Sunday, December 16, 2012

A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

Subject: Re: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

Mike,
Although I was never a John Wayne fan, I didn't think of him in terms of having Nazi tendencies. 
Growing up during the Second World War, Nazi was a very distinct name given to cold, aloof Germans wearing uniforms and having bald heads and a monocle in one eye.  Usually they said things like, "Auck Tune!" or, "Der Ferror!"  . 
John Wayne portrayed what all young American boys wanted to grow up to be.  Self contained.  Tough.  A man of few words. Worshipped by women everywhere.  Always on the side of Justice and Right. 
I looked in the mirror and quickly realized that no way in Hell was I ever going to grow up to be John Wayne.  So I took up with the likes of Groucho Marx and decided that a quick tongue could be as formidable a weapon as two big fists.  Probably my broken nose should have told me that I was wrong, but we all learn some lessons the hard way. 
The fact is that I have seen very little of John Wayne.  By the way, there is the John Wayne marina here in Sequim, a place where Mister Wayne used to park his yacht. 
Still, John Wayne filled our concept of the Rugged Individual, a myth we Americans still cling to. 
His ghost still flickers across the silver screen in the form of many pretenders.  I don't support them, either. 
 
Carl Jarvis
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 8:11 AM
Subject: Re: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

I know there's quite a few of you older folks on the list, how many of you think a lot of John Weyn's Characters displayed nazi tendencies, and that was supposed to be wholesome entertainment.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 7:35 AM
Subject: Re: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

Claude,
The writer's points are spot on.  But we all are like gold fish swimming in the same contaminated pool.  Most of us, the vast majority, never pick up weapons and gun down innocents. 
Somehow, all of the factors that most of us sort out and put in perspective, somehow they boiled over in this demented young man's brain and he went over the edge. 
For me, there are two issues here.  First and most urgent, how do we, as a culture, pull back and find another road into our future? 
Second, How do we identify those among us about to explode, and prevent them before they become violent? 
I'm guessing, but I would say that we all have a place where the combination of external and internal pressures become too much to bear.  When we reach that point we each deal with it in our own way.  Some take their own lives.  Some become chronically ill and slowly withdraw and die.  Some become the neighborhood Grinch, yelling at all the children playing in the street, and a few become so lost that they are driven to take as many others out with them as possible. 
Just because we humans are so complex and so different from one another, we may never get to the root of what causes some of us to break in violent, destructive  ways. 
I always imagined that if I died and actually woke up in Heaven, with wings, a long white robe and a harp, which I was to play eternally, I would go nuts and start grabbing and stomping every other Angel's harp.  Even in the most innocent places violence can explode.  We need desperately to work to eliminate those destructive forces that encourage such behavior, such as destroying Greed and taking control over the International
Corporate Empire, whose ruthless behavior does create the harsh conditions leading to individual violence. 
But once a member of our community steps over the line and causes harm and death to others, it does become his/her responsibility, and he/she must be stopped and dealt with.  In my mind, this young man went beyond the point where we might excuse his behavior by talking about what drove him to destroy so many innocents.  I no longer care to hear from his Sunday School teacher or neighbors who say what a good boy he was.  That boy was taken over by a monster.  That monster killed and then took his own life.  Bury the monster and then set about changing our future. 
 
Carl Jarvis
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 10:00 PM
Subject: RE: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

Carl, you dispute that statement, but the entire comment is more true than we would like to know.
"Sandy Hook did not happen because of a lone, disturbed young man and it is
not an isolated incident. It is an epidemic and we are all to blame. And
today (and tomorrow and every day after A Culture That Condones The Killing
Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill"
 

Claude Everett
"First of all:  what is work?
Work is of two kinds:
  first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter;
 second, telling other people to do so.
  The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid."
From The collection of essays "In Praise of Idleness" by Bertrand Russell
 

 

From: blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org [mailto:blind-democracy-bounces@octothorp.org] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, December 15, 2012 8:49 PM
To: Blind Democracy Discussion List
Subject: Re: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

"Sandy Hook did not happen because of a lone, disturbed young man..." 
While I agree in general with the below article, I do disagree with the above statement. 
In fact, Sandy Hook did occur because of one young man turned monster. 
The writer does enumerate some of the underlying conditions that, taken together and allowed to fester,  can erupt in violence. 
Look carefully at each point and ask yourself if this was an attitude that existed when you were young.  Ask yourself if this is the nation you really can be proud of.  Then, if you find that you are not proud, ask yourself what you are going to do about it. 
 
Carl Jarvis
   
 
Subject: A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill

A Culture That Condones The Killing Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill
December 14, 2012 / Lucinda / Comments Off
The Sandy Hook massacre isn't just about the need for gun control laws, it
is about a culture that condones the killing of children and teaches
children that killing is okay.
It is about a country addicted to violence on television and movie screens.
It is about cuts in education spending.
It is about giving the military free access to our schools where they regale
our children with romanticized delusions of military righteousness.
It is about environmental and health policies that expose our children to
all manner of toxins in the air, land and water.
It is about thinking we have the right to kill children with drones or by
dropping toxic munitions on their countries that cause birth defects and
miscarriages.
It is about saddling our children with crippling education debt and no
prospect for jobs.
It is about telling boys (and men) they have to be tough and to fight and
kill for what they want or think is right.
It is about a national policy that denies children basic rights and
systemically teaches them that violence is okay.
And it is about a media so insensitive that it thinks it is okay to shove a
microphone in the face of young victims in the name of sensationalized 24/7
cable "news" while under-reporting the root causes of this tragedy.
Sandy Hook did not happen because of a lone, disturbed young man and it is
not an isolated incident. It is an epidemic and we are all to blame. And
today (and tomorrow and every day after A Culture That Condones The Killing
Of Children And Teaches Children To Kill
December 14, 2012 / Lucinda / Comments Off
The Sandy Hook massacre isn't just about the need for gun control laws, it
is about a culture that condones the killing of children and teaches
children that killing is okay.
It is about a country addicted to violence on television and movie screens.
It is about cuts in education spending.
It is about giving the military free access to our schools where they regale
our children with romanticized delusions of military righteousness.
It is about environmental and health policies that expose our children to
all manner of toxins in the air, land and water.
It is about thinking we have the right to kill children with drones or by
dropping toxic munitions on their countries that cause birth defects and
miscarriages.
It is about saddling our children with crippling education debt and no
prospect for jobs.
It is about telling boys (and men) they have to be tough and to fight and
kill for what they want or think is right.
It is about a national policy that denies children basic rights and
systemically teaches them that violence is okay.
And it is about a media so insensitive that it thinks it is okay to shove a
microphone in the face of young victims in the name of sensationalized 24/7
cable "news" while under-reporting the root causes of this tragedy.
Sandy Hook did not happen because of a lone, disturbed young man and it is
not an isolated incident. It is an epidemic and we are all to blame. And
today (and tomorrow and every day after that) is the time to confront this
self-inflicted tragedy.
that) is the time to confront this self-inflicted tragedy.

_________

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