Are we really morally better than we were 100 yrs ago?
pickupyourwill
Posts: 3,135
Okay so I really don't want to start any shit but here it goes. I'm just making a simple statement and observation.
There's a joke going around on Facebook about having your dog neutered, along with your weird friends and relatives. I thought it was funny when I first saw it because everyone can relate to that. It probably got thousands of likes. I looked for it but can't find it.
Anyway, on a serious note......its funny now, but lets hope it just stays a joke. That line of thinking is only a few steps away from Hitler's. In fact, I watched an Anderson episode where many people are coming forward about being literally "neutered" in a sense decades ago--black, minorities, disabled, mentally ill.
It probably sounds like I'm being too sensitive, but then how many times has history repeated itself? I hope it wouldn't happen again, but some of the powerful, narrow-minded Republicans these days scare me a little.
There's a joke going around on Facebook about having your dog neutered, along with your weird friends and relatives. I thought it was funny when I first saw it because everyone can relate to that. It probably got thousands of likes. I looked for it but can't find it.
Anyway, on a serious note......its funny now, but lets hope it just stays a joke. That line of thinking is only a few steps away from Hitler's. In fact, I watched an Anderson episode where many people are coming forward about being literally "neutered" in a sense decades ago--black, minorities, disabled, mentally ill.
It probably sounds like I'm being too sensitive, but then how many times has history repeated itself? I hope it wouldn't happen again, but some of the powerful, narrow-minded Republicans these days scare me a little.
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-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
(also, I didn't realize narrowmindedness was limited to one particular group! Good to know intolerance hasn't bled out)
And I have no doubt whatsoever that people were making jokes about cutting the balls off of social rejects 100 years ago as well. That is a not a new brand of humor at all. It's not a new actual opinion of certain fucked up people either. Icky people have been imagining shit like that for centuries.
I would say that people actually are possibly marginally morally better now because of our more enlightened views about race, gender, disability, etc. At least in Western society. I'd say that the rest is about the same. I have no reason to believe that people were any more or less moral in 1912 aside from respect for life and diversity. No more or fewer liars, no more or less corrupt people. I'm sure in the past people were there for their neighbors more than now, but I'd say that's a result of population and living conditions rather than changes in morals.
And now I'm taking it too seriously.
Yes, I am a bit of a walking contradiction.
I think I'm getting old because I lack the energy to debate.
I fully agree. Well said. Cheers to that.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
I don't think we're actually as far removed from that line of thinking as most people would like to believe. The underlying idea here is that the fertility/sexuality of certain groups of people should be controlled/influenced/judged by the beliefs/values of other groups of people. Although it may be manifesting itself in a different (seemingly more palatable) form, this is an increasingly central theme of current political discourse.
I'm talking about all the bills/laws/policies in the United States pertaining to reproductive health & the underlying mindsets on which they are founded. E.g. Women aren't fit to make independent decisions about whether to have abortions, so they must be required to look at ultrasounds, get counseling, be informed about bogus "risks" (like that they might regret their decision enough to commit suicide), and then submit to a waiting period before being allowed to go through with it. Or the belief that women shouldn't have children outside of marriage, which is the basis for much of our welfare policy. Or the laws that disallow gay people from adopting, effectively preventing a group of people from having children based on another group of people's belief that they are unfit. Or the federal abstinence-only sex ed law, which is founded upon the assumptions that (1) teaching people to prevent pregnancy will cause them to have sex, (2) people who are not married adults should not be having sex, & (3) single-parent families are inherently wrong. Or the FDA's politically-based decision to not allow minors access to emergency contraception without a prescription, which is also founded on numbers 1 and 2 above. Or the attempt to redefine rape, so as to make law out of some people's belief that women are to blame for rape that is not the result of violent force and they should accept the consequences of their actions by carrying any resulting pregnancy to term. Et cetera.
"I'm talking about all the bills/laws/policies in the United States pertaining to reproductive health & the underlying mindsets on which they are founded. E.g. Women aren't fit to make independent decisions about whether to have abortions, so they must be required to look at ultrasounds, get counseling, be informed about bogus "risks" (like that they might regret their decision enough to commit suicide), and then submit to a waiting period before being allowed to go through with it. Or the belief that women shouldn't have children outside of marriage, which is the basis for much of our welfare policy. Or the laws that disallow gay people from adopting, effectively preventing a group of people from having children based on another group of people's belief that they are unfit. Or the federal abstinence-only sex ed law, which is founded upon the assumptions that (1) teaching people to prevent pregnancy will cause them to have sex, (2) people who are not married adults should not be having sex, & (3) single-parent families are inherently wrong. Or the FDA's politically-based decision to not allow minors access to emergency contraception without a prescription, which is also founded on numbers 1 and 2 above. Or the attempt to redefine rape, so as to make law out of some people's belief that women are to blame for rape that is not the result of violent force and they should accept the consequences of their actions by carrying any resulting pregnancy to term. Et cetera." ~~ _
What you're saying makes some sense to me. Modern America is so complicated and crazy. You can't wrap your head around all the contradictions. No one can make sense of it--the rich, middle-class, poor. The ones who think they know whats going on are just fooling themselves. They're not in control. Nobody is. Politics are crazy. Nothing makes sense.