Re: Jive Political Rantin' (no Who content)

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

>Same with those albums, movies, books, etc that some people want to 
>censor---why should people mindlessly imitate what they see, hear, or read?  
>Upon reading *The Sorrows of Young Werther* many youths committed suicide over 
>"lost loves"---if they hadn't read the book would they have done that?  Did 
>the mere suggestion propel them to do that?  Does anyone know what I'm talking 
>about?

Amira:

I'm not Michael Kinsley...
I know exactly what you're talking about. Why should people imitate what
others suggest/describe/sing about? Because they have no lives of their own,
I suppose. No original thoughts. Why? In some cases it's their intellectual
level (I doubt we'll ever see any PhDs out there trashing mailboxes)...and
there's really nothing to be done about that. Another would be the lack of
education, which isn't helped by the constant cutting of the education
budget by a certain political party who probably eat THEIR pizza back to
front as well...if ya know what I mean.
But...and it's a big but, too...that is not a reason to deny those of us who
are not so mindless as to follow someone else's lead so easily. Why should
the responsible suffer for the misdeeds of the irresponsible? That's what it
amounts to, you know. And censorship is deplorable in any form, whereas
information is a GOOD thing.
So my (admittedly) weak case for the forgiveness of the Tipster would be
that she merely provided more information...and didn't censor a bloody
thing. And banning books (music, TV, etc) is the brainchild of the Right
Wing, not the Left.
It's just like drug use. The majority of users are responsible, working,
contributing citizens. A few (percentagewise) are none of the above, and
they go around destroying lives. The solution? Deny the responsible majority
their use, making them criminals. Hey...good idea! Brilliant! What
outstanding logic!
Of course, if people were educated to moderation and responsible use...it
wouldn't be nearly anything like what could be called a social problem.
Instead, it's Just Say No (thin logic quickly pierced and dismissed, which
leads to the belief that even the bits of truth they do peddle are also as
false as the rest of the message).
Those who chose to censor also want to make a lot more things illegal. Don't
let them. It's your choice. I already know how I'm going to vote.


                   Cheers                   ML

"Never underestimate the power of human stupidity."  L. Long