Sam, you`re quite right, it`s impossible for me or Darryl or any non-American to look at things from an American perspective, if our opinions are "foreign" to you, you might concede that yours can be so to us at times.
"Socialist" is an out-of-place term though, and one which either one of us, or perhaps both, don`t fully understand the meaning of, so best we keep it out of the conversation.
My opinion is based on the fact that people should accept and take responsibility for their own safety and responsibility, and when in a position to take responsibility for other people`s safety, should do so in such a way that they don`t endanger the other person`s safety, whether wilfully or negligently. It has less to do with what country I`m from and it`s political standing, and more to do with what my father taught me.
I`m battling to understand your approach - that people can behave in such a way that endagers the lives of others, act irresponsibly (drink alcohol, then sail across a shipping channel in the middle of the night with no navigation lights, no safety equipment, lifejackets not worn, no flares etc.), and then expect to be rescued at no cost to themselves (ie carry no responsibility for their actions), because evryone pays taxes, so they are entitled to it. Sam, I see this as a far more "socialist" attitude than mine.
Of course I agree entirely that they should be rescued by the CG, it`s their job to save lives, but I believe that they should be made responsible for their actions since they were behaving with gross negligence. If that doesn`t happen, it won`t be another 3 weeks before another idiot goes out and makes negative headlines as an ambassador to our sport. (Thankfully it will probably be an American with your attitude.) To be blunt, if it was a powerboat or rowing-boat incident, I would`nt bother to respond.
We don`t have a government-funded CG, we have a private donor-funded institute that does the same job. They rely on donations from the public to fund rescue and training, and an unneccessary rescue such as this one costs money that they could spend on real rescue missions (Unneccessary because, had these people been responsible adults, they would not have been in that situation.)
If these folks were slapped with a hefty fine for negligence while on the water and that money went to a fund for all the CG guys families who have lost their lives while rescuing others, I`d be satisfied.
Just because the US has a govt-funded operation is no cause for you to "expect" to be rescued, what if the CG uses up all it`s allocated budget on drunken idiots, would you be happy if they raised your taxes to cover your own rescue while sailing responsibly, or could not come to your aid becuase their funds had been exhausted saving reckless perty-goers ?
Hey Sam, just becuase we differ in opinion, doesn`t mean any of us are right !
