social
vacuums
The human is a highly dangerous animal and
often must be tamed as part of its maturation process, even from
two years old. As long as children continue to be raised in cotton
wool and the vacuum, it is inevitable that a
proportion will act dangerously and foolishly.
This is far
more important as the potential power of the individual rises;
along with our huge strides in understanding chemistry, biology
and physics.
If some wet dope is let out with a degree in
chemistry, in combination with no serious social training or understanding,
it is inevitable that with hubris and ignorance,
a few will choose to go out with a bang. There is another version
of this phenomenon with the events at Columbine.
This sequence
of events is not magic and it is not just found
with Islam. It is human nature, combined with a society adrift;
a society with far more power available to the individual than
ever before.
Meanwhile, in the background, there are always
venal power seekers: self-styled imams or a Charles Manson are
ready to corrupt and use the folly of youth for personal gain;
and then there are irresponsible politicians, prepared to lie
by offering pretended easy options.
You do not raise an
individual to independence by running to pick the child up the
moment it starts to whine or falls down, nor by refusing to let
it choose its own clothes or have some say over its diet.
-
resolving
these social problems
The real actions to be taken
to stop, or at least attenuate, the problems must include a sane
modern training in citizenship. This is not an add-on extra. It
is a necessary central and fundamental part of a modern society
changing at a rate never previously experienced by the human animal.
These
social problems cannot be solved with the methods of last century,
let alone those of the 7th century. There has to be a modern approach
to modern problems, not some crazy Taliban/Luddite attempt to
return to the olden days where olden methods would (apparently)
work for a primitive, or even a purposefully primitivised, society.
I
have no wish to live in the 7th century, or even the 20th century.
I wish to live in the 21st century. I welcome the real world with
all its wonders. I do not seek to return to the earlier ways of
‘nasty, brutal and short’.
Many people appear
to think all that is needed is a bit of paint and sticking plaster
and then “things will be fine”. They will not.
flawed
school model
There is, sensibly, much more ‘learning
by doing’ in schools now, but the problems go very much
further. Meanwhile, the school model is deeply flawed.
School
is often an unsuitable place for serious learning. The schools
should belong to communities and be a resource, not a prison and
baby sitting service for the crime of being ‘young’.
Education
should be aimed at parents, not just children. Parents should
be a fully integrated part of the process, as should local communities. Many things should be
taught that are just not taught at all. Teaching should not
be about some outdated handcrafts, or preparing pre-digested written
scripts.
The problems concerning behaviours, disaffection,
young people... are mixed into the package like a raspberry ripple.
The
less smart kids cannot look forward to high-paying jobs. They
cannot compete with educated, disciplined Chinese or Indian adults.
They cannot compete with immigrants who will do the less fashionable
jobs at lower rates and without constantly whining.
Until the yearning for the past world is stopped, society will
not adjust to the present world.
some
directions to take
How does society propose to deal
with an already over-crowded island (the UK) in a world where
population is growing at the rate of more than a new Britain every
year, and where food and oil supplies come under ever increasing
pressure? Many are ostriches, seeking to believe what they want to believe rather than attending
to reality. Typically, socialists act in such a fashion. Those
who prefer burying their heads will ever more lose control of
the outcomes.
This is a new world that must be understood,
tackled and accommodated.
Franchise
by examination is effectively one rather simplified focus for that need to adapt,
as is a citizen’s
wage.
At
the heart of the problems is the cowardly raising of cowards,
and the inculcation of arrogance.
Children are being raised
in a sort of intellectual and emotional vacuum. There is little
so foolish and cruel as to tell some ignorant kid that the world owes them a living, let alone that their immature
‘opinions’ much matter in the development of society
and nations. Obviously, the young must develop self-expression
through practice, but they should not be led to expect that they
will gain original insights into the political problems of the
age without accumulating a considerable mass of learning.
Self-control
does not suddenly spring fully formed, “just like that”
at some magical age. Large percentages of ‘adults’
are merely immature children in bigger bodies. Much of their immaturity
is due to an irresponsible, dogmatic ‘permissiveness’,
a fashion from hippy theories - detached from the realities of
human nature and development.
- Sane development requires
judicious and thoughtful balance between permissions and discipline.
It does not require one extreme or the other. All extremes generate
unfortunate outcomes with inevitable payments to be made.
