PC and the case for Arrested Development
Today's pundits specializing in psychobabble might say I suffer from a case of arrested development. I prefer to think of myself as being "old school", as when public schools actually taught students the 3 R's and what it means to be a responsible citizen of the United States of America.
For years I've stopped watching prime time television "entertainment" especially when such entertainment is really just a series of infomercials or outright polemics extolling the "values" of the Ingratest Generation while slamming those of the previous generations to whom they do such great dishonor. This was made easier by my actually having a life.
As to the Ingratest Generation I am a member though only chronologically. Oh and by the way besides being male I am a white male, so sue me because I must be a running dog of imperialism or at least a traitor to Power to the People, La Raza, the Struggle or whatever the Gray Panthers call it today . Because I have been around for so long I have caught the Ingrates act and as bad plays go it should have closed out of town years ago (as in after the Berlin Wall came down). As my Mom used to say, "Some people cry poor with a loaf of bread under each of their arms."
To follow up on my Moms memorable line and to modify a quote from Abraham Lincoln, the voices of disunity are always with us. The glass is never half full or even half empty with this lot. It is always completely empty. So what to do? Stop listening? While I agree that an occasional time-out is needed one cannot stop listening to all the bad things people have to say. To do so would allow them, unchallenged, to keep saying those terrible things about our nation and us as its citizens. So I spend time sending e-mails to "defenders of the faith", blogging, and participating in online discussions. All I can say is thank you Al Gore for inventing the Internet (he said almost with a straight face). Now that I am "retired" I am finding I have time to get involved having learned the lesson that 60's activists have taught me and, to its detriment, this great country of ours.
As to those who are stuck on stupid (the 60's) who coin fancy terms such as "Arrested Development" and then try to hang them on others, they only have to look in the mirror to see who really hasn't grown up. And I fancy myself as one of the guys behind them ready to tape the "Kick Me" sign to their backs.
For years I've stopped watching prime time television "entertainment" especially when such entertainment is really just a series of infomercials or outright polemics extolling the "values" of the Ingratest Generation while slamming those of the previous generations to whom they do such great dishonor. This was made easier by my actually having a life.
As to the Ingratest Generation I am a member though only chronologically. Oh and by the way besides being male I am a white male, so sue me because I must be a running dog of imperialism or at least a traitor to Power to the People, La Raza, the Struggle or whatever the Gray Panthers call it today . Because I have been around for so long I have caught the Ingrates act and as bad plays go it should have closed out of town years ago (as in after the Berlin Wall came down). As my Mom used to say, "Some people cry poor with a loaf of bread under each of their arms."
To follow up on my Moms memorable line and to modify a quote from Abraham Lincoln, the voices of disunity are always with us. The glass is never half full or even half empty with this lot. It is always completely empty. So what to do? Stop listening? While I agree that an occasional time-out is needed one cannot stop listening to all the bad things people have to say. To do so would allow them, unchallenged, to keep saying those terrible things about our nation and us as its citizens. So I spend time sending e-mails to "defenders of the faith", blogging, and participating in online discussions. All I can say is thank you Al Gore for inventing the Internet (he said almost with a straight face). Now that I am "retired" I am finding I have time to get involved having learned the lesson that 60's activists have taught me and, to its detriment, this great country of ours.
As to those who are stuck on stupid (the 60's) who coin fancy terms such as "Arrested Development" and then try to hang them on others, they only have to look in the mirror to see who really hasn't grown up. And I fancy myself as one of the guys behind them ready to tape the "Kick Me" sign to their backs.
posted by tovarich at 4:08 PM
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