"I didn't know one punch could kill!"

[jfish1936]

This defence has been used in trials where someone has been killed in a fight; neither killer nor jurors have realised that one punch can kill.

Should we therefore have a public education campaign? Perhaps, every 3 months, newspapers should publish pictures of the victims from the past 3 years:
"These were killed by one punch"

Of course, if person A strikes a blow at the head of person B knowing it to be potentially lethal, and B dies as a result, a jury who know it to be potentially deadly would surely have no option but to convict for manslaughter.
But I still think the educational value would be great.

[ben_in_boomba]

The way I see it, there's one main factor that will stand in the way of any education campaign being successful in reducing the amount of spontaneous violence-related deaths: Many people DO NOT GIVE A SHIT!

According to these people, the only life that represents any value whatsoever is their own. I think that this stems from the emergence of this bullshit ego-centric Americanised attitude which encourages continual attempts to show others that you are "cooler" than them, better looking than them, richer than them, more popular than them, have accumulated more expensive shit you don't need than them. It's all so competitive.

So when faced with a choice between backing down to a fellow competitor, or doing everything in their power to assert their misconcieved "superiority" - of course someone with this attitude is going to go for the latter option. Of course amphetamines and alcohol are also to blame, but no more so than a legal system which has for too long allowed there to be action without appropriate consequence - rights without responsibility.

Personally I think society is getting more and more shite. It is becoming more ignorant, more gullible, more hypocritical, more narcissistic, more impatient, more violent, than ever before. And although these truths are blatantly obvious to alot of us, there are many who prefer to simply ignore them and do nothing about them. As long as you can afford cosmetic surgery and brand new shiny things, then everything is just fine. This may be a gross generalisation, but those of you who know what i am talking about should take no offence to this statement. Those of you who are living your lives with a blindfold on may take it however you wish (although i doubt many of those people read forums like this - they'd be much too busy preening themselves and spending money on the latest Hollywood inspired craze).

Oh i could go on and on but i'm sure i'd just be labelled as a depressed cynic and told that noone wants to hear that sort of stuff - the illusion is fragile and most people fear it being shattered by a few negative observations. Bottom line is, violence, drugs, high interest rates, the gap between rich and poor, global warming, all the things that fall into the category of man-made problems - they're all here to stay. All we can do is hope they don't get any worse. But if they do, a facelift and a new BMW should fix it.

Lao Jer Gun Mai ! ("See you later" in Thai)

[501ST]

Hello Ben in Boomba,I cound not agree with you more.

Materialism and superficial views on life have taken over due to the strongly run "buy,buy and buy some more" campaign by business and governments.

There is little room left for spirituality (let me point out I am not referring to religion alone) but rather the importance of the self inside.

The self seen only on the outside is heavily promoted as all there is.

Violence can be attributed very often to drugs and alchohol of course however road rage incidences do not always have these elelments in their occurance and some of the road rage crimes have resulted in death or serious permanent injury.

People who do see materialism and more money as the answer truly are deluded. Deluded and deluding themselves

As the saying goes:

Fool me once - shame on you

Fool me twice - shame on me

Cynicism is easy to arrive at when examining this topic and of course not everyone does think this way.

My question is: If no-one challenges the status quo then how many people will continue on as is out of fear of being different?

[jfish1936]

Ben's question is: If no-one challenges the status quo then how many people will continue on as is out of fear of being different?

Very apt at this season, Ben. After a long Sunday of religious reading, I remember that some 2,000 years ago, someone was born who challenged the status quo so much that those who feared being different had to kill him some 30 years later. But he still changed the lives and thinking of millions! [/quote]