Greed!
You may recall a movie released in 1967 starring George C. Scott. The name of the movie was, "The Flim Flam Man." The main character was an old rural con artist named Mordecai Jones, who took advantage of the dark side of human nature to slick people out of their money. His philosophy held that greed not love is what makes the world go round. Mordecai also believed that you could not con an honest man. Although I don't totally agree with this theory, I will admit, there is a lot of truth in it.
I still believe there is good in all men and that most would prefer to be fair and honest in dealing with others; however, sixty-seven years of life here on earth has taught me that not all men are just, not all men are true. There are those whose lives are indeed ruled by greed!
Art Bosco said in post 34, "It's all about money." And he's right. Lust for money is what drives most frivilous law suits. I believe most manufacturers in this country try their best to build good, safe products and sell them at reasonable prices but humans design and build those products and as such, they are not perfect. It is impossible to design and produce anything that is foolproof. Nature will always come up with a better fool.
We must accept the fact that some things are inherently DANGEROUS! Guns are dangerous, and nothing is more dangerous than the automobiles, trucks and motorcycles we take for granted everyday. When incompetent, irresponsible, poorly trained individuals are permitted to operate dangerous equipment, accidents will happen.
Since around 1963, we here in America have increasingly been too willing to excuse the actions of fools. Once it was discovered that carefully selected juries would sometimes award millions to those injured or killed by their own stupidity, the vultures have been circling. The cost of products and services skyrocketed and one by one, our manufacturers were forced to either close their doors or move their operations out of the country.
Maybe Mordecai Jones theory was closer to the truth than I once believed.
BTW,, have you voted?
Gene Beggs