If I were in charge ...

[PvK]

Again, seatbelts are a very good idea, usually, and people should be encouraged to wear them in reasonable ways. That does not mean that there should be fines and laws against not wearing a seatbelt. Just because something is a really good idea does not mean there should be a law against not doing it. It seems to me the correct solution is to impress upon people that they should through information, and not through legal threats. I wear a seatbelt because I was impressed by information given me at school about it, not because I'm afraid some officer will harrass my *** about it.

Also, if some communities are lame enough (IMO) to actually themselves vote to live under such laws, then OK. However, I'd like such laws to be decided by public vote rather than by the insurance-lobbied legislature. This can be done in the current US system, but it takes a lot of effort to work up a referrendum.

PvK

Edit/PS: If there has to be a seatbelt law to protect those poor insurance companies that have to pay for extra medical care for someone not wearing a seat belt, then it seems pretty clear to me that the correct law to address this should say, essentially: "Those shunning seatbelts get to pay for their own treatment, and void insurance that doesn't specifically cover extra injury from foolishly not using safety equipment." The law for this should not, it seems to me, be "The police get to pull people over and fine them for not wearing seat belts."

quote:

---

Originally posted by dmm:
Keep in mind that there are costs to society when a person is seriously injured in a car accident. Nobody pays those kind of medical bills on his own; we all collectively pay. And if a person is permanently disabled, again, we all collectively pay. Unless you are the kind of libertarian who advocates leaving injured poor people to die in the street like roadkill, you can't complain about stuff like seatbelt laws while maintaining logical consistency.

Same with stuff like "no smoking for minors," "no drinking for minors," "no cocaine for anyone," "babies must be in carseats," etc. Either we're all in this together, or we're not.

Having said all that, I must admit that I don't like the seatbelt law. I was once struck from behind by someone doing 50 mph who didn't see the red light. A hard-shell suitcase in the rear seat was shoved into my back. I think that if I HAD been wearing my seatbelt, my spine would have been crushed and I would be dead or crippled.

---

[ 10 April 2002: Message edited by: PvK ]

[Instar]

"But I do Believe that some Nuclear arsenal should be kept; just for the sake that responsible scientists can actually develop fusion power."
Huh? Just a point, but generally you dont need nuclear weapons to build fusion power.
On that point, I would rather have nuclear arms than not. The unholy triad of megadeath weapons is too widespread. Fear of retaliation prevents attack. Biochemical attack must therefore equal nuclear retaliation.
As for the armed forces, I would maintain them, if not slightly augment them. SpecFor is good, but they're only good in certain situations. China, for example, has an army of millions (literally), so we need to at least maintain a decent armored, cavalry, infantry, air, and other forces, even though a war with China is not very likely.
And on China, they're becoming a little more democratic, but Mao's word is still too much stridently adhered to.

[Loser]

The clusmy 'push buttons and see what happens' approach in which I live my own life precludes any thoughts of 'making the world a better place because I'm in charge' for myself. (I certainly hope other can do better, since they're going to have to anyway...) I just live my own life, and vote.

In other news, lay off Muammar al-Qaddafi. He's funny, has some maturity and growth in his changing-with-years, and is my Favorites fruit-cake-world-leader.

[ 10 April 2002: Message edited by: Loser ]

[Krsqk]

Re: Seatbelts

The only problem with saying "Stick it to the insurance companies" is that we all pay for the insurance companies. There is no business which will not pass its costs along to its customers. That's how business works.

If insurance no longer has to pay for seatbelt-abstainers (which is not in their best interest), then it seems to me that current culture would support a vast array of lawsuits against the car manufacturers to collect damages. Those who are irresponsible enough not to wear seatbelts usually aren't prepared to fork out major amounts of cash to pay for their medical bills. Then what do you do? Let them die on the road, or treat them and never get the money? Insurance is the industry responsible for financially backing the medical "industry." Maybe it's not the best setup, but I'd rather have insurance companies doing it than the government (which we also fund).

@dmm: Yes, and for every example for not wearing seatbelts, there are hundreds (thousands?) for wearing them. I, for one, would rather err on the 99.9% side of caution.

[Phoenix-D]

"Those who are irresponsible enough not to wear seatbelts usually aren't prepared to fork out major amounts of cash to pay for their medical bills. Then what do you do? Let them die on the road, or treat them and never get the money?"

Let their family deal with the bills, the immediate ones anyway. The ones after that too, if they go there.

I'm not a big fan of protecting people from their own bad choices by laws.

Phoenix-D

[Askan Nightbringer]

Ooo...so many ideas.

1. I would take the Union Jack out of our flag (Australian).

2. I would make the Queen of England work for her title as our Head of State. I'de have her sitting in our parliament trying to administer our pit-fighting style system of political debate ("Would the member for Bankstown stop calling the member for Bendigo a skumbag"). If she refuses to work I'de put her on unemployment benefits and make her live in Bondi, then let the Head of State be chosen from an annual "Chook" raffle.

3. I'de set up a joint currency with New Zealnd and Fiji and call it the Trans-Tasman Peso. I would mint the coins using opium extract to give them a real worth on the international market (well at least in the USA).

4. I'de instigate an "eat your own dogfood" policy for all politicians. This means that if your a politician you must use public services for everything. For example.
a) You must travel exclusively on the public transport system
b) Send your kids to public schools (for you UK types these are what we call the government schools in the colonies)
c) Use public hospitals
d) Invest all you money in a typical 0.01% interest rate savings account at your local bank branch (which has probabaly been closed down...but don't worry, there is another a mere 150km away!)

5. I would ban the use of "sensitive" phrases to describe anything. Things like "humanitarian intervention" (first coined by Hitler I believe) would have to be described as "Yes we are invading that damn country for our own reasons so just shut up".
"Downsizing" would have to be changed to "We're sacking lots of people so our directors can get fatter"
"Surgical Strike" would have to be changed to "We're gonna bomb that building +/- 15km/miles" (Anyone remember that "smart bomb" that hit Hungary during the "humanitarian intervention" in Serbia)
"Experimenting with drugs" would have to be changed to "he is a crackfiend"
I could go the phrases for days so I'll shut up on those ones. Maybe that would be another cool topic?

6. I'de reappoint Steve Waugh as the captain of the one-day cricket team.


As for some of the raging debates going on.

Seat-belts are compulsory by law here. It has always been so in my lifetime. I feel naked if I'm in a car without a seatbelt...go figure.

Taxes on fuel guzzling cars is very European, where everything is close. I drive 400km to go away for a weekend, screw the big car tax.

USA doesn't need to give military aide to the South Americans to solve drug problems. If the USA just stopped being such a big consumer of drugs then no market and no problem.

There's nothing wrong with a national debt. Every good investor knows that debt maximises your returns.

Stop picking on China.


Cheers all,
Askan

[Growltigga]

Askan,

I would take the Union Jack out of our flag (Australian

We wish you would, we would love to be rid but there are so many antipodeans over here in Blighty... need I say more?

. I would make the Queen of England work for her title as our Head of State.

She does, do you not realise the stigma she carries over being the head of state of a nation of people whose parliamentary procedure allows the representative for say Wallamalloo to be called a skumbag????

Your point 4 I agree with completely