Dennis,
Back to the song in a second (
Thanks you're kind for what you said but I have to clear something up about it). But you hit the nail on the head: since the community--and world--IS directly AND indirectly affected by the damage people do to their children, the community and the world have the right, probably even a moral duty, to 'interfere' or somehow otherwise be involved. For
everyone's sake. The QUESTION, I think, is if the
parent doesn't have or someday isn't allowed the final say on 'what's what' when it comes to bringing up their kids, then
who does? The government? The church? "Science"? The best example of 'government as parent' I can think of was called "National Socialism"--Nazism. For a good view of what
churches can do to a population (with a little help from their friends in government) I'd again say look at the experience and destruction of the people in the Canadian province of Nunavut. Science, the last I looked and bless it's pointy head, is ferociously pushing pills at
everybody! You know what's funny about psychology? I'm not exactly on my turf here and might have this wrong, but it seems like I've heard it said (or seen it written) several times that the
only place psychology has ever been
applied effectively in any practical sense at all is in SALES AND MARKETING. If true, doesn't that strike you as just a little creepy?
I'll tell you what though (Americans I guess are always saying that. There's a pretty good Monty Python (British) skit where the Grim Reaper loses it and starts yelling "You're DEAD now, you stupid American, so SHUT UP!"). I haven't read it yet but have seen that you posted some news about circumcision. I
think that rates have been declining here (and have researched some but am not sure if I've interpreted the data correctly). I'd
like to know for sure what the actual case is. To me it's would be tremendously significant to find out that rates and numbers
are declining--
because so far as I know there has never been a single law passed against it. There have never been any "Public Service Announcements" or editorials in the media denouncing it, no billboards, no sermons, and since I've never seen any, I suppose there are extremely few T-shirts or bumperstickers dealing with it. I think people are doing less of it because word has gotten around that it's just stupid. GOOD SIGN, I think. And a good way to go with the rest of it, in my opinion, if it's possible. IN A HEARTBEAT, so long as government exists, I support fully the elimination BY LAW of corporal punishment from schools. If government has any responsibility at all, it's the responsibility to
not bring out the worst in people, or to condone the worst by it's own example. (It's not like that much here, unfortunately, given there are state-run lotteries (for example) everywhere or almost everywhere. "You TOO can have something for nothing!") But if government--
parent-like--tells
parents "DO WHAT WE SAY OR WE'RE GONNA
SMACK YOU!!!"--well it just seems like we still have a mother crab telling her children not to walk sideways. Or we're squeezing a water balloon, again. I don't mean to suggest I believe this absolutely, because I really have no idea, but could that be a possible explanation for Sweden having a higher than expected suicide rate? People have obediently quit directly hurting their kids but the dysfunction has been passed along and is being squeezed out in some other way? I don't know. On the other hand, people abandoning the practice of circumcision definitely
aren't being ordered to obey anything or anyone. If it's happening it's simply because the myth that circumcision has merit is being exposed and dispelled--this has happened from what I can see thanks definitely to the work of a few dedicated people, but from there it has apparently spread simply person-to-person, as naturally as can be.
I don't know. Seems like the history of all civilizations start out something like: "A war-like tribe emerged from the forest, conquered and enslaved their neighbors and then set themselves up as ruler-gods." In the western world at least, despite the split between church and state, even "the divine right of kings" lasted until really pretty recently. BUT--isn't it true that even if
totally split off from religion like we supposedly are in most developed countries that "government" is still one of the two branches from that original tree? If so, can it really be tricked into providing the final answer to the problem that it helped create in the first place? I know Miller thinks so. So do
all of the people I find myself most admiring. I'm just not so sure the short-term results that are generally brought about by government mandates qualify as genuine progress, is all. But if the example of circumcision reads like I think it does, I do think things can come out all right for everybody.
Whether that came from my right-brain or left I don't know, but the OTHER half says to tell you: so long as there will be laws, it should be at least as illegal for any adult to assault a child as it is to assault another adult.
Okay.
http://www.geocities.com/televisioncity ... reaper.wav
That was largely a put-on voice I used in that Valentine video. Nonsense words with a fake "French" accent. I'd hoped to sound like a big French lover, like Pepe Le Pew. Here's a video if you don't know him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-saiHSjw_Y Looks like from Wikipedia that there are no skunks in Europe. Skunks smell
real special. I have no other music up on the Internet anywhere yet. I'd feel better about it I think if I had a local live outlet for myself, first. I WILL let you know if I put more up. It's a temptation, and I know there's no better way to get it to people far away, but there's just something about clicking buttons, hiding behind a computer that rubs me wrong. I have a little I might put some up and make private, by invitation. Something like that. That one you heard was actually done originally for a group of women classmates of mine. (Did you notice the "blah, blah, blah" tease?) I didn't know how else to get it to them. It had been sitting around two years. I threw the pictures onto it Sunday, not sure even then I wanted to follow through. So far I've heard from just one of them. She said "Pretty good" and that was it.
That's awful how it went for you and your friend trying to come here. Maybe another time huh?
Steve