The scene: Man arrested for DUI with a blood alcohol content [B.A.C.] of 0.00. It is justified by a bevvy of lobbyists, special interest groups and the lawmakers. When one of these, one in a million, cases comes to light, they trot out the MADD [mothers against drunk drivers] victims and have them cry on camera. They then recap the story talking about the poor victim and his/her tragic story.
It has struck me recently that a lot of legislation is crammed down our throats, without so much as a doctor, scientist, expert even looking at the claims behind the law. We are bombarded with sentimental emotional drivel and when the crying is all done, somehow we are 1% tax poorer for the entire experience.
They use big words such as: tragedy, hero, ultimate, horrific, amazing, awesome. I’d like to tackle these words for you, so that when you hear them, you know what they mean and aren’t taken in by sentimentality.
We often hear the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers tell sob stories of losing a 13 year old son / daughter to a drunk driver. And, then the reporter recaps it or politicians recaps it by saying what a tragedy it is. Let me define the word tragedy: a medieval poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man; a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as a god) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror; a disastrous event. Losing your son / daughter is definately a sad state of affairs, but it never reaches the level of tragedy, unless that son / daughter was about to reveal the cure for cancer and only he / she knew it and the world was waiting for it.
Sometimes we are told that events are horrible or awful. So let’s look at awe: an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime. This means you would be faced with an event or entity [notice i didn't say person] that makes you speechless, stops you in your tracks, makes you panic and makes you feel like you have reached a state of nirvana [a state which is nearly impossible] all at once by the mere presence of the entity. Usually it’s ascribed to meeting a god. But, politicians love to use it saying “it’s an awful tragedy”. The language is so over the top that it borders ridiculous.
My biggest pet peeve of them all is the word hero. There are no living heroes. End of story! For me to call someone a hero, they would have to save my life, teach me Chinese, and fly me to Mexico on their back, all at the same time. Then, I might consider calling them a hero. The word is so over used as, again, to border ridiculous. It is used so much that when a real hero comes along, no one will think they are any better than the other charlatans everyone has been naming heroes all along. The politicians when pushing forward some controversial DUI legislation will ofter refer to some police story where and officer rescued a baby from a drunk driving accident. In reality he reached in the window and pulled the child out, after the event was over, but I digress. Hero: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability. Now that we have a true definition, when we take that magnifying glass and point it at all the jokers who have been called the word hero, they all fail. Certainly, pulling a child from a car that explodes 15 minutes later is a nice thing, but as a firefighter / police officer you are both trained and paid to do that. In fact, you are expected to do no less than that. If police and firefighters didn’t rescue people form burning buildings or exploding cars then we’d replace them with people that would.
Finally, when MADD is trotted out before you and you hear their sad stories, do not be swayed to vote for new legislation that is going to stop these awful tragedies for a mere tax increase of 1%. Don’t sit idle and tear up when the heroic police officer singlehandedly stopped 200 DUI convicts and took them off the street. Understand the words. Understand what they are trying to do. Yes, there is sadness in this world. Yes, there is hope in this world. But, it doesn’t mean you have to pay for it, or give up your constitutional rights for it. Sure, go into your room and cry, but come back out and say no thanks. Be reasonable and don’t be swayed by big words.
