It's Déjà vu - another infant living in appalling circumstances beaten to death.
We sigh and if we are honest deep down think that perhaps for this child death is a mercy, For surely he had no future from the moment he was born.
And the hand wringing starts - empty solutions are proposed.
Lindsay Mitchel thinks the DPB is implicated. She is correct to an extent but really the DPB is another symptom of our malaise.
In truth the most important thing we are tasked with in this life is to raise the generation to succeed us.
You wouldn't know this from popular culture. Nor are the attitudes and skills required a major part of our educational curricular. Indeed our children are taught more about avoiding conception in a manner where pregnancy is almost portrayed as a disease, akin to genital warts rather than a blessing. And both curable by minor surgical intervention.
And we are led to believe that children will get in the way of our aspirations, particularly so if you are female.
Indeed if you aspire to a high level position in the UN the raising of children may well impede your crawl to the top.
But then again the majority of people do not reach the "top". Most struggle through their lives and until eventually ending up on their death bed, surrounded by those who love them or not as the case may be.
And if you want my opinion, it is the attitudes that society in general has to children and the raising of them that is being reflected in unsubtle manner by the wretched underclass.
We sigh and if we are honest deep down think that perhaps for this child death is a mercy, For surely he had no future from the moment he was born.
And the hand wringing starts - empty solutions are proposed.
Lindsay Mitchel thinks the DPB is implicated. She is correct to an extent but really the DPB is another symptom of our malaise.
In truth the most important thing we are tasked with in this life is to raise the generation to succeed us.
You wouldn't know this from popular culture. Nor are the attitudes and skills required a major part of our educational curricular. Indeed our children are taught more about avoiding conception in a manner where pregnancy is almost portrayed as a disease, akin to genital warts rather than a blessing. And both curable by minor surgical intervention.
And we are led to believe that children will get in the way of our aspirations, particularly so if you are female.
Indeed if you aspire to a high level position in the UN the raising of children may well impede your crawl to the top.
But then again the majority of people do not reach the "top". Most struggle through their lives and until eventually ending up on their death bed, surrounded by those who love them or not as the case may be.
And if you want my opinion, it is the attitudes that society in general has to children and the raising of them that is being reflected in unsubtle manner by the wretched underclass.
Those attitudes are everywhere, and often reflect casual disregard.
ReplyDeleteOne of the TV channels decided to screen Toy Story so that it finished at 9:30 and dismisses a parents complaint about the content of "adult only" advertisements shown during that movie.
They apologised (as is the norm) for showing one of those adverts at 8:55 because the law states that 9:00pm gets them off the hook.
They should either have the moral awareness to suspend such advertisements during a children's movie, or schedule the movie to finish much earlier.
They care more about the limits of the law and their ratings than their viewers. Casual disregard of children.
Some others simply think we must treat children like adults, thus the push to heap adult concepts and adult attitudes on children well before they are ready. Casual disregard.
More to say, but maybe later.
For surely he had no future from the moment he was born.
ReplyDeletethe attitudes that society in general has to children and the raising of them that is being reflected
If you prefer a more chirpy outlook on life you can disable your cultural preferences and myths and take another look. Which shouldn't be hard to do since the authors on this site are linked to religion. There's more to life than climbing the corporate ladder and ticking off the boxes on the white middle-class asset and values checklist.
What exactly is "the top"?
Who is "wretched"?
What is "struggle"?
Who or what is society and what is their relevence to an individual's life?
I don't pose these questions to begin a broad ranging and endless philosophical discussion, but to illustrate how to challenge your own beliefs long enough to get a different perspective.
Finally, no one has crystal ball. One man's wretched underdog is another man's Ghandhi... or Christ for that matter. Christianity and capitalism have always gone hand in hand and christians shouldn't feel embarrassed by that. But once they start confusing the wordly wisdom of capitalism with the transcendent principles of their religion, they'll just end up with a glass half empty outlook. You can't buy your way into heaven and being a good christian does not mean you will be rewarded in this life with riches or comfort. Neither does it mean that heathens will automatically be wretched.
Cheer up, old bean! When a wretched under-person shuffles past your door, do what you think is right. Till then, have faith that god is doing his bit too.
If that isn't tangible enough, even the theories of psychotherapy would provide a cherry picture for the underclass of NZ - they suggest government and society have nothing to do with it and offer a way out.
For some bizarre reason 0..0 I don't think the beating of an infant to death calls for a post with a "chirpy outlook".
ReplyDeleteMust have something to do with my "cultural preferences" I guess