Not wearing a seatbelt actually does endanger others. It has to do with the speed the car goes. A lot of other countries get away with not having seatbelt laws either because a.) there are so many other causes of car-related deaths that seatbelts don't statistically register, or b.) it's rare for people to drive at such speeds where not wearing a seatbelt becomes a problem. But in the U.S. we go up to those speeds all the time, so it would be a huge problem for us if we collectively didn't wear seatbelts.
Also, while I don't think you were meaning anything by it, the way you phrased your issues with Yeerks is kind of similar to a lot of the arguments used for homophobia and gender discrimination. Like, okay, a Yeerk/Controller freaks you out, but why does that give you the right to decide for someone whether or not to allow them to take on a Yeerk/become a Controller? A lot of people are freaked out by gays and homosexuality, but that doesn't really give them the right to decide if someone else should have a gay marriage or not.
If someone is voluntarily becoming a Controller, presumably they already know that the Yeerk in their head is going to have ultimate power, at least for three days. Humans already (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master/slave_%28BDSM%29#Total_power_exchange) voluntarily enter these kinds of relationships with each other. I can see some people wanting to voluntarily become a host. There is a lot of room for abuse in this system, but there's a lot of room for abuse in any system, and we put in measures to overcome that (whether they work or not is another story).
If they just switched in a conversation...creepy.
I had so much fun with people like you during my mischievous/prankster days. ;) No, seriously, I did this sort of thing quite a bit as a kid...
Anyway!
Remember, even a Yeerk's ultimate power over a Host is limited - they still have to feed every three days. If a human is have problems with their Yeerk, in three days they will be free and can either not become a Host again or try another Yeerk. Yes, obviously, there's a lot of damage that's possible in just three days - but at the systemic level, how likely is it? And what are they going to do? Realistically, Yeerks need to invade and take over other species because they need hosts/bodies, but if they can get it without invasion, will they (again, systemically) really have much reason to be evil? Most likely they will just want to live their relative lives out normally. In the short run, yeah, taking control over your human sounds great instead of sharing the body with them, but in the long run it would be beneficial for Yeerks to just agree to a timeshare with the body and be done with it, or wait until they get a person who's willing to give up their bodies entirely.
Another thing to consider, actually: what if Yeerks morphed and became Nothlits...and in turn became hosts themselves? It would create a type of symbiotic species system, much like the Iskoort.
This got a lot longer than I'd intended...is my Poli Sci major showing? :P 1/2
Also, while I don't think you were meaning anything by it, the way you phrased your issues with Yeerks is kind of similar to a lot of the arguments used for homophobia and gender discrimination. Like, okay, a Yeerk/Controller freaks you out, but why does that give you the right to decide for someone whether or not to allow them to take on a Yeerk/become a Controller? A lot of people are freaked out by gays and homosexuality, but that doesn't really give them the right to decide if someone else should have a gay marriage or not.
If someone is voluntarily becoming a Controller, presumably they already know that the Yeerk in their head is going to have ultimate power, at least for three days. Humans already (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master/slave_%28BDSM%29#Total_power_exchange) voluntarily enter these kinds of relationships with each other. I can see some people wanting to voluntarily become a host. There is a lot of room for abuse in this system, but there's a lot of room for abuse in any system, and we put in measures to overcome that (whether they work or not is another story).
If they just switched in a conversation...creepy.
I had so much fun with people like you during my mischievous/prankster days. ;) No, seriously, I did this sort of thing quite a bit as a kid...
Anyway!
Remember, even a Yeerk's ultimate power over a Host is limited - they still have to feed every three days. If a human is have problems with their Yeerk, in three days they will be free and can either not become a Host again or try another Yeerk. Yes, obviously, there's a lot of damage that's possible in just three days - but at the systemic level, how likely is it? And what are they going to do? Realistically, Yeerks need to invade and take over other species because they need hosts/bodies, but if they can get it without invasion, will they (again, systemically) really have much reason to be evil? Most likely they will just want to live their relative lives out normally. In the short run, yeah, taking control over your human sounds great instead of sharing the body with them, but in the long run it would be beneficial for Yeerks to just agree to a timeshare with the body and be done with it, or wait until they get a person who's willing to give up their bodies entirely.
Another thing to consider, actually: what if Yeerks morphed and became Nothlits...and in turn became hosts themselves? It would create a type of symbiotic species system, much like the Iskoort.