaningless, but votes are like dollars.. collect enough of them and you've got some real power.
Your vote itself may not be enough to mean anything, but if everyone who criticises Bush now (well, everyone America) had voted against him to begin with, perhaps Bush would not be president, perhaps we would not have gotten involved in Iraq or made such a mess of afghanistan.
It's all about responsibility. We make choices every day. Important ones.
We're a fat nation because we CHOOSE not to eat right or exercise
(McDonalds the problem? Ha! If we all went back to eating better again, I bet you'd find that to keep business McDonalds would change their menu to accomodate us)
We're a stupid nation, because we CHOOSE not to learn or keep voting down or taking money our of efforts to help us learn.
We're a dirty and pollution nation, because we CHOOSE not to really care about cleaning ourselves up, especially if it might cost too much money (Heil, the almighty dollar, our King, our god!)
It amuses me that so many Americans are so sure that we're the best country in the world. That all countries on the world should be lucky if they were like us.
Personally, I think we're nowhere near that good. We're a poor, pathetic, dirty, disgusting and MOSTLY greedy little country bent on World Domination.. either through politics, war or business.
And we, the citizens of this country, have allowed it to be so.
Happy (almost) 4th of July.
