Posted on 09/03/2006 5:23:24 AM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
"Only little people pay taxes." Leona Helmsley said, didn't she? Well, that statement represents reality more than people realize. No, it's not just the taxes that are the issue. The overriding issue making so many people angry these days is the LACK of uniform justice in this country (and the world for that matter). Law after law is passed and who follows those laws?
The honest people try. The little people have to. I personally know that in almost all workplaces, people are chafing under oppressive management which sets attendance rules, policy, etc. that the employees are expected to follow to a tee or be terminated. Retail managers must follow explicit rules about markdowns, product placement, marketing (pro-gay quite often), dress code, etc.; teachers have to modify homework and tests for "special students", be VERY careful about what they say; no pocket knives (because the students can't have one); etc., bank employees have to change the way they deal with customers who deposit or handle large amounts of cash almost every day because the government is trying to track every $; police must handle lawbreakers with TLC and that is the tip of the iceberg for what they face and lawyers are standing over everyone's shoulder waiting to make a dollar on the slightest misstep anyone might make. Life is definitely unfair.
The irony of it all is that rule after rule is made and law-abiding citizens trying to hold on to a vestige of honesty are suffering under massive oppression. The very wealthy and the criminals, though, often enjoy loophole after loophole not available to the "little" people. As a matter of fact, criminals quite often don't follow ANY rule if no one is standing over them watching. It doesn't matter what regulation government passes, a criminal is not going to notice that a store is already closed before entering, the light is red, it is illegal to enter the nation without documentation, you're not allowed to sell that drug without a prescription, you're not supposed to sell THAT drug at all, girls under 18 are not suitable for sexual relations generally, sex with a woman without her consent is not generally allowed (Depends on the culture, doesn't it?), sex between men and boys is largely not tolerated, you're not supposed to take money from people by pointing a gun in their faces, you really shouldn't kill people from whom you've taken money if they give it up and plead for their lives, blah, blah, blah.
Where are we getting all of this? Well, moral collapse is the root cause -- people do not wish to turn to the source of good, that is God and His Word. But I digress. Lawyers have en masse contributed to all of this. They have come to see themselves as gods. They believe they can decide who should see justice and who should be exonerated. And, if it suits their purposes or the accused has enough money -- Presto! You receive your "Get out of Jail" card! Well, the nation slides down the slope as this continues and worsens daily.
We go to work. We are reprimanded for minor offenses. We watch the news. We see illegal aliens running the Mexican flag to the top of the pole on U.S. Federal property (Post Office) and nothing being done about it whereas if we, the citizen, were to vandalize one inch of Postal Property we would be arrested immediately. I wanted to argue about having been let go from the Postal Service for being too slow years ago when I worked for them and was told by the postmaster that if I showed up on the property again -- I would be arrested (and he couldn't even be nice when he said it). We see people chewed out and fired for policy violations at work while politicians hold huge sums of illicit cash right in their congressional offices. Homeowners would be reamed out by the codes officer if they let too many cars park in their yard while illegal aliens seem to have exclusive rights to neighborhood parking lots on their front lawns. I could go on forever listing the inequities and expect those reading this to add a few. The lack of justice IS one of the biggest problems facing the United States.
We have had to follow the rules for our entire lives. Now, we have classes of people who not only don't follow the rules, they're robbing, raping and killing us as they go along. I don't know what the overall solution is going to be but something's going to have to change. This simply can NOT continue. We have a vacuum of leadership and it will eventually be filled -- probably with a despot. I've said my piece and that will be it for a while. I suffer patiently remembering that God is not partial and has clearly stated that "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
As a former rule writer I was fortunate to work in an environment where the lawyers didn't get to write the rules ~ they might have reviewed them for "consistency" and "adherence to law", but they didn't write them.
Your depiction of the American justice system is very disturbing, the stuff of nightmares. However, I believe it is an accurate depiction.
Nothing, as long as they use realistic measures and apply it fairly. When driving 35 miles through gridlocked rush hour traffic, I left 2 hours before work. That worked fine except for an occasional day when there was a serious accident. Management told everyone that being even one minute late would not be tolerated. I and the other older long term employees were fired. Younger, cheaper employees and (dare I say it?) pretty women were allowed to be late or absent all they wanted. Life is a bitch.
How about piffle as "nonsense", an assertion unsupported by facts."
You're not one of the "little people" are you?
We are turning Chinese...
'Piffle' is bug-dust in some Northern European language's idom.
Either we are equal or we are not. Go safely, go armed with wits or a gun. I've both.
It is true; we little people are told when to pee and where, and if we miss the pot, we are discarded. All the while the big dogs pee where they will.
It has been that way only for a few thousand years. Probably longer, but the records only go back that far. It is part of The Human Condition.
If I were ever arrested for a crime I would be screwed. I would have the lawyer I could afford, and it would not be an experienced criminal defense attorney with access to private forensic labs, private investigators, a back up team of researchers and a second in the courtroom; unless I was given a dream team at public expense for being a nationally known serial killer.
I don’t recall anyone promising me that life would be fair. I live with the above thought because I decided long ago that some things in life are more valuable than money. If I had made different choices in life I would be wealthy enough not to care.
But no room in medical facilities and morgues as their lifestyle pays out. Sorry, this is a conservative news discussion forum and liebertarians are not conservative. Justice is harsh. Consider the 'categorical imperative.' It is in my dictionary, is it in yours?
How I know is really no one's business. Management can set just about any rule they wish. I don't have a problem with it. It's the lack of adherence to rules by some 30 million illegals & others that is bothering me. Oh, I have a grip. You don't have a clue how much of a grip I have and on what I have a grip.
The board, all commercial entities must pander to the lowest common denominator in order to increase their market penetration. So they try to become all things to all people and fail.
No we are not property, but we can own property.
If my service is required to for you to to obtain your objective, can I claim a part of it.
Not unless it was part of the deal when you sold your services. You can not have a valid claim if it was not part of the deal.
If my service is essential for you to obtain your objective can I require you to surrender a portion of it to me?
This is where the market place comes into play, you can charge what ever you desire for your services, you could charge a million bucks an hour if you desire. It is up to other people to chooses to trade their property with you. You may risk pricing yourself out of the market.
This is aside from you hiring me from in front of Walmart.
What service are you selling in front of Walmart? I hope it is not a service explaining what ones Property Rights are, and why they are important.
Outstanding post and correct. I also wanted to mention Wall Street. That is an entirely special case in regard to this entire argument. The amount of cheating, scamming, etc. that goes on in that arena to the detriment of the "little man" is unbelievable. Very little is done about the huge amount of dishonesty that is taking place. I could for an hour give examples. No time.
Ha ha ha. Photographers who pay kickbacks to school systems in order to get the work price themselves out of the market but get orders anyway because students are told they'll get their pictures made with that photographer or they won't be in the year book or things similar to that. Tell me more about people having choices...
You obviously don't know any democrats.
They have never had the rules apply to them.
Go to a courthouse, the cronic criminals with the public defenders are 100% PROOF that they have no consequences.
The whole democrat party platform is based on no consequences for misconduct.
Does that mean you are not allowed to spend the night at a Holiday Inn Express?
But it's all a struggle with constantly changing rules and conditions. Right now globalization does NOT favor little white dogs in this country while it and the IT revolution favor big dogs everywhere.
Somewhere, somehow you are breaking a law, code, ordinance…
Way back in about 1964 I wrote a high school term paper that required using the local courthouse law library. The library consisted of a thin notebook of local ordinances, and thin book of State law, a few volumes of Federal law and a few volumes of the Code of the Federal Register. The whole deal took up only a couple feet of shelf space.
I recently checked the local public library for a law. City ordinances were contained in 5 thick volumes. State law took up several feet of space and the Federal laws and regulations (only partially complete) took up several shelves. The US Tax Code was not included.
As long as our Representatives are referred to as “Law Makers” the trend will continue.
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