Blame Game

The “Blame Game” here in America inundates us.  It seems like a large cadre of us (often it seems like a majority of the population) seem to want to blame someone or some other entity for things that go wrong in our lives; even if those things are inadvertent, unpredictable, accidental, or just plain “acts of God”.

Oh, I get it.  You often feel helpless.  The issue is bigger than you are.  Obviously, it has to be someone’s fault.  Moreover, given our litigious society, quite often someone has to pay.  Even when there is no personal gain, this feeling permeates society in so many aspects; up to and including the way legislation is passed.

A Personal Example of Things Going Wrong

While this is not anywhere as serious as much of what I am discussing, it is pertinent to how people can react.

Recently, I had to move our Motor Home to the side of our new home.  The angle of the driveway was very pronounce and the parking pad was narrow.  I decided that I was not up to backing in our behemoth into the spot, at least not right away.

Therefore, we contacted the local RV dealership and got one of their driver/movers to come over and move it on his “off hours”.  It did not work out well.  He parked it all right.  In the process, he punch a small hole in the back of the RV, tore the rear awning, and tore the soffit off the side of the house.  I have had the house repaired relatively inexpensively and do not even want to figure out what it is going to cost to fix the RV.

What would you do?  Not pay him?  Sue him?  I am sure that many of you would do just that.  But here is the thing.  I knew it was extremely difficult.  That is why I hired him.  He was a professional.  I thanked him and I paid him in full.

I am neither stupid nor naïve.  I took responsibility for my actions in this case, not his.  It is my responsibility for what happened.  He did not intentionally do this so I will not withhold payment nor litigate.  I doubt that this is the response of many of the people I am speaking of.

Pseudo-science

The impetus of rant has been the pseudo-science that has been going on regarding immunizations.  I have, and will continue to, disparage both the individuals and their “scientific evidence”. 

Why?  Because they are stupid and dangerous.  They have lost the defense of ignorance a long time ago as they have been exposed to the realities of their beliefs and they persist in spouting them.  What is worse, the supposed culprit, thimerosal, has not been in children’s vaccines in the United States since 2001.  I am sure that these idiots (yes, idiots) now have other pseudo-scientific reasons to not vaccinate, but really is it not just looking for a damned excuse.  The danger comes in because not only do they expose their children to risk of death and disease they put others, in particular children, at risk as well.  They make their children potential modern-day “Typhoid Mary”.  And they do not seem to care a damned bit.  They are fools on a mission.

By the way, I get them.  I understand their frustration.  The early advocates have children that are suffering and they cannot fix it.  They are grasping at straws for reasons for their child’s plight.  They cannot and will not accept that it just happened.  It has to be someone’s fault.  So they look for someone or something to blame.  Could it have been the vaccines?  Doubtful, from all evidence.  Who knows?  Their advocacy got the suspect additive out the vaccines, so good on them.  The problem is that they went beyond to advocate killing children by not vaccinating.  And they are gaining followers.

I admire their advocacy.  I suspect their science, as most others do.  I abhor their actions.

Litigators

Do not get me wrong.  I understand that litigation is the only damned reason that businesses will fix what they are doing wrong.  If you do not hurt them financially, they will continue to do whatever that want.  Their only allegiance is to the bottom line.  Oh, I know there are exceptions, but too few to make it the rule.

I am not talking about those litigations.  I am talking about lawsuits for wet floors during a rainstorm or snowstorm.  I am talking about not having sufficient safety warnings on ladders causing falling hazards.  I am talking about lawsuits because Little Mary next door hit your Little Johnny in the mouth and knocked out a tooth.  I am talking about litigating of a school grade.  I am talking about suing a cigarette company for lung cancer when you have been smoking for 30 years.

Frivolous?  Not to you certainly.  The problem exists in that you cannot solve lives problems or your actions by blaming someone else.  That does not keep people from trying, now does it?  It is far easier on your conscience to litigate rather than take responsibility.

Who knows?  You might make some money at it as well.

Railing against the System

I get this as well.  It is hard to see the system work against you or what you perceive as “right and wrong”.  It makes the system fair game for you to dismiss as a whole because of its perceived faults.

Whether it is O.J. Simpson getting off, whether it is the murderer getting off on a technicality, whether it is Ollie North getting off on a technicality, whether evidence cannot be used in a court case because of how it was obtained, whether it a felon getting released early (possibly reoffending); blame the system.

Keep in mind; we created the system to keep abuses from happening.  Yes, if you can afford a really, really good lawyer you can “job” they system but what is the answer.  I am waiting.  Rich people always win.

Technicalities are another word for laws: we have laws in place to “protect” the criminal the critics will say.  The reality it is to protect the innocent.  It is to keep from fabricating and misusing evidence.  Keep in mind, we would not have or need these laws if there had not been abuses in the past.  I get it.  Especially if you are on the receiving end, it is frustrating and heart breaking.  I agree it should not be. 

Here is the thing though: instead of railing against the system, instead of ranting and raging, work to change it. 

Think it cannot be done?  I beg to differ.  Drunk driving has always been illegal.  The laws were always on the books.  It was not a big deal when I was growing up however.  What changed?  MADD.  They changed the system.  They changed public awareness.  They changed attitudes enough that the courts actually used the laws already on the books.  Ultimately, the legislatures even went so far as to enhance those laws.

So do not rail against the system – fix it.

Conspiracy Theory

Here is one I am guilty of, far too often.  It does not mean that others and I are not right; it just means we have to really watch out.

Conspiracy theories have been my bread and butter much of my life, I have to admit.  I am still a sucker for a good conspiracy.  The real issue is not with the conspiracy theory, it is falling in love with the theory.  My God, I must have read 50 or more books about the JFK assassination with revelations as to the assassination being causes by one of the following (not a complete list, by any means); Soviet Union, Mafia, Lyndon Johnson, CIA, FBI, Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, Aliens (yeh, I got one of them), jilted lover, assassin of John Connolly who missed, assassin of Jackie Kennedy who missed, or various combinations of these.  Not to mention a lone gunman. 

The problem is; they cannot all be right and they all may be wrong.  It does not keep them from being published and read. I often think that the plethora of conspiracy theories might be a cover-up to hide the one real conspiracy that is actually true.  Now how is that for a conspiracy theory of a conspiracy theory?

I have not touched on other conspiracy theories that I am personally interested in, specifically RFK to name one. 

That is not germane though.  The actual issue is that we reach out for explanations to those things that are beyond our understanding, those that touch us deeply, those that we cannot accept on their face value because we cannot accept the randomness or the pettiness of the world.

Conclusion

So you see, we strike out or reach out for an explanation for the world when it is different from what we want it to be.  It is human nature to want to blame someone else for our shortcomings or the shortcomings of our expectations and desires.  Nevertheless, as Sigmund Fraud said “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”.  Just because things do not turn out the way we would like them to does not mean that something is out to get you.  It may just be LIFE.  So,

SUCK IT UP, BUTTERCUP!