Socialism, Communism, Personal Responsibility Tangent (split from helmet thread)

[Malacasta]

Anthson, I for one am not going to argue with you when you keep saying things like "I nailed you" "You lose". If you want to answer the questions I asked near the start of this thread, I will try and have a civil conversation with you. If you want to bring up other points in a polite way then I will try and talk to those. I'm not going to play "nyah nyah, I'm the king of the castle" though because I have too much going on in my life to be so silly.

[Deokoria]

Anthson, when I read your original post, I had no idea what point you were trying to make, either. It mainly sounded like you had a confusion between socialism and paternalism, and that you were trying to slip in a jab that had nothing to do with the topic at hand. I actually read it a couple of times, typed up a response, and then decided not to post it since it would only further hijack the thread. I think this is a rather classic example of what was discussed in another thread regarding why there seems to be a "lack of interest" in the political forums.

Back to the matter at hand...
If you are suggesting that you believe that people somehow calculate the EV of partaking in an activity that could lead to physical harm based on projected personal cost of medical bills, you must run with a very interesting crowd. While I have no statistics to quote on the matter, I have a hard time believing that someone would think, "I don't have to wear a helmet while cycling because I have an AWESOME medical plan."

[Maelgrim]

I have a hard time believing that someone would think, "I don't have to wear a helmet while cycling because I have an AWESOME medical plan."

Course not, Dee. People are much too fucking stupid to think that. What your average dumbshit would think is "Goshdarnit, it's hot today, I won't wear a helmet" or "ZOMFG! The helmet will totally bum out my bitchin' new do!" Or, if they're a bit smarter, they'll remember what that helpful man on the internet said, that helmets are responsible for neck injuries, and so justify not wearing one with that logic.

Let's not play the death card, everyone always plays the death card. Lets instead play the card where you get some serious road rash, and a sore back. No, I said a SORE back, I mean REALLY sore. I mean you can't do fuck all without doping yourself to the eyeballs sore. This could be fixed with a simple operation, except your health insurer took one look at the accident report and went "No helmet, no pay." Because he didn't listen to the nice man on the internet.

So, the government, being the nice people they are (heh), throw a disability pension at you, which is probably enough to buy food, prescription painkillers, maybe rent, but don't count on it, and calmly wait for you to die.

Right there is where it costs the government, and that is why they legislate. Once a helmet/seatbelt/giant rubber cock ring has been established in legislature as appropriate safety equipment, then by wearing it, you are discharging your DUTY OF CARE (or a part thereof), and thus will not find yourself in the predicament listed above should a mishap occur. And then, the government will not have to spend the money listed for something socially beneficial like a new school/hospital/titty bar on keeping more retards alive.

And, because people are stupid, and can't understand this, is why they make it an offence NOT to comply, and why coppers will ping you for it.

[anthson]

Originally posted by Malacasta
Anthson, I for one am not going to argue with you when you keep saying things like "I nailed you" "You lose".

That was a carefully-worded response to your complete and total whine and mislabeling of me being a troll. I've already established very clearly what I intended to point out: you admitting that when government has to pay a cost, it can expect some control over the cost factor. Let me translate: The more "free" stuff you get from the government, the more you can expect them to start telling you how to live your life. The further you climb up that ladder, the less personal freedom you're going to have.

Also, I have every right to point out how the subject is being changed, unaddressed, or otherwise misdirected in response to my points. If you want to call that a "nyah nyah " then go ahead.