Comments on: Culture War

By: nicholas gray

nicholas gray — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:23:58 +0000

Well, at least you haven’t cottoned on as to what goes into MY burghers! Thank you, Mrs Lovatt! And Mr. Todd!!

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:59:31 +0000

I know you wouldn’t Mick, I should have exempted you along with Fleeced, Probably the other two as well although I don’t know them as well.

By: Justin

Justin — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:50:08 +0000

That’s like:

‘Waiter! Waiter! I can’t tell if this is tea or coffee. It tastes like dirt.’

‘Oh then it’s tea sir. The coffee tastes like cats’ piss.’

Boomboom.

By: Fleeced

Fleeced — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:58:14 +0000

“His reputation will be the one destroyed, then it will not matter what he says. In libertarian terms his product, (disparaging words) becomes unmarketable owing to the poor quality control.”

The left spreads misinformation about capitalism all the time – and ultimately destroys or damages many a business in the process. Maybe we can sue for damages.

By: Mick Sutcliffe

Mick Sutcliffe — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:06:26 +0000

I’d never give you a shit sandwich, Jim!

By: Jim Fryar

Jim Fryar — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:40:13 +0000

OK Fleeced says your coffee tastes like cats piss. Is he going to stop there? In my experience, no. People like this tend to do such things because they are the sort of miserable bastards who can only feel better about themselves by pulling others down in order to brighten up their drab wretched lives. (Fleeced, I don’t think you would do this, its only an example)

Flushed from his success and all the attention he got, he then goes on to claim that Sutcliffe burgers taste like shit, Humphries fried chicken has high cholesterol, and Petersens Fish Shop sells the mercury that leaks out of their product.

His reputation will be the one destroyed, then it will not matter what he says. In libertarian terms his product, (disparaging words) becomes unmarketable owing to the poor quality control. That is, unless Sutcliffe Burgers do taste……………………………………

By: Fleeced

Fleeced — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:12:24 +0000

"Aren’t there other cases where aggravating an existing condition (in this case depression) is cause for claiming damages?"

Possibly... but is it reasonable (there's that word again) for someone to know the mental state of another person? (Mostly not, but I in some cases possibly). As an aside, we have the case in the US where a 13-year old girl committed suicide after a myspace "prank" allegedly perpetrated by her next-door neighbour.

By: Shem Bennett

Shem Bennett — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:43:23 +0000

Aren’t there other cases where aggravating an existing condition (in this case depression) is cause for claiming damages?

We’re pretty much on the same page, I think. My examples were just bad :p

My point was just that free speech, while something to be defended by the government, doesn’t mean that you can get away with saying anything with no repercussions.

By: Fleeced

Fleeced — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:28:10 +0000

BTW, the example you gave with the coffee shop… I should be able to say you use cat’s piss anyway – since a reasonable person is likely to assume I’m speaking figuratively (“Their coffee tastes like cat’s piss”), so you should probably add a 4th provision before damages can be awarded (ie, a reasonableness test)

A better example would be if I spread a rumour saying that this store owner was convicted child molester. This would no doubt hurt their feelings – but that’s neither here nor there – the loss of business however is a tangible negative which can be objectively measured.

Under no circumstances should hurting someone’s feelings, by itself, be considered a crime.

By: Fleeced

Fleeced — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:16:58 +0000

Drugs are needed to control depression and other serious psychological illnesses.

In which case, people can hardly be held responsible for someone else's internal mental state.

If ... I can prove 1) you were lying, 2) you negatively affected my business and to a lesser extent 3) you intended to hurt my business then I should be able claim for damages.

Not the best example, but if you can establish those three things, then perhaps... but we're not talking about hurt feelings anymore are we?