All my life, I've seen these crazy news reports about people suing someone else, often times getting huge sums of money, for something that was partially - or mostly - their own fault. We all cringe when we hear these stories, but it's a real issue that goes deep into our pockets. Our whole society has a warped mentality that someone else should be responsible for ... your own bad decisions, your health problems, your physical handicap, your depression, your failed investments, your smoking/drug habit, or the fact that your kid can't swim yet she snuck down and found an open door and decided to try a few laps in the hotel pool at midnight (yes, the hotel had to pay).
That "someone else" usually is your employer, your government, your doctor, your neighbor, or the store that sold you the gun which your wife used to shoot your brother (yes, the store owner had to pay).
The cost to society for all this overhead is astonishing. It's disgusting. I'm not talking just about the money that people win in ludicrous lawsuits, it's the cost of writing all the laws that try to keep it from happening again, enforcing all the new laws, court costs, costs to run our overcrowded jails, increased insurance premiums for everyone, higher taxes, and higher prices for just about everything we buy.
It also limits the freedoms of everyone else. How many times have you been told: "you can't do that here, last year we were sued by someone who did that and they hurt themselves."
Here's the latest outrage: There was an article in yesterday's news outlining a new law in Canada (which, the article stated, is being considered in the U.S. as well) that says a that a disabled person who is not able to fly alone can get a free ticket for an assistant. Presumably, this applies even if the "disability" is obesity, caused by the passenger's own inability to stay away from quarter pounders with cheese at McDonalds! In any case, no matter what the disability is, why is it the AIRLINE'S responsibility to provide a free companion ticket?
This is just ripe for abuse! Don't get me wrong, I am truly sympathetic to those with disabilities - but if this law comes to the U.S. you will immediately get every family with an ADHD kid saying "Whoopee, let's go to Disneyland - Parents fly free!"
Currently, some U.S. airlines charge people for two seats if a passenger is too obese to fit into one seat. I think that's fair - if you use the resources for two people, that's what you should pay. Even if the "free companion ticket" law doesn't come to pass, I'm sure that someone will eventually object to the policy of charging for two seats (if it hasn't already happened) ... there will be a lawsuit, hundreds of thousands of dollars of court costs will be spent on both sides, this one lucky passenger will hit the jackpot and get a whopping settlement, more money will be spent writing and enforcing new laws, the airlines will be forced to provide double-wide seats, and ticket prices will go up for everyone else.
Healthcare is an area where we have an outstanding array of problems. Doctors and hospitals are so afraid of getting sued, that our society has forced the healthcare industry to pile on every possible safeguard. Billions and billions and billions of dollars are being spent (wasted, in my opinion) on needless overhead, insurance premiums, legal fees. And then we wonder why healthcare is so expensive.
Admittedly, there is often a fine line between what is your own fault and what is someone else's. I see the need for consumer protection laws, but they've really gotten out of hand - making it very expensive for companies to do business, which stifles the economy. I really think we need to draw a line in the sand - make some definitions of what parts of your life are your own responsibility, which you can't blame someone else for. If YOU buy a product and YOU use it inappropriately, don't blame someone else if, for example, there wasn't a warning on your lawnmower saying "don't pick up your lawnmower and use it to trim hedges" (yes, this warning was really on a lawnmower).
This is pervasive to our whole society. And our response, so far, has been a form of socialism at its worst - our court system has supported the notion that "everyone else" should pay. And yes, fixing it would take a major re-write of our entire legal system - possibly even an amendment to the constitution. Seriously! Would you support a legal system that promotes "Personal Responsibility", which says that you own your own life and you are responsible for it? I know I would!
Or is this just too "Libertarian" for our democratic sensibilities?