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Letters February, 2002
Re: "Olympians (and others) take foolish chances. We must let them."
There is nothing "odd" about the way our society handles risk-takers. While
the Citizen editorial argues that laws are slowly eroding our liberties, I
would argue that legislation protects society from the inconsiderate, the
immature and the irresponsible among us.
I agree that if someone wants to play Russian roulette with his or her life,
that is his or her prerogative. But that person does not have the right to
take someone else along for the ride (for example, drunk drivers, smokers
puffing away in other people's faces, talking on a cell phone while
driving.) That is not a question about people losing their liberties. It is
about people using common sense. An individual's risky behaviour does have
consequences for other people and for society at large.
I often see children wearing helmets while bicycling with their parents, who
are feeling the wind in their hair. How can parents teach safety first if
they do not practice what they preach? And what will happen to the children
if a parent suffers a brain injury or is killed? These parents have a
responsibility toward their children to protect themselves too.
People want to engage in risky behaviour, yet have no qualms about expecting
society to pick up the tab. People complain that our health care system is
in a shambles, yet refuse to acknowledge the connection between an
individual's risky behaviour and the demands on our hospitals, the long
waits for medical treatments, and the demand for transplantable organs which
are in short supply.
Carmela Graziani
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