Honolulu Lite
I'm fairly certain that forcing everyone over the age of 18 to wear a seat belt while driving or passengering a vehicle is ultimately damaging to the gene pool. Seat belt laws endanger
the gene poolEvolution just doesn't work if society drags along and protects the hopelessly clueless. It may sound heartless, but a society that nurtures and safeguards the self-destructive and those lacking a fierce will to live is setting itself up for a monumental "spaz attack" down the road.
Some people don't get this. They believe that we must protect the stupid at all cost. Others say that stupid people must be left to their own devices, to let the genetic chips fall where they may. These diametric philosophies are graphically displayed when it comes to the issue of wearing helmets while riding motorcycles. The "protect-the-stupid" camp says helmets should be mandatory. The other side (also known as the "Weed the Gene Pool Party") says if a motorcycle rider wants to risk spreading his brain out over a quarter-mile stretch of asphalt, that's his decision.
The state seems to agree with the WTGPP, since wearing a helmet while motorcycling is optional in Hawaii.
But the state is schizophrenic when it comes to protecting people. And nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to wearing seat belts in vehicles. On the issue of seat belts, the state is befuddled, to say the least. To say the most, it is crazy out of its mind.
Over the next two weeks, police will be cracking down on seat-belt violators as part of the highly publicized "Click It or Ticket" program. They expect to issue at least 6,000 tickets in an apparent effort to remind the mentally deficient that an unrestrained soft biological mass stands very little chance of survival when encased in a fiery screaming wreck of 4,000 pounds of speeding metal.
The current law is that drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seat belts. Passengers under 18 in the back seat have to wear a belt and all kids have to be restrained. In other words, everyone is protected except the 18-plus-year-olds in the back who choose to live life on the edge.
The state wants it known that it is extremely protective of our children, which is why they must be in child safety seats or in seat belts. Except on school buses or city buses. Huh? Buses are heavier than cars. Go just as fast as cars. And when they wreck, create more havoc than cars. Yet no seat belts are required for ANYONE riding on a bus. It's that schizophrenic thing.
The state simply can't figure out who it wants to protect or why. I suggest it can overcome its institutional confusion by looking at the problem from the aforementioned "weed the gene pool" point of view.
Seat belts and restraints for children, whether in cars or buses, should be mandatory. Everyone over 18 is on their own. Darwin would approve.
Charles Memminger, winner of National Society of Newspaper Columnists awards, appears Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. E-mail cmemminger@starbulletin.com