A strange title you may think,but I have just witnessed a woman on TV who has just received £1 million compensation from the Turkish Government because sadly her parents were killed in a terrorist attack in the country,whilst on holiday.
Unfortunately the World we live in today is full of risk,whether you are just crossing the street or going into hospital for a routine operation,things can go wrong.But why should we assume we are entitled to compensation?
Indeed criminals in the UK can expect compensation if they are injured in the course of a burglary!Why?
I read some years ago about a woman in America who sued Toshiba because there was nothing in the instruction booklet for her microwave to say that it was not a good idea to use it to dry her poodle after a bath.As a consequence her dog exploded!Now there's a surprise!
There are two things going on here, 1)Ambulance chasing lawyers are exploiting loopholes in laws,for justice?No,for money.2)The mass of the population in the words of Gore Vidal 'are idiots!'.
Why should a government,local authority,company,compensate you for your own ineptitude.Granted if you worked in a hazardous industry without proper protective equipment,that is different.
In Britain we have people who go climbing what we laughingly call mountains,and if they get into difficulty,RAF helicopters and mountain rescue squads(all unpaid volunteers)risk their own lives to save these self centred fools.
All of this nonsense is paid for by taxpayers in the jurisdictions it occurs in,so the £1 million paid to this lady by the Turkish Government is £1 million less that can be spent on the welfare of the Turkish people.
In America some 8% of GDP goes on legal fees!
If it were possible to personally sue politicians who create laws that adversely affect us,then maybe we would start to return to a situation of personal responsibility for our own actions.
Lawyers are very fond of the term 'conflict of interest'.Next time you get a chance just check how many of your elected representatives are former lawyers,you will know then what conflict of interest means.
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Outstanding post, one of truth.
ReplyDeleteWhile I think the extreme litigious-ness of western society would be laughable if it weren't causing us so many problems, on the other hand, I do think people should be held accountable. Obviously the Turkish government isn't responsible to this woman for terrorist activity nor should a criminal get to sue for a robbery gone wrong. But, on the other hand, do you think big insurance corporations would change the way they do business if they hadn't been sued? When there is greed involved, money is a powerful motivator. The only problem is that there's so much greed everywhere.
ReplyDeleteSo true! It is amazing that people can get compensated for their own stupidity. Like the person who sued McDonald's because their coffee was hot. Duh! Sad thing is it resulted in every coffee cup and lid having to be made to point out that it was hot costing who knows how many millions of dollars in retooling and litigation. We as citizens need to weed out the frivolous lawsuits and not reward these people. All it does is drive up the costs on everything. Excellent article. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. As a fellow Brit. also of a certain age, I despair at the sorry state that our government has reduced us to. Unfortunately, can't see much hope on the horizon. Dave
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