On 2005-06-02 16:25:00, Nihilanthic wrote:
"
On 2005-06-02 15:26:00, Anonymous wrote:
"Not nice.... Give her a break. Most parents don't know what's really going on. They are usually good parents who really want to help their kids. "
Ignorance, stupidity, and meek (milquetoast) adherance to the programs bullshit rules and lack of communication between parent and child, and then walking into seminars and meekly accepting more bullshit like a stupid fuck and then come out all arrogant and pulling the program line because they get what they are now told to want, total control, IS THEIR FAULT!
Being a 'scared little wabbit' isnt an excuse!
The few people with brains who understand what freedom really entails in America? and realize how bullshit it is that they cant talk to their kids, its too secretive, and more setup to condition and break down than to treat anything, and act accordingly, are the good parents. Those who blindly follow and let themselves fall into those stupid psycho cryfests that Gilcrease panders off after ripping off from lifespring, are not!
Am I bitter? Oh yeah. But the lack of sugar coating I use to tell it to the parents is nothing compared to the torment their own kids faced. War is God?s way of teaching Americans geography.
--Ambrose Bierce (died 1914)
"
Well, I disagree with you.
There are some really stupid people in the world and it's not their fault. In some sense, it's the fault of the rest of us for not putting safeguards in place to identify them and keep them from, in their stupidity, doing harm to others.
Stupidity is not a character flaw. I suppose it makes the most sense to think of it as a disability. *Some* of these parents are mentally incompetent to manage their children's affairs and the kids needed a guardian ad litem.
We in society did not identify that problem ahead of time and protect those kids. We're *not* stupid--so what's *our* excuse?
Some of those parents were not stupid but were simply defrauded and incorrectly believed they were protected by the ordinary consumer protection safeguards that apply in almost every other similar magnitude of endeavor in our country.
We have strong laws to protect against cruelty to animals, including when those animals are in some sort of facility.
What reasonable parent would imagine that there weren't simlar strong laws to protect against cruelty to children, or malpractice upon children, or unethical mental health procedures upon children?
I certainly didn't know and wouldn't have guessed that this could happen in America until it *did* happen to a member of the SF Fen Community, who, as part of membership in that community, had a number of responsible adults who knew her very well and knew her placement was totally and completely inappropriate.
When she was rendered incommunicado, I went digging. But, whether all this information was easy or hard to find, and whether it was easy or hard to verify or assess the credibility of it---well, I can't judge that. I can't judge that because I know I'm unusually good at researching and digging out info. Not bragging, just fact.
So I found out, and I was shocked.
But most parents don't know, and have no reason to even suspect that no effective regulatory framework exists to protect them from being defrauded and their children harmed by con-men who just want their money--and enjoy the absolute control over the kids, too.
There have always been people who are easily conned---easy marks. There always will be such people. That's why our society seeks to protect those people from themselves, as much as possible, with regulation and consumer protection legislation.
Being an easy mark is a tragedy, not a character flaw.
Society fights each latest con game by passing or enforcing consumer protection laws, and by advertising the existence of the con, and its warning signs, to make it less likely the easy marks will fall for it.
The parents who are easy marks can't help it. We can blame them all day long and it won't do a damned bit of good.
The only thing that will do any good is to publicize the con and its warning signs, and to put in place the political solutions.
That means not only legislation, but ensuring enforcement. The only way to control politicians is with the old activists' adage: they'll either see the light, or they'll feel the heat.
We need an organized, large advocacy group that can work on both fronts of publicity and government activism.
It's no use blaming easy marks for being easy marks---we're always going to have them. The best we can do is try to reduce the risk of them harming themselves or others.
Timoclea
