So everyone’s in an uproar that Ron Artest and some of his teammates got a little violent towards their opponents and fans at the end of the Pacers/Pistons game last Friday. And quite frankly, they should be. Punching people is wrong. Starting riots is wrong. In general, causing people physical harm is wrong. I understand that.
What I don’t understand is why the conservative punditry agrees with me. They’re all kicking and screaming for the NBA to enact harsher penalties against the athletes. But why? I mean, aren’t these the same pundits who constantly exalt the glory of the free market? Won’t the market solve the problem all by itself? If people really value athletes who don’t punch people in the face, then they’ll quit buying tickets and merchandise, and the NBA will be forced to enact harsher penalties against assholes who think it’s OK to punch people in the face to regain the lost business, right? Isn’t this the logic of deregulation?
Tobacco is responsible for millions of deaths, but you don’t hear these pundits crying out for sanctions against the millionaire CEOs who use their economic, political, and marketing might to stay in the business of literally killing people. So if that’s OK, what’s wrong with a few huge dudes punching a few smaller dudes in the face? Smokers can quit smoking, they say. Can’t basketball fans find a new interest?
Like I said, I think the athletes do deserve harsher penalties. I’m tired of one code of ethics for the rich and famous, and another for the rest of us. But I also think big business by and large deserves far more serious sanctions for its violence against the public. And I have to wonder why the Limbaughs of the world are so ready to get regulatory on the NBA when they're so fond of giving the tobacco , firearm, pharmaceutical, and defense industries free market hall passes. What makes neocons selective peaceniks?
Final question: If we, as a country, are so uniformly mad about a few guys punching a few innocent bystanders at a basketball game, why are only half of us outraged about the tens of thousands of civilians who the US Army has killed in Iraq?
Posted by Mr. Perkins at November 24, 2004 11:11 AM