|
|
|
The Nova program examined some research regarding a breed of rats that all have the genetic condition for some disease, the name of which I no longer remember. The disease causes the rats to get fat. The problem during the research was that, even though all of the rats had the genetic condition, only some of the rats had the disease. Research eventually led to a surprising observation. The presence of the disease in a rat depended upon the care that the rat had received from its mother, while it was a baby. If a mother rat spent a lot of time licking her babies, then those babies grew up into adults that didn't get the disease. If a mother rat tended to ignore her babies, then those babies grew up into adults that got the disease. The nurturing experienced by the baby rats changed the epigenetic tags. The mother's licking determined the presence or absence of the disease in her offspring, after they were adults. I was reminded of some beliefs that I've occasionally expressed. I believe that children ought to be raised by their mothers. No matter how well-qualified a day care center might be, it can't replace a mother. A lot of the bad behavior of some young people might be attributable to the lack of their mother's influence, when they were babies and children. A lot of such bad behavior might be prevented by nothing more complicated than early care by their mothers. The Nova program suggested a scientific basis that might support my beliefs. That is, the nurturing provided by a person's mother might set epigenetic tags that will influence at least some of the person's future attitudes and behavior. Of course, whether that results in better behavior or worse behavior might be a matter of opinion. However, the idea's worth considering. Human behavior is complex and its motivations often seem obscure. I've often advocated that we're driven by our bodies, not by our minds, driven by genetic mandates. A consideration of epigenetics suggests that we might be driven as much by the tags as by the genes. The difference is that, although we're still driven by genetic mandates, those mandates might be subject to some outside influence, whether it's good or bad. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
|
Letters
to the Editor
To: editor@frontiersman.my3website.net .... In response to your comment about the possibility that people are just too stupid to be free [Unpleasant Prospect, October, page 3] — Just remember that we are fighting about 3000 years of indoctrination and habit. The vast majority of societies, since the dawn of history, have been authoritarian, hierarchical, and repressive. The ideas on which a "libertarian" society might be based have only been around since the 1600's. After the revolutions of the late 1700's, there has been ceaseless effort on the part of reactionaries to bury or pervert these ideas. Most people in the USA today are products of government schools, which give some lip-service to these ideas in the curriculum, but which rarely explain them in a clear, correct fashion. Furthermore, most people are influenced in their moral ideas by Christianity, which in its conventional forms tends to promote submissiveness, and irrational thinking. Most people are very hard to teach after about age 25 — by that time, most people are "know it alls" in regard to religion, politics, or philosophy, and won't listen to anything new, unless their lives are thrown into some terrible crisis, — and even then, they tend to resist change. A survey was done a few years ago in Germany, to see the extent to which Nazi philosophy was still present. They found that most people who were children or young adults during the Nazi era still had many many Nazi ideas, even if they no longer thought Hitler was a good leader. This — despite many years of anti-Nazi indoctrination. So the odds are against us — but without continuing effort, nothing will happen. —Sir Donald the Elusive
I don't see any inherent reason why a so-called primitive society would be more prone to being authoritarian, hierarchical, and repressive than a so-called modern society. I fear that we're not dealing with 3000 years of brainwashing but with 3000 years of stupidity. Brainwashing won't work unless people are stupid enough to be brainwashed. By the way, there's probably just as much Nazi doctrine in this country as there is in Germany. In this country, it just goes by different names. I'm not the first man to advocate libertarian doctrine or anarchist doctrine. Indeed, I suspect that those ideas originated long before the 1600's. Nevertheless, so far as I'm aware, I am the first man to ever correctly define the legitimate boundaries of lawful government. In my essay, "The Long and Winding Doctrine: Social Contract", I demonstrated that the legitimate boundaries of lawful government are not geographical. They are contractual. That's the most important political statement that has ever been made. However, its importance will be appreciated only by people who are smart enough to understand it. —editor
Sam: Some random thoughts on your article on prostitution: [Deliver Us From Evil, October, pages 1-2] It's interesting that while the politically correct position is that everyone must show respect for everyone else's sexual preferences, clearly this does not apply to prostitution. Sex workers are, apparently, to be treated as unto medieval-era heretics, being incapable of making choices for themselves, and instead Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution. I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
|
to be re-educated under the dogma that no
woman wants to be a prostitute, no more, I imagine, than a medieval
Cathar or Albigensian wanted to choose those sects. But why the hypocrisy?
As homosexuality becomes more respectable, the forces of puritanism, I suspect, are channeled into attacking an ever more narrow array of targets, and with increasing ferocity. A few decades back the arguments today about the evils of prostitution were made about homosexuality and inter-racial sex. Well, these days you can not get anywhere attacking homosexuals or inter-racial couples, so someone has to be the new target of the self-appointed guardians of public morality. There is an unholy alliance of radical feminists and conservatives at work here. The recent Bush administration went as far as criminalizing military members who engage the services of a sex worker. The hypocrisy of W. Bush in claiming he is fighting a war for liberty against Islamic fundamentalism goes unremarked while he implements policies which would make the Taliban proud. (By the way, was W a virgin on his wedding night?) George Orwell summed up one reason for sexual puritanism in Nineteen Eighty-Four: sexual repression causes mass hysteria which the ruling elite can convert to worship of the state, and into jihads against the state's enemies. But there are more base forces at work here. Traditionally, women have opposed sexual freedom because if a man can have sex by engaging the services of a sex worker (or engaging in homosexuality or going outside of one's race) it breaks the traditional female monopoly created by the formula of no sex until marriage. And sexual repression gives men in power a way to jail or socially ostracize rank-and-file men who break with social norms. In order to enforce the laws against what people do in the bedroom, the government appropriates for itself massive surveillance capabilities and the right to entrap the innocent, as well as deploying an army of informers and turning spouses against each other. Very Orwellian and all similar to the ways in which the wars on drugs, terrorism, and so forth enhance the powers of the state and undermine the Constitutional rights of the individual. —Joseph, of Northridge, California
From the early 1970s until the late 1990s, I lived in a neighborhood were people were very tolerant of one another — east San Jose, in California. Most people were well-received there. The main exceptions were cops and process servers. I had a neighbor named Roger who was, in most circumstances, a good friend. However, he absolutely refused to ride motorcycles with me because he rode a Harley Davidson and I rode a Honda. He wouldn't be seen in the same lane with me. I doubt if people will ever run out of targets for their bigotry. Regarding your observation that a woman's opposition to prostitution is based on the fact that it threatens her monopoly, I must agree with you. Every aspect of a woman's behavior follows, either directly or indirectly, from her genetic mandate to control men. The attempts to control men take many forms and attempting to control a man's access to sex is one of them. —editor
Remember Those Who Serve Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by BLA, of Schertz, Texas. In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. He asked, "How much is an ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he inquired. Some people were waiting for a table and the waitress was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely. The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table, and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier, and departed. When the waitress came back, she began wiping down the table and then looked in surprise at what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies, her tip. Funny Signs
Please use the enclosed envelope to send a contribution. I prefer cash. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
|
Acknowledgments My thanks to the following: SantaClara Bob; Lady Jan the Voluptuous; my mother; and Dewey and Betty. — editor
Court Quotes From Humor in the Court and More Humor in the Court, by Mary Louise Gilman, editor of the National Shorthand Reporter. Forwarded by Don G.
Definitions Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by Don G.
True Confession Original Source Unknown. Forwarded by Don G. Police in Radnor, Pennsylvania, interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy machine. The message "He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time that they thought that the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing that the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed. Kids Are Quick
Frontiersman Subscriptions and Back Issues — Printed copies of this newsletter, either subscriptions or back issues, are available by application only. Cancellations — If you don't want to keep receiving this newsletter, then print REFUSED, RETURN TO SENDER above your name and address and return the newsletter. When I receive it, I'll terminate your subscription. Reprint Policy — Permission is hereby granted to reproduce this newsletter in its entirety or to reproduce material from it, provided that the reproduction is accurate and that proper credit is given. I do not have the authority to give permission to reprint material that I have reprinted from other sources. For that permission, you must go to the original source. I would appreciate receiving a courtesy copy of any document or publication in which you reprint my material. Submissions — I solicit letters, articles, and cartoons for the newsletter, but I don't pay for them. Short items are more likely to be printed. I suggest that letters and articles be shorter than 500 words but that's flexible depending on space available and the content of the piece. Payment — This newsletter isn't for sale. If you want to make a voluntary contribution, then I prefer cash, prepaid telephone cards, or U.S. postage stamps. For checks or money orders, please inquire. For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net. The continued existence of the newsletter will depend, in part, on such contributions. I don't accept anything that requires me to provide ID to receive it. In case anybody's curious, I also accept gold, silver, platinum, etc. — Sam Aurelius Milam III, editor
For PayPal payments, use editor@frontiersman.my3website.net.
|
|
|