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Editorial See other Editorial Articles Title: Don’t Poison Your Kid’s Childhood (Charley Reese) Turn off the “boob tube,” read more books and don’t initiate kids into the cult of materialism By Charley Reese A group of British scientists and child specialists claim that modern culture is “poisoning the childhood” of today’s children. That might be true. Today’s culture is much more openly decadent. Children are exposed to more prurience and violence, and the commercial interests put tremendous marketing pressures on them. Still, it’s also easy for adults to imagine their own childhood as more of a golden age. I think of my own childhood as a happy one, though it occurred in the midst of World War II and was not without its mishaps, tears and conflicts. Children—today’s as well as yesterday’s—are remarkably adaptable. Children, with no basis for comparison, tend to accept the world they’re born into. It’s one of the processes of growing up to learn that everything you once accepted as natural is not always good or useful or applicable. I used to wonder why my children were singularly uninterested in Western movies. One day, I realized the answer. The elements of the Western story had been a part of my childhood—barbed-wire fences, cattle, plows, wagons, mules, horses, farms and guns. My children knew none of this. They were born in the space and computer age in an urban environment. They could relate to Star Wars, but not to How the West Was Won. I do believe that television, from just mere overexposure to the world, has taken some of the zest out of life. I still remember the thrill the first time I saw the Atlantic Ocean. Of course, I’d seen pictures of it in magazines and in movies, mostly black-and-whites, but the real ocean was a sensory experience that I remember to this day. I wonder if children still feel the same way. Mystery is the father of hope, and since knowledge is the enemy of mystery, it is also the enemy of hope. There is no sadder sight in the world to me than to see a teenager with ennui. A number of years ago, there was a terrible popular song, the chorus of which was “Is that all there is?” How terrible it must be for a 13- or 14-year-old to be bored, with nothing to look forward to. I believe the secret of a happy life is to retain a child’s sense of wonder and expectation. Science has grown arrogant in our time and has become more of an ideology than a search for truth. I don’t believe for one moment in evolution; in natural selection, yes, but not the crazy notion that a million different species came from a single-cell organism. There is not one scintilla of evidence to support that theory. The same goes for cosmological theories. They like to say the universe began with the big bang. What was the stuff that went bang, and where did it come from? They don’t have a clue. And if there is a boundary to the universe, what’s on the other side? Again, not a clue. A lot of humans are arrogant little twits, but what we know compared with what we don’t know is a teacup compared with the ocean. The notion that the universe just happened by accident is far, far more improbable than the notion that it was created by a power we don’t yet understand. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for parents with small children to dump the television, or at least severely restrict what small children can watch. A lot of pseudoscience is to be found on the airwaves. Furthermore, watching television or a movie is a passive experience that is done with an inactive brain. Reading requires active brain use and encourages imagination. It would be a good idea to protect children from materialism, which is America’s main philosophy these days. Talk about the phrase “Is that all there is?” Materialism is a dead end and a good way to waste a life. That leads to the role models for children. The commercial entertainment industry, as corrupt as any Mafia, produces role models that are for the most part cynical, sleazy and stupid. Children should also be protected from sociologists who want them to answer intimate questions about sexual relations at far too young an age, and, of course, from quacks who want to prescribe mind-altering drugs. If a child is bored and fidgety in class, you might want to look at the school environment and the dumbed-down curricula before you start pumping drugs into him.
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#2. To: BTP Holdings (#0)
I remember when that song by Peggy Lee came out. I was maybe 12, 13, and even then thought, God, what a horrible song. Years later I realized it was nihilistic -- and on AM pop radio. IS THAT ALL THERE IS? Peggy Lee SPOKEN: I remember when I was a very little girl, our house caught on fire. I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement. I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames. And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire?" SUNG: Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is SPOKEN: And when I was 12 years old, my father took me to the circus, the greatest show on earth. There were clowns and elephants and dancing bears And a beautiful lady in pink tights flew high above our heads. And as I sat there watching the marvelous spectacle I had the feeling that something was missing. I don't know what, but when it was over, I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a circus?" SUNG: Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is SPOKEN: Then I fell in love, with the most wonderful boy in the world. We would take long walks by the river or just sit for hours gazing into each other's eyes. We were so very much in love. Then one day, he went away. And I thought I'd die -- but I didn't. And when I didn't I said to myself, "Is that all there is to love?" SUNG: Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing SPOKEN: I know what you must be saying to yourselves. If that's the way she feels about it why doesn't she just end it all? Oh, no. Not me. I'm in no hurry for that final disappointment. For I know just as well as I'm standing here talking to you, when that final moment comes and I'm breathing my lst breath, I'll be saying to myself, SUNG: Is that all there is, is that all there is If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing Let's break out the booze and have a ball If that's all there is
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