John Linton
.....because modern education, parenting and societal (if that is the correct word in this particular instance) influences create the scenario of the lawlessness in which the planet is being engulfed.
It doesn't matter whether its corrupt politicians, corrupt police, corrupt businessmen/women, bikie gangs manufacturing drugs, suicide bombers, drunken driving or 10 year olds downloading copyright material from their parents computer we live in a milieu where most people are criminals and are vociferous in expounding their 'rights' to carry out their illegal activities for no other reason than they can get away with doing so.
This article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304604204575181820755061494.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews
pretty much sums up where on line piracy sadly 'stands' in the litany of lawlessness across the planet. I have no business view on how to deal with on line theft - Exetel will do whatever any State or Federal legislation requires it to do from time to time and will otherwise act in its own commercial best interests. Personally I think, because I was brought up in a more ethical society than exists today in Australia which still had caring parents and ethical schools and teachers, breaking any society's laws is wrong if you live in that society and that people who do so are menaces to the societies in which they live.
I was saddened by this article because it defines the real problems of living in today's world - the law makers are not the problem (personally corrupt as they may well be in their other activities). It is the actual societies they attempt to legislate for that are the problem. It appears from what was written that even though the 'government of the land' pass legislation there remains a society that is not intending to comply with it irrespective of the clearly delineated moral and ethical basis for delineating the legal situation.I suppose it will eventually work itself out over the next year or so but it may well be the case that Western methods of government have passed their use by date with law making becoming an esoteric process carried out in irrelevant assemblies that are basically unknown, and irrelevant, to the populations that they are responsible for governing.
Is there any moral/ethical difference between a 15 year old suicide bomber and a 15 year old illegal down loader? They both have been 'conditioned' by their parents, schooling and the societies in which they live to believe that the actions they are about to take are what they should do. Neither considers that, on the one hand the lives of people they have never met and they are about to end are of any importance and on the other hand that the lives of people they have never met who will no longer be employed manufacturing and distributing the material they casually steal are of any importance. You think that's an inappropriate comparison? Well....can you see any point between the two that are not directly apposite. Neither the 15 year old suicide bomber nor the 15 year old illegal down loader would do what they do if they had better parents, better schooling and lived in a less lawless society.
As the moral/ethical base of any society is developed over multiple generations there will be no change to the current situation in France and England based on some new law - you can't engineer societal change through legislation. Undoubtedly another family today will be devastated by the loss of a family member killed on an Australian road by some drunken slob who decided laws on alcohol consumption don't apply to them - because they can drink to excess and then get in their car/truck and drive somewhere. Doubtless some bunch of hoons in some location in every major city in Australian will be cooking up their latest batch of crystal meth or unpacking their latest shipment of heroin/whatever to ensure more young people destroy their lives before they are 30 - because they can get away with it despite all the laws and police anti drug "task forces".
We live in a lawless society that, because of the overwhelming number of examples from all sorts of people over the full spectra of today's societies, will continue to become more lawless and more anti-social. Any society can only change when the majority of any society act to bring about change, not via law making, but by personal example. Today in Australia when you watch some news media lamenting the latest tragic event caused by drugs, alcohol, or just crass selfishness remember that your personal actions in ignoring the rights of your fellow planet inhabitants mean that, possibly, one day some deluded young suicide bomber will choose to end his/her addle brained life within lethal distance of you.
Hopefully, as your lights go out for the last time, you will reconsider whether all that illegal material you downloaded and encouraged other people to download was worth it.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6........