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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
Et tu, Charlatan? Et tu?
Personal responsibility is fine and dandy, but corporate responsibility is harder to come by. Doing the right thing for customers who are injured is often very unpopular with shareholders since it cuts into the bottom line. If you are a manufacturer (or importer) you need to exercise due care with your product by knowing who the likely users are and what they're going to do with the product.
All the red Thomas the Tank Engine toys are currently being recalled because the Chinese manufacturer used a lead-based paint. As a parent of a child who is obsessed with trains and Thomas (in that order), it bothers me that the importer didn't bother with a very simple test to detect the lead. Someone else did it. If my child has lead poisoning because he's chewed on the toys, am I abdicating my personal responsibility by asking for compensation from the importer since they're the ones who poisoned my child in the first place?
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I completely agree that there needs to be strong corporate responsibility. No question that a manufacturer using lead-based paints, or an item that malfunctions in course of its proper use (i.e. does not meet regulated safety standards) needs to fix their problem.
I recognize that kids like to play with boxes and packing detritus. I also recognize that someone likely sued the manufacturer (and the packing company and the retailer, etc.) because their kids suffocated while playing with a plastic bag.
My point is, we all know that a plastic bag is not a toy. It's means of conveyance. Most of us know that to put a plastic bag over your head is not a smart thing to do. The fact that someone's child played with a plastic bag and died is tragic but it is hardly the manufacturer's fault.
Finally I recognize that we live in litigious times. Corporations are open to all kinds of lawsuits (both meaningful and frivolous). They must print 'THIS IS NOT A TOY" to cover their as, just in case.
What I am saying is there is a big difference between making a Thomas with lead paint and making a plastic bag.
(Do grocery bags carry this warning? Can someone check please?)
edit: how is a plastic bag more complicated than a hammer?