Pass the Blame, Please
Nothing gets me more annoyed with the state of the world, than the seemingly "all to human" desire to lay blame as far away from oneself as possible. Nothing, that is, except the desire to lay blame on the entity with the most money, regardless of how tenuous the connection between the wrong doers and the victim.
This is one of the reasons that i dislike being a lawyer so much. The idea that any injury becomes a lottery of sorts, with the victim rushing to the legal system for an unearned windfall just makes me want to hit them with a stone tablet with the Ethic of Self Responsibility engraved on it. Unfortunately, they still wouldn't "get it."
So imagine my reaction when I read a short article on Slashdot this morning about the victim's family, in a horrible shooting, went out and sued the creators of a video game.
The makers of Grand Theft Auto were sued by the family of a victim of two deranged teenagers who say that the game encouraged them to run outside with guns and start shooting at passing motorists. Well gee, I suppose this means that these teenagers learned right from wrong through this video game. Not through their parents, not through common sense, not through religion, but through this video game. Or perhaps the argument is that despite all of the learning imparted by others, this insidious video game somehow overrode their innate morality and forced them, against their wills, to find their parents' weapons, load them, then point and fire at passing motorists. What POWER this game must have.
Is it only this game? Or should ALL video games be immediately banned to protect society from impressionable teenagers wielding vorpal blades chasing house pets that they think may be bugbears? And is it just teenagers? Or are younger children prone to attempting to dress their little friends like Barbie dress up, crushing their self esteem for life? How about adults? Are these horrible video games powerful enough to brainwash otherwise moral adults into crazed killers?
Of course, if the teenage perpetrators in this case came from rich families, the blame would likely have remained with those who did it - the shooters. Then we could only wonder whether or not the parents would then be the plaintiffs against the game company. Because, as we all know, it's got to be somebody ELSE'S fault.