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[PSUBS-MAILIST] Re: GUNS and stuff

Holy neglected P-Sußs mail, Batman! And a thread about *guns* besides! Oh my...

Paul Anderson wrote, on Monday, in a post about what's really wrong with people these days --
>[....] A child culture has been allowed to develop in school [....]

Wow. Much of your post was insightful, but I think this is a pretty Big Observation, right here. It hits at something which maybe isn't identified in the "what's wrong with our schools" circus. Perhaps you could elaborate on what you mean by "child culture." I think I have some sense of what you're getting at, but it's only a sense...

I've had a few off-list conversations with various members about what it is that's different with "kids these days" (I consider myself to have been one of those Kids These Days) -- a lack of the sort of good-crazy, independent, creative spirit and ambition and whatall there seems to have usedtobeen. In general, society seems to be getting more dumbed-down, controlled, and predictably conformist. I guess it depends on where you look, but a lot of us seem to have made similar observations. 

I read a Heinlein book recently in which  a boy uses his knowledge of guns and nuclear weapons, among other things, to save the day. He shoots some of the bad guys dead. What would Uncle Bob think of today's legions of Nintendo-staring, backwards-baseball-cap-adjusting teens? Not only would such initiative probably be considered outlandish by parents and school librarians these days -- but flat-out a Bad Example in a Zero Tolerance environment. What *are* the heroes in juvenile stories doing these days?

So I think this is arguably on topic for a group of people taking on a project that most people think is nuts, which involves a level of non-professional skill and expertise -- not to mention motivation -- which seems to be rarer and rarer. As I think Pat R. pointed out, it's interesting to find out more about the extra-sub interests and attitudes of the group -- and I've been surprised at how much political and philosophy-of-life overlap there seems to be. If anyone disagrees about the on-topic-ness, but wants to respond to me privately, feel free to do so.

(For the record, if there is one, you can put me down as another P-Sub enthusiast who is also a gun nut...)

-- 
David
Osage MN USA
buchner@wcta.net - http://customer.wcta.net/buchner