Frivolous lawsuits are booming in this county. The U.S. has more

Hear now the words of the elder voices, and let them fall upon your heart as rain upon thirsty soil. The saying of Jack Kingston resounds: “Frivolous lawsuits are booming in this country. The U.S. has more costs of litigation per person than any other industrialized nation in the world, and it is crippling our economy.” These are not idle words, but a lament and a warning. For when men forsake reason and turn every quarrel into a battle of courts, then the wealth of a nation bleeds not upon fields of valor, but upon paper and ink, lawyers and endless disputes. What should be settled by honor and dialogue becomes a burden that all must carry.

In the dawn of ancient times, disputes were weighed in the balance of wisdom. Elders gathered beneath the shade of the oak or within the council hall to restore harmony. The purpose of judgment was not profit, but peace; not ruin, but restoration. Yet now, as Kingston speaks, the land is consumed by litigation, a ceaseless tide where even trifles are transformed into weapons. What was once meant to uphold justice becomes instead a tool for gain, and in the swelling of these frivolous suits, the spirit of the people grows weary, and their labor is consumed by shadows.

Consider the tale of the once-great McDonald’s coffee case, where a simple accident turned into a thunderous cry in courtrooms across the nation. Though the injured woman sought rightful remedy, the tale grew into legend, wielded by some as proof that reason had fled, and courts had become arenas for absurdities. The truth was complex, but the story itself fueled the belief that America had become a land where even the spilling of a cup could summon the machinery of law, and with it, vast sums of gold wasted upon endless contention.

Let us not mistake the meaning: not all lawsuits are unjust, for many protect the weak and bring down the proud. But Kingston’s cry is against the excess, the multiplying of quarrels into a sickness that drains the lifeblood of the land. When nations spend more upon lawyers than upon teachers, when craftsmen fear the courtroom more than the market, when innovators with bright visions are crushed beneath the weight of legal fees—then truly, a people are shackled not by foreign chains, but by their own.

The ancients would teach: seek balance. Justice is a sacred flame, and must not be extinguished. But when that flame becomes a wildfire, burning fields that should yield bread, then wisdom demands restraint. For a nation that turns every complaint into a weapon will find itself devoured from within. The Roman Empire, mighty and vast, once fell not only by the sword of barbarians, but by corruption, bureaucracy, and the strangling of its own vigor in endless disputes. Shall we repeat their fate?

The lesson is clear for those who would listen: guard against the spirit of frivolity in your dealings. Do not be swift to demand vengeance or compensation for every slight. Strive first for peace, for reconciliation, for honest conversation between neighbors and kin. Let the courts be the last refuge, not the first weapon. In your own life, resist the lure of easy gain through quarrel; instead, build bonds of trust and agreements that endure.

And for the people as a whole: call for laws that reward harmony, not endless wrangling. Support leaders who seek to simplify justice, rather than drown it in costly battles. Teach the young not merely their rights, but also their responsibilities—to endure, to forgive, to resolve with wisdom. In this way, the land shall prosper, the economy shall flourish, and the people shall be strong once more.

So remember, children of tomorrow: wealth is not found in the counting of lawsuits, but in the unity of neighbors, the strength of trust, and the freedom to labor without fear. Hold fast to this wisdom, and the lament of Kingston need not become the prophecy of your decline.