2/2/2005
Listen up, you little ingrates!
Sigh…
First, take a look at this report.
And now…
I know I'm getting old now, but I have to say it… "What the hell is wrong with kids today?!!"
The people who conducted this two-year survey of U.S. students have just released their findings, and frankly, they scare the hell outta me: In the middle of a war "to protect our freedoms" and "spread liberty" across the globe, it turns out the majority of high school kids don't even want the freedoms our troops are out there supposedly defending. In fact, they think we shouldn't even have 'em in the first place.
So, while I've still got the right to speak my mind, let me talk to you, the ungrateful whippersnappers, out there:
About half you students think it should be ILLEGAL to say anything bad about the government. What are you — freakin' insane??
I don't give a damn whether you're conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat or Nazi — this idea just CAN'T make sense once you think about it!
Freedom of speech is the spark that gets change started, and like it or not, society can always use change. Sure, change may make you uncomfortable, but get over it, you pansy-asses! How comfortable would you be standing trial for laughing when Bush says "nuke-yu-ler" or for cracking a joke about Clinton's intern-al affairs?
Do you not realize that if we didn't exercise this basic right (It's the FIRST Amendment, for crying out loud!), America would never have come to exist? You'd still not be criticising the British crown for taxing you unfairly, and you'd probably be serving in the Royal Navy rather than getting an education, anyway.
Without criticism and debate, how would our leaders — who are elected to represent us, and not to command us — know if they're acting on our behalf? Or should we just trust them to tell us what we should be thinking now?
Without a free and unhindered press, at least half you kids wouldn't matter, anyway: The females among you would never have been allowed to protest at the turn of the last century, and would therefore not really count as relevant to governmental decisions, anyway. Same goes for the blacks, hispanics, asians and anyone else who wasn't "Free, White and 21″ when the country was formed.
OK, so now I'm left talking to a racist male population, which may still be too ignorant to see a down side. If you're still unconvinced, then consider this: Without the First Amendment and your protected freedom of speech, you would GO TO PRISON for flying a Confederate flag. You would GO TO PRISON for complaining that GOING TO PRISON wasn't fair!
And you would GO TO PRISON for reading this.
So speak out, dammit, and defend your right to do so!
And thank a veteran — and a soldier — for giving you this right.
— VeryVito
P.S. Politicans and high-schoolers suck.
See also:
http://news.bbc.co.uk.../americas/4225013.stm
Update:
To read the initial report, check out:
4 Responses to “Listen up, you little ingrates!”
So what do you think?
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A sad and astonishing display of the plague of ignorance, that’s what the report indicates. Very, very sad.
I’m sorry, that article describing a poll did not first receive clearance to be published, and you should not have been reading it in the first place….
Seriously, when I first heard of that press item my initial reaction was to go to the source info, to see what the poll was actually asking and how. I know the BBC tends to not link to source info, and I haven’t had the cycles to try to hunt the original report down.
It’s funny how certain aspects of the Bill of Rights are overemphasized and others underemphasized, though… that “enumerated powers” bit towards the end has always seemed quite significant, even though centralism has gigantified decade upon decade, and of course the second amendment is far more clear than the first. That’s part of the unique charm of this planet though, I guess….
jd
Note: I just added a link to the source material above, too. Thanks for noticing it was missing!
Bah! This just another article to whip up the adult masses. The older generations have always thought that high-schoolers are loony. They don’t have enough world experience to even comprehend the questions much less answer the questions. Why get upset about it?
You are an old fogey. Face it. Sinner.
P.S. What’s for dinner?