tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.comments2020-07-16T09:53:03.772-07:00A Chance to ThinkSerena Raineyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02390909438223737101noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-41766397170317834712008-08-24T11:39:00.000-07:002008-08-24T11:39:00.000-07:00Fascinating question. We are dealing with humans,...Fascinating question. We are dealing with humans, and therefore with souls. Freedom, for a human, because of the Incarnation, can only mean love of destiny: union with God in and through the full expression of our humanity.<BR/><BR/>In practical terms I would ask whether children learn to pursue their hearts' desire, or whether they learn to conform to expectations harnessed on them by parents, by extended family, by teachers, by peers. If a child is gifted in dance and art, or graphic design, or animal husbandry, are they freed to pursue those loves? Or do they drink in others' stress over whether they learn academics "on schedule" and put forth their best energy to remain seated and quiet? <BR/><BR/>Give us free-range children (and parents) and society will change. Adults will not have numb hearts, believing they must continue to live in cages because they were told they must.Mariehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04500724701139176293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-62474294399822990552008-04-05T09:24:00.000-07:002008-04-05T09:24:00.000-07:00PS - just reread and my comment reads like comment...PS - just reread and my comment reads like comment spam... I'm not a spammer, I'm interested in unschooling and the TCS philosophy! And your short story is a vivid illustration of what is wrong with compulsory schooling.emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105753491792762911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-79850141334254697662008-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:002008-04-05T09:23:00.000-07:00found this through the TCS site. Spinechilling. Th...found this through the TCS site. Spinechilling. Thank you.emmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15105753491792762911noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-8370259056632488172007-10-03T14:03:00.000-07:002007-10-03T14:03:00.000-07:00Interesting approach. I guess there is a part of ...Interesting approach. I guess there is a part of me that wants to resist such an idea because drugs are, as you pointed out, very destructive. <BR/><BR/>Your argument is persuasive enough, though, to remind me about an observation that I made about the prohibition of alcohol. Prohibition basically empowered the mafia and we have been trying to get rid of them for the better part of 100 years now. It also began the chain of gun control laws in our country. <BR/><BR/>The interesting thing is that prohibition was a bad law. It went beyond what God had laid out as moral behavior. As such it failed miserably. <BR/><BR/>I wonder if prohibition was successfully passed as a result of the temperance movement that accompanied the revivalists of the early 20th century? Do we have the gun control issues (and other issues that you have pointed out) because the church overstepped the bounds that God set?Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14487069956496294063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-35982988356696758692007-09-29T11:59:00.000-07:002007-09-29T11:59:00.000-07:00This reminds me of the study after WWII, when some...This reminds me of the study after WWII, when some U.S.government agency was trying to find the best way to feed up the starving Europeans. Ultimately, they found out the way to put the most weight on their subjects was to put them on a reducing diet. Not a weird diet, just low calorie, balanced, nutritious but _restricted_ food. The men all gained lots of weight.<BR/><BR/>Also, the adage "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns."<BR/><BR/>Besides, what "alternative economy entrepreneur" would go into the legal drug business? About as many as go into chocolate manufacturing and sales.<BR/><BR/>Mmmm...chocolate...<BR/><BR/>~pulpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-38925544700731536342007-09-29T11:47:00.000-07:002007-09-29T11:47:00.000-07:00I haven't seen or thought about that quiz in years...I haven't seen or thought about that quiz in years. I thought my politics were all over the map--and they are, what with illegal aliens--I mean, immigrants--and our current Bozoiavelli in Chief, Commander Cuckoobananas (TM The Simpsons), ad nauseam.<BR/><BR/>But I retook it after reading your essay and whaddya know: I'm a liberal! I guess this shows that you can put a person in a box, but you might end up with parts sticking out. It's a good quiz. at least it's better than the Cosmo ones. (I haven't actually opened a Cosmo in thirty years, but the quizzes were longer and had a lot less content. However, they were all about sex or how worthy your hair was of getting sex, or something, and I guess that's content of a sort.)<BR/><BR/>Serena, isn't there another quiz that asks nonpolitical questions and then tells you your leanings based on criteria like What's your favorite tree?<BR/><BR/>Anyway, nice essay!<BR/><BR/>~pulpAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-85007769984728026432007-09-09T21:21:00.000-07:002007-09-09T21:21:00.000-07:00Human beings have created a type of cage which has...Human beings have created a type of cage which has no animal equivalent. It cannot be tested on animals. It is called an economy. <BR/><BR/>An individual knows he has to show up at a job to pay the rent or get kicked out into the street. He knows he will have to do this for years. How do you test the effects of that type of cage on an animal?<BR/><BR/>Now the odd thing is that for all of this talk about free enterprise and education no one suggests mandatory accounting in the schools. Jet planes have flown across the country at 600 mph but we should buy new cars every few years that roll along the ground at the same speeds they did in the 50's.<BR/><BR/>What is the escape from the economic cage?<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://discussions.pbs.org/viewtopic.pbs?t=28529&sid=48a3c41c1631c8f4b1cd7da661bef78a" REL="nofollow">GlobaLIES</A><BR/><BR/>psikpsikeyhackrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298656085575420736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7968440283962186063.post-55601190142591439042007-09-02T10:36:00.000-07:002007-09-02T10:36:00.000-07:00What a nice article!Nice in the sense of good, tha...What a nice article!<BR/><BR/>Nice in the sense of good, that is. In a couple of old novels I've read, a veddy correct adult admonishes a young person about using nice casually and incorrectly, since the real meaning of nice was--help me get this right, Serena--small, finely made, neat, or meticulous.<BR/><BR/>I had a hard time with tortuous and torturous, even though their meanings are pretty clear from the spellings. And don't even get me started on eminent and its homophonous cousins.<BR/><BR/>The problem is made worse by widespread illiteracy. When television, magazines, and even books misuse words, all the people who don't pay attention to words anyway don't stand a chance.pulphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09338209570035044103noreply@blogger.com