Oh now this is just revolting

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1860248.ece?token=null&offset=12

[Wordforge Propertarian]"Obviously she failed to take responsibility for her own life."[/]

It's New Zealand, they sholdn't even have that kind of equipment yet.

And electricity? WTF? What happened to coconut batteries?

Well, she did reject the publicly funded ambulance....perhaps she herself is a propertarian :flow2:

You don't pay your bill, you get cut off. That's how it works. It's tragic, but it's unreasonable to expect a power company (which has to deal with many thousands or millions of customers) to take everyone's special needs into account. I'm sure everyone who gets cut off will tell a sad tale about why they "need" their electricity so badly, it should continue to be provided even if payment for it is not forthcoming.

That said, the man on the scene probably could've exercised better judgment. If there did appear to be some legitimate medical need that the electricity was supporting, he should've notified his superiors. Rules are supposed to be followed, but one must also recognize a highly exceptional case.

What took you so long?

Didja even read the second paragraph?

IMHO that sheeploid who bleated "Only doing my job" should be the first one to be keelhauled over this. Investigation would reveal if any additional people were deserving.

It reminds me of the people who said they were "just following orders" when they massacred Jews.

But in a strict Randian universe, he *was* just doing his job. The power company is not a charity, and he's not paid to give their services away. From a purely Randian perspective, he's a model citizen.

Though clearly, if he'd gotten an MBA, he could have become CEO of Telecom New Zealand instead.

So there's another example, from a purely Propertarian POV, of someone who failed to take responsibility for his own life...

Garamet, does someone have an entitlement to your services, even if they can't pay for them?

See, now this is the real post, not that first one.

Nah, they should just fuckin' die for being so irresponsible as to have a disability which forces them to require oxygen.

Do you think that maybe, just maybe, in certain situations such as, oh, this one, you provide the service up front and then sue if it isn't paid for? Maybe, just maybe, if you feel you really need to cut off power you get a court order--which inherently gives plenty of warning as well as covering your ass--to that effect? Maybe, just maybe, there are ways to protect your investment in your power company without actually murdering someone? Maybe.

Many seem to be hinting yes, but no one is saying yes

Paladin agree's!

Go fuck yourself.

Oops, I meant,

Oh, and don't forget....

Why is no one actually saying yes?

EDIT:

Do you think, maybe, just maybe, that if someone isn't paying their $50/month electric bill, that hiring $200/hour lawyers to extract the money from them is an economically unworthwhile approach?

It would be to no one's advantage (save the people who don't pay their bill) if every termination for non-payment had to go through the court system. The only thing that would guarantee would be much higher costs for everyone.

And power companies usually send notices when a disconnect is pending. In any event, when the customer subscribes for the power, the customer knows what the payment terms are. You are familiar with a thing called a monthly billing statement, right?

I reject the term murder. While I agree that the situation--as it has been reported here--should've been cause for the technician to contact his superiors for instructions, it's not a crime. In many parts of the world, power can be disconnected without the technician even visiting the residence.

The burden is on those who have special needs to see that those needs are adequately provided for. A power company cannot take every customer who fails to pay to court to ensure that they are not unduly inconvenienced by being cut off.

I'd also like to add that it was tragically foolish of this woman and her family to gamble her life on the basis of continuous power. Even if there had been no disconnect, there are still random power outages everywhere. She could just as easily have been killed by someone knocking over a power pole a mile up the road.

Their disability may not be a consequence of irresponsibility, but their reliance solely on power--especially when the bill was not paid--certainly was.

I'm afraid this incident is emblematic of our whole society. We now expect to be given a courtesy pass for every transgression or mistake (no matter how far out there we push matters), that we abdicate responsibility, and are outraged--outraged!--when someone else fails to protect us from our own mistakes.

Yes, obviously she should have just grown a new set of bionic lungs and the problem would have been solved.

Why aren't you taking Diacanu's advice?

What happens when an entire hospital loses power?

I considered the source

Or paid the bill.

Or had a back-up generator.

Or have gone to the hospital when her difficulties began.

Or...


Sorry, she's dead because she and her family were completely passive at every point. It was left up to someone else to look after their needs, even though it was unreasonable to expect anyone to do so.

In New Zealand? I have no idea.

I just think that people's lives are worth more than the almighty dollar. However, I think the family was stupid not to immediately call an ambulance no matter what the woman said. There certainly seems to have been an opportunity to possibly mitigate damages in this case.

There is likely a lot more that we don't know about the situation which ultimately ended up in this tragedy.

A courtesy pass? A COURTESY PASS???? You've got to be fucking with us.

How about in California?

Do you ever answer a question? I mean, fucking EVER?!