by Stonemason » Sat 19 Dec 2009, 15:21:12
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', 'S')orry, but I have to disagree with this article's tone and content.
I hate government constantly raising taxes and overspending, but government actually having meaningful fines for crimes and enforcing them is something that should have happened long ago.
And whining that people shouldn't have to pay for minor crimes like parking tickets and driving without insurance doesn't cut it with me. Citizenship implies responsibility. Can't behave responsibly? Then pay a painful fine, and learn something.
Can't do the fine? Then don't do the crime.
Too many times I hear, for example, some waitress whining in a diner about how she had to go to court for driving without insurance, but the judge let her off. Yeah, too much spent for cigarettes, liquor, etc. to buy auto insurance, so *I* get to pay for it with uninsured motorist insurance.
(And what is the incentive for her to behave responsibly again?)
Or the guy whining about paying a $30 fine for parking in a handicapped space (he's 30ish and apparnently in perfect health). In a rational system, the $1000 fine he'd pay might convince him to park in a legal spot. (Or, perhaps 20 handicapped folks could pound him with their canes, if he couldn't afford the fine).
So - sorry, but whining that citizen irresponsibility is dandy, but government irresponsibility is terrible makes no sense to me. After all, WE ARE the government.
I suppose if those people wrote the laws they'd be more willing to obey them.
Who makes the law? Who gets to decide what is a crime? More things will be criminalised as the government needs to increase spending. Its not like the government ever cuts spending. They may freeze spending, in which case, they will inflat away the worth of your fiat currency.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')or young drivers, the cost of insurance is often more than the cost of the car. Basic insurance should be included in road tax/fuel duties.
Driving to work was half of my monthly wages.