Perhaps this issue is more about society losing respect for the law than it is about people losing control. Another weblog touched on this issue today, and I've seen op/ed pieces galore. So, here we go with another.

The other weblogger seemed to take his ire out on the fan that threw the beverage at Ron Artest. Both the fan and Artest are to blame. Respect for the law and respect for each fellow man is the issue here.

First, Artest argues that he has been taunted, booed, and had things thrown at him many times before, and it finally took its toll on him. Well boo hoo hoo! He isn't the first professional athlete to experience this. The NBA should have kicked him out of the league. However, let me emphasize, Artest has every right to play basketball, but he doesn't have the right to play in the NBA. That is a privilege granted by the NBA. The fact that the NBA didn't kick him out of the league shows that they think he's worth taking another risk.

Second, fans seem to think that because they paid a ticket to the game grants them the right to lose their cool. There are no rights involved with attending an NBA game, and there are no rights involved with visiting an arena. You don't even have a right to buy a ticket to a basketball game. But I don't think people understand this. They think they have the right to show disrespect, just because they paid money. The sports arena should ban this fan from ever attending its venues.

But the bigger problem in all this is there is a lack of respect for Law and Humanity. We're becoming a country of "rights" instead of "responsibilities". People think that they are entitled to get their way even at the cost of other people's rights. This phenomenon manifested itself even in the 2004 Presidential Campaign, when opponents of George W. Bush used disrespectful language to describe him, and even concocted blatant lies about his past.

Should Artest take responsibility as a role model? No. He doesn't have to be a role model. But he has to be a responsible citizen. And same goes for the fans. A nation founded on freedom and liberty requires that each of us uphold our responsibilities. Without responsbilities, we have anarchy, and I believe that's what we saw in this basketball game.