Victimless Crimes

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

How about we take the warning labels off of everything, and watch the world self destruct? Seriously, we have, what? 8 billion folks living on this little blue globe of ours, resources are growing thin, the ozone layer it going to shit, and everyone's trying to kill each other over land, water and whatever else is in short supply.

Criminalizing behavior that hurts only the person exhibiting it is only protecting a person too stupid to be allowed to live anyway. People become drug addicts everyday, and instead of letting nature weed out the weak, we criminalize the behavior that may help the rest of the population survive. People eat themselves to morbid obesity, and we PITY THEM! A guy gets on a talk show who's 700 pounds and people cry as if he CAUGHT a disease or something!

Yeah, the name of the disease? Eattoodamnmuchitis! (and I don't mean people who actually have physiological issues and can't avoid it, I mean people who are the only ones to blame for their weight issues then cry about them.) Yeah, I may be overweight, but I know who's fault it is; my parent's for starting the bad eating habits and myself for continuing them when I was old enough to know better.

Then you have the people who sued McDonalds because they spilled hot coffee on THEMSELVES and didn't know it was HOT. Well, no shit, Sherlock! It's fucking COFFEE! After that douche bag is the person who tries to sue Burger King for them getting fat. Uh... duh?

Along those lines, I'd like to bring up the lawsuits against Big Tobacco. If you were born and started smoking during the time when people thought smoking was good for you, then go ahead, sue away because they fucked you over. HOWEVER, if you started smoking AFTER everyone knew it was causing emphysema and lung/throat cancer, then shut up, 'cause you knew better. Seriously, you are not entitled to anything beyond what smoking gave you.

Big Tobacco, as of right now, is hurting absolutely no one. Yes, their product is addictive, but we know that now. Yes, it's harmful to people, but, once again, it's a known fact now, and has been for some time. So, they should only be held responsible for the people who started smoking during the period of time when they were denying all the negative effects of smoking.

As for pot drug abusers, unless you can PROVE they are actually doing harm to another person (i.e., their kids) they should not be stopped. It's up to them what they do to their bodies. However, I do believe once children become involved, it's no longer victimless and must be dealt with as a child endangerment crime.

So, should we continue to protect the stupid at the cost of the rest of the world, or should we allow them to implode and start helping people who aren't wallowing in pity, who aren't burying themselves?

EDIT: Perhaps, instead of giving money to people who do stupid things/forcing people to shell out cash for crimes that hurt no one but themselves we should focus on fining people for taking from those in need.

There are people who abuse the systems. I've known people who live in the projects and receive food stamps. They don't have to work because they've managed to convince the government that they can't work due to disabilities that they don't have. The worst part? They manage to do this for so long that they end up actually handicapping themselves.

It's like stealing from the soup kitchen when you have more then enough to buy yourself a meal. You're not just taking food, but barring at least one other person from eating who truly needs it. Should these people not be penalized? What, with all that money they saved, they'll can shell out a few bucks for a good $200 dollar fine for getting caught. And that money can go to helping more people. Hell, maybe on top of that, they should have to work in the soup kitchen as well. Even better? Strip them of everything they own and give it to the person they denied a meal to. Then they can know just how horrible of a thing they've done.

As for abusing the food stamp/affordable housing system, they should be kicked out with nowhere to go. Then they can truly understand what it is they were forcing other people into.

See, the issue is, people don't realize that by stealing a resource like that, they're hurting others. They need to truly understand what it is they're doing to people when they take what they do not deserve.

Edited June 26, 2007 by Alien Pirate Pixagi

[foeofthelance]

Considering we now have warning labels such as "Warning: Do not attempt to stop chainsaw with genitals" I'm all for letting stupid people go the way of the Dodo. We put seatbelts in cars, use them. If its defective, then its the makers fault. If you didnt wear it, your brain is defective, and its your fault. Making the public aware of a danger is one thing, protecting them from it is another. But please, lets not let the idiots breed.

I, personally, vote for the Dogbert solution. Have the president order everyone to stand under twelve feet of water for ten minutes. Those of us who surive divvy up whats left.

[Aeka-chan]

What we should do is a make a zoo of these knuckle ehads and show kids, then explain what is happening... Thats how I learned, perhaps I should explain- My dad is white trash in every sense of the word (And oddly enough, mother is quite inteligent, I guess opposites do attract huh?) Anyway, a good example of what I'm talking about with the learning experiances was when a bug got stuck in one of the wall sockets, and he tried to get it out with a butter knife... It brings to mind a Christopher Titus quote actually-

Women in general SUCK at raising kids. That's right, I said it! Who wants some? C'mon! When a woman sees a kid putting a penny in a light socket, what does she do? "NO!" You smack that little hand. "Well there!" But when that kid's five, getting smacked in the hand is no big deal anymore. Men see the exact same kid putting a penny in a light socket and go: "No no wait wait...shh shh shh shh...well go on!" -electricity sound, lights dim- "Not gonna do that again are ya? I know it hurt. Shot your ass about 8 feet, I saw. Get up. Yes your eyebrows will grow back."

This man also blamed my mental disorder on my mom when it was his side of the family that had all the autism problems and such, and he was the one who expected mum to work her ass off even when pregnant with me, and when he was supposed to be watching me when I was like one or two, he fell asleep infront of the T.V. and I had fallen down the stairs... Just recently he was hospitalized with a liver condition, and he doesn't know why... And I think 'Gee, maybe it was the five bottles of beer you drink each day'... And no, I don't live with him, mum and I moved out when I was six and he shot the computer, while mom was sitting at it, because 'the clicking was pissing him off', but in the end, I managed to learn many thigns from studying him, like drugs (With the exception of the stuff I take to keep me from bouncing off the walls) are evil, never dive into a shallow pool head first (He lost half of his teeth after that bout of idiocy), and never spray aerosol into a wood burning furnace... Anyway, enough of my rambling, back to my point people who are stupid enough to even consider stoping a chainsaw with their genitals should probably neutered/spayed and shoved into a special zoo for so little kids can study things that they shouldn't do.

[AmyMcClair]

I completely agree that stupid people should not be protected from themselves. I think we should create roped-off areas for these people so they can't hurt the rest of us.

As for the McDonald's lawsuit, it was stupid and she should never have gotten 3 million dollars, but the suit did serve a greater purpose. McDonald's was knowingly making their coffee dangerously hot - hotter than any other coffee supplier at the time. The verdict forced them to warn their customers that the coffee was hotter than normal. She didn't get money because she burned herself, but because they made the coffee too hot. They were punitive damages not compensatory damages (pain and suffering, etc.).

Don't get me wrong, when a lady goes through the drive-thru at McDonald's, orders a cup of coffee, places it between her legs - without a lid - and drives away, she should not hold anyone but herself responsible for getting burned.

As my criminal justice prof stated, punitive damages from a case like this shouldn't go to the person bringing the suit, they should go to a worthy cause. In this case I would recommend the money be given to a burn unit in the jurisdiction of the case. As it stands right now, not only are we protecting idiots like her, but we are rewarding them for thinking to sue someone else.