From: bob1@cos.com (Bob Blackshaw)
Subject: Re: Living in a State of Siege
Organization: Corporation for Open Systems
Distribution: na 
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1992 20:27:54 GMT

In <62971@mimsy.umd.edu> biow@cs.umd.edu (Christopher Biow) writes:

>In article <168C1CB92.SURGDM@mizzou1.missouri.edu> Diane writes:
>>In article <1992Dec18.184824.10383@rat.csc.calpoly.edu>
>>dgross@polyslo.csc.calpoly.edu (Dave Gross) writes:

>>>        "We men" are surrounded by violence from our circumcision in infancy
>>>(no anaesthesia, thank you) to being bullied in elementary school; from trying
>>>out for the football team in high school to registering for the draft; from
>>>being several times more likely than our sisters to be murdered to watching
>>>boxing on television; from visiting Arlington National Cemetery to running our
>>>fingers along the Vietnam War Memorial.

>>Just a few questions/answers:

>>1) Who are the major proponents of circumcision?
>>- Doctors, the mojority of which are still men.
>                ^^^^
>[spelling flame on the origins of the word "mojo" supressed]

>>[rest deleted--men are to blame for the violence in our society,
>>because they run it]

>If all faults of our society can be laid at the feet of the 
>"men who run it", then so should all of its virtues. To compare
>relative virtues, we need several examples of societies run by 
>women. As this is, as yet, a vacuous case, there isn't much 
>point in this argument. It is unfalsifiable.

>(FWIW, I find our society a remarkable improvement over barbarism. 
>Especially for women. Those who disagree are invited to
>move to the still "free" areas of Somalia. You'll be able to 
>enjoy the fruits of the pristine state of human existence, at least until 
>those awful, violent, male Marine infantry arrive.)

I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but it all reminds me of the
first Mensa meeting I attended. The Canadian poet, Irving Layton, was
speaking and he bagan by saying he thought he was wasting his time.
When asked why, he responded that people with high IQs were noted for
having no understanding or appreciation of peotry.

A woman in the audience remarked that while this might be true of men,
it was not true of women. She continued with various derogatory
comments on male insensitivity, etc. I finally had enough and simply
commented, that since we no longer lived in an agrarian society, that
most 'men' spent the greater part of their early years in the company
of their mothers. Most grade school teachers (at that time) were women.
So, I concluded, men's formative years were mainly in the hands of
women, and if she did not like the end product she should not blame
the men.

[Duck, here come the flames! :-)]

Now, to be serious, I realize that there are many other factors in
the environment of young boys, peer groups, etc., but women do have
more opportunity than men in instilling specific attributes into
their son's psyche.

So perhaps we should stop with all this blame malarkey and get on with
ways of fixing the problem. I mean, once we decide who to blame, what's
next? Will all the guilty parties go to jail? Will they be fined? Or
simply taken out at dawn and shot?

Life is a difficult enough proposition, why add to it with all this
negative criticism? How about a few solutions. Unless, of course, you
actually enjoy  all this warfare.

$0.03

REB


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