I like being exposed to a wide variety of opinions. I'll freely admit my mind is not often changed, but I like there to be the opportunity for a changed mind. So I tend to read stuff from all over the political spectrum. I even go out of my way to read things I know are going to piss me off: how's that for masochistic? Like the little free local weeklies that are geared primarily for university students. Ours here in the Tri-Cities is called Echo: doubtless you have one in your hometown.
Echo magazine is so called, I've figured out, because when you knock on the heads of nearly every one of their writers, that's what you get. Their world is full of doom and gloom, seeping out of corporations (you know, those things that provide all the jobs), government (which, according to them, should be taxing the wealthy--by which they mean, "anyone who is not a student"--at about 110%). and anybody foolish enough to eat meat, drive anything with an engine, or consort with those damned Yankee bastards.
Then I'll turn around and read Michael Coren. His column appears every Saturday in the Toronto Sun, and no matter what the topic, he'll find some way to get gay marriage and his opposition to same into it. Global warming: isn't it obvious? Satan's creating hell right here on earth because homosexuals are allowed to usurp the sacred. Tooth decay? In a world where parents shut their kids up with an endless supply of sugar (rather than that good old leather belt) and where, incidentally, gay people are allowed to believe they're "married"...the tooth decay we see in our children is merely a symbol of the social and moral decay rampant in our civilization.
(Okay, I better mention that Coren has not, to my knowledge, written the statements above. But I sure as hell wouldn't put it past him.)
Fiscal liberals--so eager to take my money for my own good. Social conservatives--so eager to save my soul for my own good. All I want is a world where I'm allowed to determine just what my own good is, and work towards that.
But this is a pipe-dream. Just look at the way our society is built. Most parents don't bother to cultivate their childrens' independence, probably out of fear that their kids might grow up to think different thoughts. Instead, the cultural norm is for children to take their first steps towards independence as teenagers. But don't let them be too independent! They must conform to the accepted standards of whatever group they join (and not to join a group, to have the sheer gall to think they can make their own group, is a terrible sin punished by ostracization and bullying.) So they must say the correct things, do the correct things, and above all, wear the correct clothes. Some independence THAT is.
When these teens get to be adults, many of them will still refuse to think for themselves. They'll go along with the crowd, take the path of least resistance, and live their lives asleep.
To me, that's just sad.
4 comments:
All I want is a world where I'm allowed to determine just what my own good is, and work towards that.
Well said Ken. Couldn't agree with you more on this one.
I like some of the stuff you wrote, but about the kids.... I don't think it's only the parents who don't teach their kids to be independent thinkers. I think after a certain age (and nowadays sooner rather than later), their peers have a lot more influence on their thinking than the parents. I notice the beginnings of that in Lydia, who is only seven! All parents can do is teach them to question what they hear from any source and check against other sources to see if it's true. I encourage her to seek out the truth and think for herself, but when everybody in the class thinks (or looks like they think) the same way, I know she gets discouraged and agrees with the crowd, even against her better judgment. Now, my kid is fairly bossy, so she doesn't get overruled like that too often, but with a more timid child, I can see where that would happen to the point where the kid stops questioning and just goes along with everybody else. Media is also a big factor, but that's an entirely different (and big) post.
I'm not trying to say that parents are not responsible at all for the way the kids think, of course we are. But there are other forces at work, too.
Flames, you've laid the foundation as far as Lydia goes, and it sounds like you've done a good job. I think what I was really trying to say was that it's funny how adolescence is supposed to be this time when everybody "finds themselves"...and they do it, most of them, by becoming clones of other people. To me, that's weird.
yeah, I agree... but I also remember how important it was for me in my teens to "fit in" and "be part of the group", so I was willing to do things to belong... mind you, I did have my limits, which I'm glad because I had the opportunity to get into some serious trouble... but, I did shoplift once, I tried smoking, sneaking out of the house at night, partying... I stopped short at drugs and sex though, at least at 15.... The "horny hormones" didn't kick in for me until I was 17, and I tried pot for the first time just a few months ago, but not because of peer pressure, but because I wanted to... LOL
Post a Comment