The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

I watched part of the first episode of this season’s TV show “Scrubs.” Which I heartily do not recommend.

I’m not reviewing the show. I’m reviewing one line in the show. A doctor says something along the lines of: Due to insurance companies and malpractice lawyers, this profession is soul-sucking.

I won’t address the insurance company thing, but the lawyer thing bugs me. Even if we only talk about the frivolous suits, the lawyers shouldn’t be the sole target.

For the record: Malpractice lawyers don’t sue doctors. Patients sue doctors.

[Unlike “guns don’t kill people, people kill people guns don’t shoot people, people shoot people (with guns, not crossbows),” the problem wouldn’t disappear if we magically removed all the lawyers in the world. There would still be people, without lawyers, suing doctors to turn a misfortune into a payday.]

Are aggressive lawyers part of the problem? Sure. But I don’t think we should blame them without even mentioning the people they represent. So not only is Scrubs unwatchable from an aesthetic point of view (despite the very cute Australian med student), it’s annoying from a philosophical one.

3 Responses to The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

  1. BruceS December 4, 2009 at 1:21 pm #

    I’m not sure I follow. Are you saying that the problem of people killing people *would* disappear if we magically removed all the guns in the world? I think I’m misreading you, but I’ve had my coffee and still can’t see quite how.

  2. weeklyrob December 4, 2009 at 1:25 pm #

    No, you’re not misreading me. I clearly wrote something that I didn’t mean, because I was careless.

    I meant that people wouldn’t shoot guns at each other if we didn’t have guns. I was trying to avoid talking about guns by making a tautology, but it didn’t work.

  3. BruceS December 5, 2009 at 9:59 pm #

    Thanks for the clarification. I was concerned that maybe I was just being dense (wouldn’t be the first time), and am relieved to find it not so.
    I heard of a series of man-on-the-street interviews in NYC about gun control laws. One of the interviewees was a Haitian, who said something like “back home, we don’t have guns. We kill each other with machetes.” Humans have a tendency to kill each other with whatever means are available. Guns just make it easier, faster, and safer.

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