Elderly People Behind the Wheel

We've all experienced it.. The little old lady driving the big Buick; her head barely above the top of the steering wheel. Being stuck behind an elderly person like this can surely be frustrating for an impatient driver like myself. Should people like this really be allowed behind the wheel? Perhaps people should have to re-take the driving test when they reach a certain age. Don't get me wrong. I realize that we should respect our elders and I do respect the fact that some of these people have probably been driving longer than I've been alive. However, I do also respect the power of an automobile and the damage it can cause if not driven properly.
One elderly man pulled over next to me last week to ask me for directions. He had to open his door and speak to me because he didn't know how to open his window. He was a nice old man but I kept thinking to myself 'My god.. If this man doesn't even know how to open the window of his own car, how can he be driving it on a main road?' Perhaps the only justification is that he is driving so slow that it may be hard for him to do any serious damage.

So although I don't want to disrespect these elderly drivers, I do feel that it may be time to recognize the risks they pose on the road. I'm not saying that a person should lose his/her driver's license when they reach a certain age but perhaps they should be forced to re-take a driving test to determine if special restrictions should be placed on their driving. Restrictions like not driving on main roads, only driving at certain times of day (never at night), or not driving those huge (hard to handle) cars. Restrictions like this could save someone's life.

Are people who smoke cigarettes insane?

I have wondered if people who smoke have something mentally wrong with them. It's hard for me to understand why someone would voluntarily do something that's so detrimental to their health. Are cigarette smokers in their right mind? If they don't know that it is really bad for their health, do they even know how disgusting it is for the rest of us or do they just not care? Do they know how harmful it is to the people around them? To me, smoking cigarettes seems like behavior I would expect from an insane person. I've heard enough information about the effects of smoking and I've seen enough people die from cancer to realize that smoking cigarettes it not only something that should be unacceptable to people but should also be illegal. Unfortunately, the FDA isn't as interested in the health of the people in this country as it should be. Also, I doubt President Obama is seriously concerned about healthcare costs and the health of the people of the United States if he is not going to propose or promote a ban on cigarettes.

Why do people stand still on an escalator that's going down?

Sometimes, when I go to the store, I need to go down a floor so I walk over to the escalator, step on, and continue walking down the escalator. Usually, about half way down, I have to stop because someone is just standing there blocking me and there's not enough room to go around them. Could these people BE any lazier?  How about a little courtesy please?  It's really not much harder to walk down the escalator than it is to stand still ON the escalator (and it's quicker). I can see standing still on the up escalator because it takes quite a bit of effort to walk up stairs, but not on an escalator that is going down.

Is socialism acceptable?

I understand that people need to pay their taxes so that the government can provide stability, make laws, provides services, and keep order and I agree that the more money people make, the more they should pay in taxes, However, it should be based on the SAME PERCENTAGE. Anything else is just unfair. EVERYONE should pay the same percentage in taxes and everyone should be in the same tax bracket. For example, let’s say 25% is the average percent of income the governments needs to collect from the population. In this case:
The tax amount to be paid by a person making $20,000 annually should be $5,000 (25%).
The tax amount to be paid by a person making $100,000 annually should be $25,000 (25%).
The tax amount to be paid by a person making $400,000 annually should be $100,000 (25%).

Unfortunately, instead of moving towards this idea, the government seems to be moving further away from it, taxing higher earning individuals at a much higher rate. This seems crazy to me. Why should I strive to be successful and make a high salary if the government is just going to spread my wealth around to other people. I might as well just be a lazy bum! The funny thing is that people don't seem to be bothered by this. They just don't seem to care much. What's wrong with people?