Subject:
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Personal Responsibility (was: Re: Why is AIDS such a big deal?)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Sat, 27 May 2000 12:39:54 GMT
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Viewed:
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977 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, James Simpson writes:
> I do mostly agree with you - victims are rarely 100%, well...victims.
Well, I do think that people are victims. I just also think that they bear
responsibility for their situations. And I largely think that people are
victims because they don't see to it that they won't be.
> Often
> some act of indiscretion or carelessness is a contributing factor, but...isn't
> that just the nature of life?
Yes. And as such, people need to deal with it.
> I have a friend who just got 2 fingers ripped off
> in a machine at his factory, through no real fault of his own.
Bummer. Did he get them put back on? A friend of mine in high school
graduated ahead of me and became a machinist. He had a mill eat a finger and
it was destroyed, so they couldn't put it back. He said that if there had been
anything to put back on, they could have and probably returned function, if not
sensation. I bet building with our favorite toy is harder sans two fingers.
But, be that as it may be, let's examine your "no fault of his own" claim. Had
he performed that job before? Why didn't the machine rip his fingers off the
first time? Is it possible that he let his guard down just that one time?
Could he have stayed up late the night before? Maybe a fork-lift was passing
behind him and it startled him and he reached somewhere he shouldn't have?
etc. And ultimately...
> he made the decision to work there
> but life is fraught with hazards. I
> just don't think that we can level judgment against someone who has failed to
> remove 100% of risk from their life circumstances.
And I don't want to level judgement against anyone for that. I'm just saying
that's reality. And everyone needs to determine where they stand on risk
control. Living to eliminate risk completely is akin to building a prison
around oneself. But totally ignoring risk is stupid.
I do mildly dangerous stuff from time to time (less now that I'm a father) and
know that I could die from it. That's my problem. If I'm rock-climbing and
fall and break a leg, do I think that somone else should be responsible for
flying me out to the hospital and fixing me on their dime? No. I took and
take responsibility. I'm trained for first aid and CPR, I know how to deal
with (North American) snake and spider bites, etc. And I got insurance for
medical treatment.
Chris
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Message has 1 Reply:
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: Why is AIDS such a big deal?
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| (...) I do mostly agree with you - victims are rarely 100%, well...victims. Often some act of indiscretion or carelessness is a contributing factor, but...isn't that just the nature of life? I have a friend who just got 2 fingers ripped off in a (...) (24 years ago, 26-May-00, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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