Protecting the stupid
May 23, 03:45 AM
People are stupid.
This is one of my two mottos in life (the 2nd will no doubt be spoken about sometime in the future). Stupidity is probably my most despised character trait for any human being. Now of course for those mentally handicapped, they have an excuse, as do those in third world countries where they have no formal education. But for the rest of you, you just really piss me off.
It seems the whole world is gradually becoming more and more stupid. This may well have to do with the fact that studies have shown that intelligent people are less likely to procreate. Probably because they have jobs, and other things to fill their time (sport, yachts, being able to read), unlike their less advanced neighbors, who have nothing better to do than have sex with their siblings and eat dirt. But it may very well have to do with the fact that western society has taken it upon themselves to protect the very people that are holding us back as a race.
Laws in general are in existence to prevent one person from affecting the freedoms of another. One of the results of this is that a person is generally able to do whatever they want to their own body, without restriction. If you were, tomorrow, to decide that you wanted to cut your leg off, fry it on the BBQ and eat it for dinner……you could……well legally, actually performing it may provide more difficult. In recent times, however, we have seen this right over ones own body come into question. Suddenly the government has realized that some people are too stupid to protect themselves from injury.
Compulsory seatbelts in cars is one such law. While perhaps a necessary law for car manufactures, the law that you have to wear one while driving in a car is one such “protecting the stupid” law. Anyone who chooses not to wear a seatbelt, a device proven over and over to reduce injury and fatalities in car accidents is an idiot. There are NO disadvantages to wearing a seatbelt in a vehicle. If you chose to believe that if an accident were to occur that your body would survive a high speed collision with the dashboard, the windscreen and any other foreign object you might encounter on your flight out of the car then you need to study a bit more physics and a bit less day-time TV. Also in this category of laws are compulsory bike helmets and the illegality of jay-walking. If people are unable to weigh up the risks of their head hitting the pavement with any force, or unable to stop themselves from running out in front of traffic…..then laws should be in place not to protect them from their own stupidity, but to prevent them from having kids and passing on the stupidity to another generation.
Then we have warning labels, while not always required by law, most companies put them on there to prevent any liability in the event that someone does what is clearly an idiotic act. Some of my favorite labels are the plastic bags that say “this is not a toy”, and those absorbency sachets that come in new shoes etc that say “do not eat”. Who in their right mind would buy a pair of shoes, find the absorbency sachet and think to themselves “oh, how nice, the shoe company decided to include a delicious treat with my shoes”. I mean come on. My can of Mennin Rapid Shave, Shaving Cream tells me “Inhaling contents may be harmful.” Not shit genius. Who would have thought that a thick cream taken into the lungs might have a detrimental effect to my health? I remember hearing someone say some time ago that we should just take off all the warning labels and let nature takes its course. Survival of the intelligent. Sounds like a good place to start.
Filed under: Ramblings