Idiocy
Posted: Mon 24 August, 2009 Filed under: Charm School, Cynicism, Stupidity, Thoughts 7 Comments »Having read this story about a rescue helicopter that couldn’t land because some people wouldn’t get out of the way (and thus endangered themselves by being in the way of the rotors) I think we’re just too nice to idiots.
In this case, once people have been told to get out the way, it’s their responsibility to do so. If they fail to do so, and don’t take into account bloody great (unmissable) rotor blades above them, then they’re idiots and thus accept all responsibility for any accidents and/or damage that occur as a result.
As I see it, people need to take more personal responsibility, rather than letting others do it for them. If you do something stupid, and your excuse is “Well nobody told me not to”, then sorry, but you damn well deserve to have been hurt.
But this is a total consequence of The Nanny State Mentality that has built up in the last decade under the current ‘Governmint’.
they should all have their names and addresses taken and fined for impeding emergency services. Nothing to do with nanny state mentality and more to do the need for idiot tax.
I wonder how many of them were waiting for their opportunity to take a poor quality photo on their phone in order to achieve their 15 seconds of fame in the media.
I really don’t think it has anything to do with the imaginary ‘Nanny State’ or party politics, although I would expect to see that comment in the Daily Mail.
I don’t know, while I don’t like the term “Nanny State”, there does seem to have been a process over the last 10-15 years (give or take) of absolving people of any personal responsibility, and putting in legislation to cover it instead.
Personal Injury (PI) legal stuff is (in my mind) one of the big tools in this box.
“Burned yourself on a cup of coffee held in your lap while driving? Sue Macdonals for not giving you a warning that the contents might be hot”.
“Got a seafood allergy, but eaten a prawn mayo sandwich? Sue M&S for not telling you it contained seafood”
“Fallen through a roof while climbing over it to escape police? Sue the company who own the building for not warning you the roof was fragile”
“Got pissed and done something stupid? Sue the pub/brewery for not stopping you from drinking 18 pints. Or just blame the booze instead of saying ‘I was a twat and did something stupid'”.
So on, so forth.
But there does appear now to be a “blame culture”, in that if something happens, it’s never ever ever the fault of the person who did it, there’s always some abstruse “cause”.
Simply could not agree more. If there’s one thing I want my kids to learn it is independence and the ability to think for themselves. Oh – that’s two things.
I would have expected that comment from Gert – the only person I know who’s still proud to be a Labour supporter/voter 😉
Now now, children