Saturday, February 09, 2008
Grant's Law - legislating human stupidity.
“Grant’s Law” is inconvenient but what else would government do if it was not filling our lives with inconvenience? Surely one would not expect them to address such issues as poverty, affordable housing, homelessness, addiction or mental illness? No, that would require thought, hard work and leadership. It is so much easier to pander to the public with “Grant’s Law”, than to tackle pressing social issues.
The Liberal government pays lip service to capitalism and letting the markets decide – until it is politically convenient for legislation or to avoid enforcing the laws protecting workers. All the government had to do was use the existing labour standards to prevent employers from deducting the cost of stolen gas from employees or from firing them because they were intelligent enough to do the smart thing – nothing.
But enforcing labour standards in this instance would have set a precedent and the government could have found itself under pressure to enforce all the labour standards, areas such as farm workers. Or even worse, find their selves under pressure to deal with issues such as keeping employees as “part time” to avoid the rights and benefits that accrue to full time employees.
My sympathies may go out to Grant’s parents, but this law still exasperates me. Not because I resent being treated like a criminal and inconvenienced every time I purchase gasoline, but because at its core it is a law legislating about human stupidity.
With apologies to Mr. De Patie, rushing out to confront a criminal armed with a high powered weapon weighing hundreds of kilograms is not an intelligent action. And a car, despite the way the laws deal with drivers who kill people (drunk or sober drivers), is a lethal weapon. A criminal or an idiot armed with a car is as deadly lethal as if armed with an AK-47 and confronting them, whether armed with a car or AK-47, is less than intelligent behaviour that is likely to prove fatal.
What this law is about, besides inconveniencing and treating as criminals the pubic, is preventing people from behaving stupidly.
If government is going down that path, it better get right on legislation governing the use of ladders; since in North America nearly a person a day dies and there are 100,000 injures from falling from ladders. Legislation is obviously needed, even though research shows that 100% of ladder accidents might be eliminated with proper attention to the application of equipment.
If we are going to legislate about human stupidity where do we stop? After all, as Albert Einstein noted “Only two things are infinite, the Universe and Human Stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
The Liberal government pays lip service to capitalism and letting the markets decide – until it is politically convenient for legislation or to avoid enforcing the laws protecting workers. All the government had to do was use the existing labour standards to prevent employers from deducting the cost of stolen gas from employees or from firing them because they were intelligent enough to do the smart thing – nothing.
But enforcing labour standards in this instance would have set a precedent and the government could have found itself under pressure to enforce all the labour standards, areas such as farm workers. Or even worse, find their selves under pressure to deal with issues such as keeping employees as “part time” to avoid the rights and benefits that accrue to full time employees.
My sympathies may go out to Grant’s parents, but this law still exasperates me. Not because I resent being treated like a criminal and inconvenienced every time I purchase gasoline, but because at its core it is a law legislating about human stupidity.
With apologies to Mr. De Patie, rushing out to confront a criminal armed with a high powered weapon weighing hundreds of kilograms is not an intelligent action. And a car, despite the way the laws deal with drivers who kill people (drunk or sober drivers), is a lethal weapon. A criminal or an idiot armed with a car is as deadly lethal as if armed with an AK-47 and confronting them, whether armed with a car or AK-47, is less than intelligent behaviour that is likely to prove fatal.
What this law is about, besides inconveniencing and treating as criminals the pubic, is preventing people from behaving stupidly.
If government is going down that path, it better get right on legislation governing the use of ladders; since in North America nearly a person a day dies and there are 100,000 injures from falling from ladders. Legislation is obviously needed, even though research shows that 100% of ladder accidents might be eliminated with proper attention to the application of equipment.
If we are going to legislate about human stupidity where do we stop? After all, as Albert Einstein noted “Only two things are infinite, the Universe and Human Stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
# posted by James W Breckenridge : 12:30 PM
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According to the DePatie's memorial Website, this is what happened:
"Grant worked for Esso and was working the grave yard shift. On March 7th, minutes before Midnight, two teens aged 15 and 17 at the time stole a Chrysler Le Baron, and drove to Grant's gas station. They were in the process of fueling the car, when another customer noticed that the ignition had been punched out. That customer made Grant aware of the situation, and he came out to get the license plate number of the stolen car. The young 15 year old punk was fueling the car, when he noticed that and told the driver, Darnell Darcy Pratt to take off, as Grant had come out to get the plate number. In the meantime, Darnell Pratt (17) hit the accelerator and hit Grant. Grant went under the car as Darnell sped away, and he got caught in the under carriage of the stolen car. For 7.5 kilometers, Grant was dragged to his death. He left a path of blood and tissue all over the road."
So, your rationale doesn't hold. De Patie did not act stupidly by going after the thieves, he merely came out to try and get the license plate because the car was stolen, which is a pretty normal thing to do. Perhaps, you should get more details before posting things like that.
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"Grant worked for Esso and was working the grave yard shift. On March 7th, minutes before Midnight, two teens aged 15 and 17 at the time stole a Chrysler Le Baron, and drove to Grant's gas station. They were in the process of fueling the car, when another customer noticed that the ignition had been punched out. That customer made Grant aware of the situation, and he came out to get the license plate number of the stolen car. The young 15 year old punk was fueling the car, when he noticed that and told the driver, Darnell Darcy Pratt to take off, as Grant had come out to get the plate number. In the meantime, Darnell Pratt (17) hit the accelerator and hit Grant. Grant went under the car as Darnell sped away, and he got caught in the under carriage of the stolen car. For 7.5 kilometers, Grant was dragged to his death. He left a path of blood and tissue all over the road."
So, your rationale doesn't hold. De Patie did not act stupidly by going after the thieves, he merely came out to try and get the license plate because the car was stolen, which is a pretty normal thing to do. Perhaps, you should get more details before posting things like that.
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