----- Original Message -----
From: Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, June 03, 2001 8:50 AM
Subject: Re: Conscription and Taxation
> Kevin Tarr schreef:
>
> > Is this where the difference is, if the government doesn't have it
finger
> > dierctly in society then it really isn't there? Wow.
>
> Suppose I've got a contract with a really big building corporation. They
choose
> to ignore every right that was granted to me in a mutual contract and
demand
> that I do grant them all their rights, no they even send treatening
letters,
> bullying supervisors and the likes if I don't instantly comply. They even
demand
> to be granted rights (which weren't in the original contract) or else I'll
be
> out on the street (and they don't even have the right to do that according
to
> law). Protests and letters from my side are simply ignored and complaints
about
> not honoring the contract are shoved into the round archive. So I ask my
lawyer
> what can I do about that kind of behaviour. He says well you are
absolutely in
> your right according to the law and this building corporation is a case of
> extreme bastards playing very rugh (In his words 'I've never come acros
anything
> remotely similar in all my career') but it'll cost too much money and can
take
> decades if you wanne get your grievance settled. I'd advise you to keep a
low
> profile, swallow your grievance and comply. So where does the government
enforce
> my rights in all this, except maybe for stating somewhere that I'm
supposed to
> have them?
>
> Do you think it might be different in the States? If so your legal system
indeed
> is much better then ours.
>
It is not perfect in the US, but it is different. There are certain aspects
of US law that aids the little guy. First of all, juries award settlements.
If they are way out of line, such as millions of dollars for coffee induced
burns at McDonalds, then they are reduced by a judge. So, all you have to
do is convince ordinary folks.
On the whole justice is speedier in the US than your description of the
system in the Netherlands. Our judicial system makes it easier to sue than
it is in Europe. So, big companies have to worry about people suing them.
I'll give a personal example of this. We had a flood caused by a toilet
problem in a house of ours. Our insurance company insisted that the carpet
in the family room, which smelled like mold, was just fine. After a few
phone calls got me nowhere, I asked myson's physician to write a letter
saying that the mold would affect his lungs (he had reactive airways
disease). I sent a copy of this letter with a letter of mine stating that I
was assuming that the insurance company was so confident in their assessment
of no health risk that they would be happy to pay all future medical bills
that might be associated with the mold from the rugs. I got a urgent phone
call from the insurance company within a couple of days of sending the
letter. The threat worked like a charm.
Dan M.
