Unhingedness

Okay, this isn’t new exactly, and maybe you’ve seen it, but it’s new to ME, so and I feel the need to vent. So first read this, then this.

First inclination is to treat this as really black humor. But thinking about it a little just makes me angry. Really, really angry. So let me just say: Derek, you stupid fucking IDIOT. Seriously, they don’t come much more braindead than you. What the HELL were you thinking? Yeah, you’re a reeaall cool guy, you are: a right fucking rebel. The government’s not the boss of me! They can’t make me to anything I don’t wanna do! You obnoxious little brat: they were trying to save your stupid ass, but noooo…you had to live out your inane, juvenile, libertarian fantasies instead, didn’t you? Howard Roark would be proud, I’m sure. I mean for GOD’S sake, what’s the thinking here? “Sure, on the one hand, there’s a small but real chance that a seatbelt could save my life driving on an icy interstate. But on the other hand, NO ONE tells Derek Kieper what to do! Will to power! Rargh!” Yeah, that’s some real trenchant-ass risk analysis right there.

So was it worth it, dude? Yes, it was a tragic death—but at least your loved ones have the comfort of knowing that you died in a noble struggle with an oppressive government that cruelly wanted to, um, stop you from getting yourself killed (god, it’s like living in Stalinist Russia, isn’t it?). I’m sure they were just choked up with joy knowing that you went out so gloriously.

And the kicker, of course, is that it’s painfully obvious that the libertarian attitude he’s trying to cop is, as per almost always, just so much bullshit (and not just because he was a typically dimwitted warmongering Bush cheerleader, either). Does anyone really believe that, had Derek actually genuinely thought there was a chance it would save his life, he wouldn’t have worn a seatbelt? Of course not. Like kids through the ages, he thought he was immortal. It was all a pose. He just wanted to look cool and rebellious, and he chose the most excruciatingly stupid way possible to do it.

But even if, for some unfathomable reason, he really was cool with dying just so long as he was at the same time defying the government…well, that’s what’s wrong with libertarianism in a nutshell, isn’t it? It’s all about selfishness, as any disciple of Ayn Rand would gladly tell you. So my death might shatter other people’s lives? Who cares. I do what I want. Real nice, dude.

This may seem harsh, and maybe it is. Ol’ Derek wasn’t anything special, he was just a typical dumb kid who happened to find himself in an unfortunate congruence of circumstance. He certainly didn’t deserve to die*. But for some reason the story just REALLY rubbed me the wrong way. Such arrogant stupidity.

Life is a series of calculated risks no matter what you do. There’s really no need to play Russian Roulette to spice it up. So for god’s sake, kids, don’t vote for Republicans, and wear your goddamn seatbelt.

*disclaimer: as an anti-capital punishment absolutist, I don’t think anybody deserves to die. But if I did, I still wouldn’t think that he did.