The Lack of common sense in society

I can’t help feeling that life would be a lot better if we were allowed to look after our selves, instead we’re being told what to do through legislation. For example having to wear helmets and seatbelts. I personally think in the case of helmets, that wearing them in town traffic increases the chance of having an accident in the first place. Prevention is always better than cure. Helmets compromise all round vision and you can have trouble getting the direction of sounds with them on. I’d like to have the choice. I don’t like feeling I am being put in harms way because some twit insists I wear a helmet at all times.

It doesn’t help with people suing over the slightest thing; it just results in more daft legislation being brought in by the government. They are already chipping away at our freedom using terrorism as an excuse to bring in draconian powers (the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill which is chipping away at the democratic process we should be so proud off, and the rest of the world used to aspire too) along side the necessary powers needed to protect the country.

It’s crazy some of the things people sue for; I’ve heard of people suing having tripped over a tree root in a council park. There have been tree roots since before there were us, and evolution gave us good vision in part to stop us tripping over such things. People should learn to look where they are going. Alright in some cases where the obstacle is not obvious or should have been rectified (wet slippery floors unmarked etc) there is a clear case to answer, but we should be able to recognise a possible danger if we are paying attention and take care not to come to harm.

Part of the trouble is children are protected so much when they are growing up; they end up without any common sense. They end up thinking their safety is someone else’s concern and non of theirs, and blame all and sundry when they are injured or taken for a ride. This is increasingly evident by the amount of scams people are falling for. It can’t just be me able to see when something doesn’t ring right or is too good to be true. E.g. A prize draw you haven’t entered needing a check to release the funds, a work from home scheme for which you need to purchase supplies for from the employer or an investment of no risk and guaranteed return. There’s no such thing as something for nothing. Someone somewhere is losing out and the conmen are looking to you to be that someone.

Normally those that lack the common sense to survive would have been weeded out by evolution (To quote the author Arthur Ransom in his book “Swallows and Amazons” “Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won’t drown.”), but society has stopped that happening by nannying them. This means the population as a whole is getting less savvy, giving the authorities justification in bringing in more daft legislation to protect us from ourselves. And of course, no mater how much legislation they have, it can’t protect you from the fly by night conman with a good patter stood on your doorstep.

If people don’t want their entire lives governed by rules they have got to learn to use common sense. If we want freedom, we have to learn to look out for our selves and take responsibility for our own actions.

In short we need “Education not legislation.”

Boot note; - I found it highly amusing to find a warning on a box of matches reading “may cause burning”

16 Sept 06; - Would you believe it, now a London council is asking all its residents in their tower bloc to remove all doormats from out side their flats as they could be a trip hazard. How bloody ridicules, as one resident demonstrated, by removing them it would increase the tripping hazard from the bottom of the door frame.

I rest my case.

This page modified..16/09/06