More "rights": Good or bad?

[Dan L]

In case you thought I meant "right" in the same way as the "Right and Wrong" thread.. no I don't :toothy: ..

What I'm on about this time, is the general increased awareness of society towards a person's rights as a human being. Now, I'm all for rights, and I think everyone should have equal rights, but at the same time I think some people have just gone too far.

In the UK, there is a problem in many places with children who cause trouble.. They go around causing trouble, and then if the police eventually catch them, they just have the attitude "You know and I know that you can't actually do anything", and the sad thing is, that in the majority of cases (excluding the really severe ones) they are right.. given a few days, they're back, continuing where they left off.

In many places including the UK, there are companies set up, called things like "Personal Injury Specialists" and such. Essentially, they make money off people that have had personal injuries due to an accident, and want money for it.. I'm completely opposed to such companies.. I know that in some cases, the personal injury is so great that the person in question actually needs the money, but in a lot of cases:

1- they don't need it, but they want it anyway, and
2- it was their own fault, or at least, not the fault of whoever they're claiming money from

One of the most rediculous examples is the of a robber, who went into someone's house, fell over onto something sharp and injured himself.. he sued the owners of the house for leaving the sharp object there: and won a huge amount of money..

Another example is a robber who broke into someone's garage, but couldn't get out.. the family were on holiday at the time, so for a few days, he lived on the dog food and pepsi in the garage.. he also sued the owners and won..

Essentially, my question for discussion is this:
1- do you believe that everyone should have equal rights (hopefully all 'yes' on that point)
and
2- even if you answered yes on question 1, do you believe that society has taken the 'equal rights' idea too far, and is actually giving more rights to those who seem to have suffered- even if their suffering was a result of illegally trespassing on other people's property? (if so, do you object to that)

[Sui Generis]

1. Yes, and we don't even have equal rights right now. I'll give one quick example of what I mean, atleast in the US some black people (many thug wannabees) walk aroudn calling eachother ni**ers. Yet if a white man does this, he will either be shot, or sued. That right there is not equal rights.

2. Personally I think they are taking it a bit too far. Mainly with all these cases of people being sued. Some people say its their "right" to rob people, and then they win. What happened to justice? I think people's "RIGHTS" have been getting int he way of our justice. The government is too careful, I think they need to put an end to it.

Yes I do believe those that have suffered more in the past two centuries have gotten more "rights" (Slaves), in America. And I am oppose to it. Not because I am racist or anything, but these people will take what they have then try for more. Not everyone for granted but you have people like Reverand Jessie Jackson trying to get more rights for the black community. They complain about equal rights..bah they have more rights than the white. Also lets face it in life, life itself doesn't stop and nuture you when you fall down. It doesn't give you presents for your birthday. As much as I hate what happened to them, more rights is just in-moral. And its also against their own beliefe of "Equal Rights"


[size=2]I am not saying that anyone person on here is like this, and am not saying the majority is like this. I am just going by my eperiences. I am not racist and do/did not mean to come off as one.[/size]

[James]

[color=royalblue]I think everyone should have equal rights, yes. But we're not talking about rights here.

We're talking about a lack of good judgement in courts. This is partly why insurance rates have been going up; because stupid people who do stupid things bring stupid court cases forward...and stupid judges award them stupidly large amounts of money.

Phew.

That's it, in a nutshell. ;)

These judges clearly aren't applying the law properly...because this is a pretty recent trend. All we need is common sense in the courts -- clearly, if you can trip over on a sidewalk and sue the city council, that isn't common sense. That's just foolish.

It surprises me that judges, despite being qualified for their job, are often handing down these ridiculous rewards for the dumb actions of individuals...[/color]

[Dan L]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by James [/i]
[B][color=royalblue]I think everyone should have equal rights, yes. But we're not talking about rights here.

We're talking about a lack of good judgement in courts. This is partly why insurance rates have been going up; because stupid people who do stupid things bring stupid court cases forward...and stupid judges award them stupidly large amounts of money.

Phew.

That's it, in a nutshell. ;)[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]

OK, I suppose a better question would be 'should these people have the right to do this'... :p

I do see what you mean, it doesn't actually have a lot to do with rights at all.. but I think that alot of it actually stems from the fact that people feel that they have the right to anything- if you see what I mean..

[James]

[color=royalblue]Well, let's face it. There are greedy people in the world who will try any number of scams.

If they can get away with it...they will.

In the 80's, pyramid schemes were big. And now, it seems that false damages claims are the big thing. Next decade, who knows what it'll be...

But at the end of the day, there will always be people who try to scam other people...or the Government. [/color]

[Transtic Nerve]

There are limits to everything, including the rights of a person. Equal rights and limited rights are two different things. Equal rights is insinuating that a person, no matter what gender, race, height, weight, this that or the next, will get the same treatment and the same rights as someone who is of another gender, race, etc... Limited rights is something totally different, that I believe needs to be in this world. If we, as people, were given total freedom, it would be anarchy.

As far as I know, in England you basically become an adult at the age of 16, correct me if I'm wrong. This is what my boyfriend tells me at least. At 16, you graduate and you can leave or do whatever you want. In the United States, you don't become an adult till you turn 18. This is when you get all your rights. As a child, you still have rights, but when you turn 18, all of them now apply. The US may contain the first admendment; Freedom of Speech, association, press, and expression, just like anything, there is always a limit to that. You have freedom of speech as long as what you say doesn't cause harmful actions to be taken. If you talked in a public forum and said "Kill the president" they will most likely put you in jail for it.

As far as equal rights go, ofcourse there needs to be that. It's stupid for the US to have in it's Declaration of Independence "All men are created equal" when we segregate and continue to be prejudice against so many. This isn't the land of the free, this is the land of the free for certain majority people. Equal rights is obviously something that needs to happen, and I truely can't figure out why it hasn't yet. The system has messed up somewhere.

[Dan L]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i]
[B]There are limits to everything, including the rights of a person. Equal rights and limited rights are two different things. Equal rights is insinuating that a person, no matter what gender, race, height, weight, this that or the next, will get the same treatment and the same rights as someone who is of another gender, race, etc... Limited rights is something totally different, that I believe needs to be in this world. If we, as people, were given total freedom, it would be anarchy.[/B][/QUOTE]

Yeah, I agree with you on that, equal rights doesn't mean total freedom, just the same degree of freedom for everyone..

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i]
[B]As far as I know, in England you basically become an adult at the age of 16, correct me if I'm wrong. This is what my boyfriend tells me at least. At 16, you graduate and you can leave or do whatever you want. In the United States, you don't become an adult till you turn 18. This is when you get all your rights. As a child, you still have rights, but when you turn 18, all of them now apply. The US may contain the first admendment; Freedom of Speech, association, press, and expression, just like anything, there is always a limit to that. You have freedom of speech as long as what you say doesn't cause harmful actions to be taken. If you talked in a public forum and said "Kill the president" they will most likely put you in jail for it.[/B][/QUOTE]

Yeah, you're pretty much right on that.. at 16 you finish high school in the UK.. You can't actually drink alcohol until you're 18 (I hear it's higher in the US i think), but other than that you have pretty much every other right.. though I don't think you can vote until you're 18..

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Transtic Nerve [/i]
[b]As far as equal rights go, ofcourse there needs to be that. It's stupid for the US to have in it's Declaration of Independence "All men are created equal" when we segregate and continue to be prejudice against so many. This isn't the land of the free, this is the land of the free for certain majority people. Equal rights is obviously something that needs to happen, and I truely can't figure out why it hasn't yet. The system has messed up somewhere. [/B][/QUOTE]

It's a people thing- in general, everyone wants the same rights as everyone else, but the ones that can actually give them that want more rights, because they can have them if they want.. I may be wrong on that, it's just my interpretation..