Posted by butterfly (its my porn name, by the bye) on June 20, 2002 at 13:30:20:
In Reply to: Re: Freedom? posted by Dolores on June 18, 2002 at 14:25:44:
I cannot beleive I accept things so easily either. I guess all the administrators in school that took me into their offices and argued with me for hours was just for their own ammusement. I s'pose that all the police that stop me to ask me a "few questions" are just bored. All the Mormon ministers that tell me I am going to hell because I am an infidel are just doing their jobs. To top it all off: I don't do the slightest damn thing abt it! I smile at the ministers, say thank you for telling me where I'm going, and be off with it. I reply in a smart-ass way to the administrator, tip my hat and go back. I tell the police what they want to know and walk away. You are absolutely right, I do nothing. The reason: I don't think I am the one qualified enough to take a stand on something that has the smallest immage of "evil" about it and make myself a martyr for the people. Why should I? I waste my energy and have alot of others look upon how stupid a fight it is. If you realize, the fact that minors don't smoke cigarettes and buy alcahol, it is for the safety of a society. I was a minor, and I smoked up as much tobacco as I wanted and stole liquor when I wanted. Fine, I guess I am some sort of rebel. But nonetheless, I personally think that I was more or less responsible to be drinking and smoking. If I were to fuck up my health, so what? Actually, it so comes down that as a minor, my parents would have been responsible. I fuck up my lungs as a minor and they have to pay for the hospital bill. I die, they pay for the grave.
As far as comparing the policies of the US to other countries, fine. In the US legal age for purchasing alcahol is 21. In Germany it is around 16. However, in Germany your average 16 year-old has a good idea about waht he is going to do in life, may have a beer or two and stop when he has had enough, in the US, the average 16 year old may have two beers, three shots of an 80-proof alcahol and a joint of marijuana to top of his fête. To make things better, afterwards he will try to shoot a gun or drive a car. I am not exaggerating, I live in America, in the state of California, where, no less, this is an often occurence. As to pornography, what is the harm done? Obviously nothing. However, the society here has its puritanical views on things. However, there is not much that can be done abt it, though. It is a decision that is often challenged by various people, but they don't have either the numbers or a good reason why they should, let aside the arguement "Adults have it, so why can't we?" In the little farming town I live in, a local mother (and this town is mostly religious and theistic, like most others) came to the conclusion that a Harlequin romance novel was pornographic. Well, so are Sweet Valey High books, and for Christ's sake, so are the Mary-Kate and Ashley books, in much the same argument. In the essance of this, in America everything can challenged, theoretically, and though this is to argue "freedom" again, safety has an important place too. I would rather that guns were outlawd altogether if it came down to that nobody knew how to use them safely. As well, if the whole country were a group of people that drank their hearts out so they can go on a shooting rampage, I would rather have prohibition again. It has been proved that alcahol is not the worst thing in the world. People can drink adn most don't go on to rob and kill. It is this how they show responsibility. It is unfair that minors don't have the same purchasing allowances as adults, especially if the child is responsible enough to do so. However, that is not saying it is "un-free." There are more important things beside the ability to purchase amenities in life. It is interesting to note, though, that people on this board who complain abt social conditions do so by asserting that the holocaust did not exist or that the "Jewry" is the source of evil in this world; or they complian that they can't purchase porn or cigarettes. Rarely does someone complain that International corporations are stripping the earth of its last resources or that The US Atny Gen Ashcroft is trying to take away constitutional rights or that the right to bear arms is being slowly eliminated in Great Britain or Canada or that the ozone is being depleted because of industrialism. I don't know what really is more important....