On 10/16/06, Paul Montgomery <paul_at_paddleandoar.com> wrote: > > > The funny thing about this thread is that almost everyone says that > they personally always wear a PFD but they don't want to be TOLD to > wear a PFD. This seems to be a common American attitude, but it also > sounds like a spoiled child's tantrum. > > Many Americans of a certain age (ahem!) grew up in an era of almost complete freedom. Free not to wear seatbelts (or even have them in your car), free not to wear a bicycle helmet, free to fish, hunt, and hike on most government-owned land, free to pretty much do whatever we wanted as long as it wasn't infringing upon someone else. Even most of our campsites were free to use. Insurance companies were the first to encroach upon this freedom but it rapidly became part of the legal agenda (pushed along by insurance company lobbiests) for various jurisdictions. It has reached the point where, for someone who was born in the USA in the 1940s, the life one grew up with is now constrained on all sides by rules and fees which don't immediately appear to offer a benefit to society but rather a benefit to some corporations and individuals. We naturally bridle at being forced to do something that only creates a profit for the company that lobbied for that rule. Most of the rest of the world grew up under a different set of rules. So while it might look like a tantrum to someone from another culture, to us it's justifiable anger. Taking away something that has been considered a "right" will always engender anger, I think. Right now, to a lot of us, it looks like a great deal of what we grew up to enjoy will not be enjoyed by our children and grandchildren. And the 'risk-taking' personality that America has long been known for might be lost in the trade. Wars have been fought over less. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Oct 17 2006 - 10:29:45 PDT
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