Personal responsibility is dead

[oly884]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013395010_drinkban11m.html

I'm deeply saddened that we've come down to this.

A situation where 9 kids, not even 21, do something stupid and can have an impact on every single adult in this state. It's beyond disgusting and these kids should be ashamed of themselves. Not to mention they were saying these kids were pouring shots of vodka into these drinks, beer was everywhere, other hard liquors were everywhere, it's a simple case of college binge drinking that went way out of hand.

They chose to drink, and no matter how good or easy a drink tastes, it does not remove the fact that they choose to drink, and drank to a level that required hospitalization. The blame for that lies on no one but their own.

But, we've got these idiot R's and D's running this state that feel the have to save everyone from their own stupidity, so they decide for all stupid AND responsible people that we can't handle this drink. Yet they give licenses to 16 year old kids who routinely die in accidents due to drinking and driving, racing, or simply doing something stupid, yet no one raises and issue over this.

I'm amazed that we've failed so badly as a society, that we feel the need to not let people pay for their own actions, and worst of all, that sacrificing freedoms is justifiable if it saves stupid people from themselves.

This goes right along with the banning of Happy Meals (or the toys in them) in San Fransisco.

Instead of educating people about their health, kids health, etc it's just easier to give the middle finger to freedom and have mommy and daddy government step in and screw everything up for people who DO use more than a few brain cells.

I'm sorry, but we can't save everyone, it sounds cold, but to put it simply, natural selection has to take its place at a certain point. Those too stupid to understand pounding alcohol or eating at McD's every day is bad for you do not deserve to continue their lifestyle, and the especially do not deserve to be the cause of ME loosing my freedoms.

Never mind the fact that banning these drinks will not stop one single kid from drinking.... Does anyone think that there will be one kid out there that thinks, "oh, they banned four loko, looks like I won't go get plastered this weekend!"

I'm going to ahead and say no, the kid will find something else to drink, or go find vodka and buy an energy drink. It's a waste of time, it's a slap in the face of freedom, and ultimately bad for our society as a whole. People have to pay for bad mistakes, that's how they learn. If you don't let them pay for their mistakes, they won't learn, and we dumb down our society/culture even more.

And for what it's worth, I hate these drinks, they taste like crap and give one hell of a hangover. But it's not about *the* drink, it's about government intervention into our personal lives and telling us what we can and can't have based on the stupidest people in our society.

And what's next, some kids go out and get plastered off of something else, or do something stupid and get hurt, are we going to ban that? How do we stop this nanny-state mentality?

[some_odd_girl]

I agree - this is not addressing the root issue. I haven't ever tried these drinks, but it seems rather stupid for almost anyone to drink, if they have the alcohol content of about 5 beers. I mean, if that's all in one can, you prob don't really realize how much ur drinking! I know even I wouldn't be able to handle that much alcohol well. The issue is not the kind of drink, but the fact that minors are getting a hold of stuff they shouldn't be. They'll find something else to drink. I mean heck, why not just through 3 shots in a Monster?

[oly884]

Exactly!

The issue is really outside of the drink itself. It's the idea that the government is telling us, the citizens who elected them, that we can't have something due to the lowest common denominator (the stupid kids).

It all may be in one can, but I've had beers, wines, and other alcoholic beverages that are the same percentage or higher.

At the end of the day, the only people to blame for those kids getting sick is the kids themselves. They obtained it illegally, they drank it illegally, and they consumed far more than what any rational and intelligent person would drink in one night. It really is as simple as that.

The potential for this to open up into so much more isn't a comforting feeling. It sets a precedent for future cases that I think many don't have the foresight to see. What if they went after keystone, busch, and natural beers because they're so cheap "people can buy a lot and drink a bunch of it"?

Sorry everyone, I'm just at my wits end over where this world is heading, I cannot believe that we've become such a weak and pathetic society that we cannot be responsible for our own actions.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I cannot believe that we've become such a weak and pathetic society that we cannot be responsible for our own actions.


This is the best phrase to boil down this whole thread. It completely sums up the sorry and sad state we find our culture, and our government in today.

[DHC6twinotter]

I cannot believe that we've become such a weak and pathetic society that we cannot be responsible for our own actions.


This is the best phrase to boil down this whole thread. It completely sums up the sorry and sad state we find our culture, and our government in today.


x2 :good:

Whatever happened to the notion that with freedom comes responsibility? I think irresponsible people are almost as much to blame as the government.

[oly884]

I cannot believe that we've become such a weak and pathetic society that we cannot be responsible for our own actions.


This is the best phrase to boil down this whole thread. It completely sums up the sorry and sad state we find our culture, and our government in today.


x2 :good:

Whatever happened to the notion that with freedom comes responsibility? I think irresponsible people are almost as much to blame as the government.


Irresponsible people are to blame, to an extent, IMO.

The reason I think this is because we've all been irresponsible at times, I'll be the first to admit that I've done a lot of stupid and irresponsible things in my life. However, I didn't have anyone picking up the mess I created. Nor did I have anyone telling me that it was someone/something that caused my problems. It was my irresponsibility that caused the problems, and it was me who had to figure out how to deal with the problems.

The problem, I think, really comes down to the 'do-gooders'. They enable irresponsible behavior by placing blame of an issue on anything/anyone other than the person who caused the mess.

These kids almost died from alcohol poisoning, it's the drinks fault.

Kids are too fat, it's McD's and the toys in the happy meal.

People die from smoking, it's the people who make cigarettes.

People get killed by a gun, it's the gun/ammo manufacturers fault.

"spill" hot coffee on yourself, it's clearly the restaurants fault.

I could go on and on with examples, but this outlines the problem we have. We are not placing blame on the individual. Just take a look at all the warning labels they have to put on everything these days just to possibly avoid a lawsuit.

Sure, there are vested interests in keeping things safe for people to use. Making sure that foods, drinks, or products we use are not going to give us cancer and so on. However, this 'protectionism' mentality has gone off the deep end due to the litigious society and the do-good crusaders. It's gone so far off, that these people are willing to sacrifice their, and our, freedoms for a false sense of security. There's plenty of areas where this exists cough*airportfullbodyscanners*cough.

Does society have a chance to steer back towards more freedom, or is this generation of kids so used to these ideas that we're not going to be able to? I don't have an answer for this.

[corax]

I'm sorry, but we can't save everyone, it sounds cold, but to put it simply, natural selection has to take its place at a certain point. Those too stupid to understand pounding alcohol or eating at McD's every day is bad for you do not deserve to continue their lifestyle, and the especially do not deserve to be the cause of ME loosing my freedoms.



This pretty much sums it up for me:
"Every day some new do-gooder is trying to save us from ourselves. We have so many laws and safety commissions to ensure our safety that it seems nearly impossible to have an accident. The problem is that we need acidents, and lots of them.

Danger is nature’s way of eliminating stupid people. Without safety, stupid people die in accidents. Since the dead don’t reproduce, our species becomes progressively more intelligent (or at least less stupid).

With safety, however well-intentioned it may be, we are devolving into half-witted mutants, because idiots, who by all rights should be dead, are spared from their rightful early graves and are free to breed even more imbeciles.

Let’s do away with safety and improve our species. Take up smoking. Jaywalk. Play with blasting caps. Swim right after a big meal. Stick something small in your ear. Take your choice of dangerous activity and do it with gusto. Future generations will thank you."
- Lawrence A. Bullis

[oly884]

I'm sorry, but we can't save everyone, it sounds cold, but to put it simply, natural selection has to take its place at a certain point. Those too stupid to understand pounding alcohol or eating at McD's every day is bad for you do not deserve to continue their lifestyle, and the especially do not deserve to be the cause of ME loosing my freedoms.



This pretty much sums it up for me:
"Every day some new do-gooder is trying to save us from ourselves. We have so many laws and safety commissions to ensure our safety that it seems nearly impossible to have an accident. The problem is that we need acidents, and lots of them.

Danger is nature’s way of eliminating stupid people. Without safety, stupid people die in accidents. Since the dead don’t reproduce, our species becomes progressively more intelligent (or at least less stupid).

With safety, however well-intentioned it may be, we are devolving into half-witted mutants, because idiots, who by all rights should be dead, are spared from their rightful early graves and are free to breed even more imbeciles.

Let’s do away with safety and improve our species. Take up smoking. Jaywalk. Play with blasting caps. Swim right after a big meal. Stick something small in your ear. Take your choice of dangerous activity and do it with gusto. Future generations will thank you."
- Lawrence A. Bullis




:clap:

[Crinale]

:good: :good: Corax

the original issue here is BS.. i dont want the government telling me what i can or cannot do with myself.. If i am stupid enough to drink enough to have a bad hangover the next day, thats my own damn fault. Stop the restrictions!

[fustercluck]

When we are not allowed to suffer the consequences of our behaviors and choices, not only are we stunted in every facet of being, but we are not free. When others must suffer consequences for someone else's behaviors/choices, then we are not free. When we abandon morality we are not free.

[Obi..]

Do you guys even want to know about this b.s.?

re: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_16586585
*http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site568/2010/1111/20101111_030545_lamb_eric_GALLERY.jpg

[Our view, partial soapboxy speach bit]

The point I see not being addressed is why don't they just let Darwinism take its course?

Honestly, and I have had to work with some people in the city during my internship for the Autistic Instructor/Socio-Behav/Psych Classes is ultimately this:

B/C then some asshat full of themselves and self righteous not to blame in their own eyes parent would sue the local civic entities and law enforcement, school, (whatever or whomever they choose to try to blame) for nobody doing anything at all in the first place, because we know, the parents and how they taught and raised their kids are never to blame..


..right?

[Obi..]

*Note: I am in all instances and for all purposes, still a "WildCat". As in yeah, CSU-Chico. The year before I was a freshman was all the Pioneer Days Rioting. Then they tried to go all Dry Campus. Then they forced those of us of age, caught drinking or even smelling of beer after a night's partying to attend an "A.A." class. Then they banned Purple Passion drinks from our liquor store. Then they banned Everclear. Then they banned bikes on campus b/c some drunk ass fell off his bike riding back to his dorm on campus at night..it goes on. Out of all that guess, what, I had to attend an A.A. class b/c my room mate was wasted and I was helping him inside so we could watch him..guilty by association.

I didn't get mad, I didn't sue, I helped organize a protest against the stupidity. Ultimately I made a choice to lay off and associate w/ different people. It wasn't all of the above that made me decide this..It was watching someone get shot wasted off his gourd on Acid when trying to attack and steal an officer's weapon.

Why would I even goto party's where people do like they do in the link you provided? (The same stuff I saw when younger.) Why would I risk my future self happiness?

These kids will not learn by force. They'll have to learn through Darwinism, it's that simple. I did, though not through personal injury, seeing that last bit along with some other stuff in life has made me try to always make solid and straight choices. Yeah, maybe it makes me a jerk, but guess what? I'm still here watching people still do stupid crap but not getting hurt in the process. (*Please for this example, exclude the jackass who blew that stopsign and injured me recently. I'm not judging him or that..just yet.)

Don't get down on all of this, it takes a lot out of you to be mad. Yes, you're right it is stupid, but try to focus on the overall picture and enjoy life a little.

Maybe by this point of this post I have even convinced myself that responsibility really isn't dead. It's just that people are just so full of $h!t (themselves) they can't see their actions should and will have consequences to face when God or Karma, or whatever steps in with the smack across the face.

It's been this way for a while. Try not to delve to personally into it. Mind yourself, mind your ethics and standards..

Most of all, stay true to them and yourself and you won't always be affected by the societal bullshyte that happens these days.

It does get better. (*or at least I keep trying to believe and see that.)

[DHC6twinotter]

When we are not allowed to suffer the consequences of our behaviors and choices, not only are we stunted in every facet of being, but we are not free. When others must suffer consequences for someone else's behaviors/choices, then we are not free. When we abandon morality we are not free.


:good:

[oly884]

sigh..... http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013446763_apusalcoholicenergydrinks.html

[fustercluck]

...because alcohol prohibition worked so well the first time.

[Crinale]

:good:

[Obi..]

...because alcohol prohibition worked so well the first time.


Guess it's back to coffee and jack for the traditional trucker's breakfast for everyone then?

Next in line will be the taurine infused mixers? No more RedBull and Vodka for all the hyper young adults?

[some_odd_girl]

Ha RedBull and Vodka is one of my friends staples.