Friday, March 12, 2010

So Much for Heroism

Once upon a time the nation celebrated the brave men and women who fought the fires at the World Trade Center and then waded into the rubble to search for remains and clean up the mess. They were heroes. Then the dust settled and the lawsuits started:

A settlement of up to $657.5 million has been reached in the cases of thousands of rescue and cleanup workers at ground zero who sued the city over damage to their health, according to city officials and lawyers for the plaintiffs.

They said that the settlement would compensate about 10,000 plaintiffs according to the severity of their illnesses and the level of their exposure to contaminants at the World Trade Center site.

Ah, America.

4 comments:

Katya said...

Sorry--what's your stance here? Should we be amply be recompensing the men and women whose health was damaged by entry into the World Trade Center environment after 9/11, or what? Are you taking these lawsuits as frivolous? Is your plaint that they have had to sue for this money rather than being awarded pensions by a grateful nation? I'd like some context for you comments, if you are willing.

John said...

I despise the American system of handling all harms through lawsuits. If these people really suffered long-term health effects from working at ground zero, which has never been proved, then, yes, they should be provided with pensions. The system we have rewards the loudest whiners and their lawyers with millions and leaves honest people to suffer in silence.

As Bill Clinton used to say, we should structure our institutions to benefit people who "work hard and play by the rules." As it is we reward people who work the angles of the legal system.

Katya said...

Okay, that's what I thought you were saying! ;-)!

Katya said...
This comment has been removed by the author.