Why are Americans so scared and sheltered?

[Alpinfox]

 

Paranoid, over-protective, SUV-driving, soccer-

[Camilo]

I think a big part of it is the way we're so goddamned litigious. Because of a whole assload of bad apples, everyone is liable for anything that goes on among them. We've now substituted legal release forms for personal responsibility. I just talked to a kid who lifeguards at a lake in New York and the kids can't bring anything into the swimming area except buckets and goggles (not scuba masks because they cover your nose). People can't swim outside of the shallow area, even if they're trying to train for a triathlon and are obviously in good shape. And this isn't an issue of conservative vs. liberal so don't try to make it one.

 

And thanks to Winter, I'm craving TG. I'll get a sixer on the way home .

[EWolfe]

 

" Lawyers haven't been this popular since Robuspierre slaughtered half of France "

 

-Joni Mitchell

[TREETOAD]

Kids are no longer allowed to take chances to learn from mistakes that may harm them even in the slightest way. Everywhere you look there are signs warning you to beware of everything so that if there is no warning sign there must be no danger. Playgrounds are designed and regulated till the possibility of learning any common sense lessons in them has disappeared. REmember watching some dumb bastard walk in front of a moving swing when they used to be made of that good old heavy wood? Everybody in the playground learned from that. Sooner or later when these sheltered kids get to be 16 or 17 they end up learning those lessons on the highway or somewhere else where they really get fucked up. If everything is made idiot proof eventually all that will be left is idiots.

[JayB]

And this isn't an issue of conservative vs. liberal so don't try to make it one.

 

True enough. There are plenty of folks garrisoning themselves away from society in JesusLand, though I think that they are less preoccupied with physical threats to themselves and their loved ones and rather more concerned with what they perceive as moral threats. Seems like both camps feel threatened by different elements of modernity.

 

I do think that class has a fair amount to do with the extent to which people preoccupy themselves with threats to their well being that have a relatively low probability of affecting them, though. Maybe that comes with being part of the "other" leisure class....

[archenemy]

I think a big part of it is the way we're so goddamned litigious. Because of a whole assload of bad apples, everyone is liable for anything that goes on among them. We've now substituted legal release forms for personal responsibility. I just talked to a kid who lifeguards at a lake in New York and the kids can't bring anything into the swimming area except buckets and goggles (not scuba masks because they cover your nose). People can't swim outside of the shallow area, even if they're trying to train for a triathlon and are obviously in good shape. And this isn't an issue of conservative vs. liberal so don't try to make it one.

 

And thanks to Winter, I'm craving TG. I'll get a sixer on the way home .

You want to know what is really sad? That lifeguard can be sued for "letting" someone drown. All that for min wage + 2 bucks.

[Dechristo]

Generally, the more affluent, materialistic, and self-centered one becomes, the more fear of what can be lost.

[bunglehead]

Generally, the more affluent, materialistic, and self-centered one becomes, the more fear of what can be lost.

 

I'm in luck, then.

Well at least in terms of affluence.

[Camilo]

You want to know what is really sad? That lifeguard can be sued for "letting" someone drown. All that for min wage + 2 bucks.

That goes on nowadays in any lifesaving practice. I was at a conference talking with an malpractice insurance lady when she told me tons of stories from the medical field. Like the family who sued the hospital for chipping their grandma's tooth while intubating her (the intubation saved her life). Pathetic.

[Fairweather]

Generally, the more affluent, materialistic, and self-centered one becomes, the more fear of what can be lost.

 

I disagree. If this were so, you wouldn't have a whole host of multi-millionares climbing 8000m peaks, riding hot-air balloons around the globe, crashing in experimental aircraft, sailing around the earth, riding into space on questionable rocket boosters, etc, etc..... In fact, many high-risk activities have become exclusively for the rich, IMHO.

[fenderfour]

Generally, the more affluent, materialistic, and self-centered one becomes, the more fear of what can be lost.

 

I disagree. If this were so, you wouldn't have a whole host of multi-millionares climbing 8000m peaks, riding hot-air balloons around the globe, crashing in experimental aircraft, sailing around the earth, riding into space on questionable rocket boosters, etc, etc..... In fact, many high-risk activities have become exclusively for the rich, IMHO.

 

Aren't you talking about ONE rich gy here?

[cj001f]

I disagree. If this were so, you wouldn't have a whole host of multi-millionares climbing 8000m peaks, riding hot-air balloons around the globe, crashing in experimental aircraft, sailing around the earth, riding into space on questionable rocket boosters, etc, etc..... In fact, many high-risk activities have become exclusively for the rich, IMHO.

 

apples & oranges. Those "rich" are almost exclusively from rich nations. Travel to the 3rd/developing world and see how many people of any class take part in high risk physical activities (excluding life!). The answer is close to zero. To extend, participating in high risk activities is a byproduct of societal wealth, not personal wealth. Remember it was the British of the 1850's, when they were the wealthiest in the world, who were the first major mountaineering nation.

[jmckay]

http://www.mnftiu.cc/mnftiu.cc/war.html

[graupel]

Percentage of Americans that hold passports? about 17%

 

Since Bush hadn't been out of the country before he was elected, do you think he has a passport yet?

[archenemy]

I disagree. If this were so, you wouldn't have a whole host of multi-millionares climbing 8000m peaks, riding hot-air balloons around the globe, crashing in experimental aircraft, sailing around the earth, riding into space on questionable rocket boosters, etc, etc..... In fact, many high-risk activities have become exclusively for the rich, IMHO.

 

apples & oranges. Those "rich" are almost exclusively from rich nations. Travel to the 3rd/developing world and see how many people of any class take part in high risk physical activities (excluding life!). The answer is close to zero. To extend, participating in high risk activities is a byproduct of societal wealth, not personal wealth.

 

Then why do people in poor nations with over 50% AIDS rates still fuck even after learning about transmission, etc.? Now that's risk.