Thus, i begin anew my string of musings on unpleasant issues facing the nation. It has been a while, yes, yet my opinions have only matured since my last post. Besides, there has been enough political failure in the past few months for me to stay happy for a long, long time (cynical happiness of course).
Today, I attended a presentation of sorts in school- two police officers spoke on issues the public school system deemed necessary to be addressed, while we, as good students (well most of us) listened. The two "resource officers" of the school brought three broad issues to our attention: bullying, cyberspace security, and sexting (sexual texting). While the first two issues were simple enough (even though I grumbled at the fact that my tax money was going to fund this program to raise awareness of issues i understood since i was five), the third topic, and what the Virginia Commonwealth government espoused in relation to the "problem" of sexting, shook me to my core.This part of the presentation was almost heinous; it infuriated and shocked me. I felt something i have not truly felt in respect to my nation in a while- I felt the icy grip of genuine fear in the bottom of my stomach.
One minute into the presentation, the officer in charge began discussing the two types of laws in our legal system. The first was dubbed "safety;" the officer explained that these laws were set down to protect the livelihood of all persons. Though initially i took issue with this claim (since i bet around half of these "safety" laws protect the livelihood of the government rather than that of its constituents), it was pushed from my mind as the second type of law sidled into view. It read "polite and proper;" these laws, as explained by the officer, were created to provide a polite, correct, inoffensive, mannered, and structured environment for all in the commonwealth. WHAT?! Last time I checked, the creation and maintaining of a "proper and inoffensive society" is nowhere in our government's job description.
The examples the officer then proceeded to provide showed me just how far we have collectively fallen. For it is not simply the government that has overstepped its boundaries- we as a society have not stepped up to the plate to demand increased freedom. We are content to stay static and apathetic to whatever the government does, behind closed doors or not, whether we agree with it or not. Our society has given free reign to ideologues, from the right and left, that have used the gears of our government to change our very society. The officer thus began speaking on the issue of "sexting" and how taking a photo of YOURSELF as a juvenile is already a felony. I will not go into detail as to what is a felony and what is not- that is for YOU to go and research- you may be unpleasantly surprised what is considered "violent sexual offense" in this state. If you are 17 years old and you have consensual sex with another 17 year old, not only is that racking up multiple felonies, but you get placed on a "violent sex offender WATCH LIST" open to the public.
However, what is even worse is the condescending attitude the government shows with all of this- they believe they are in the RIGHT. I WILL DO WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT, AND NO IGNOMINIOUS COLLABORATION OF MY TAXPAYER DOLLARS IS GOING TO STOP ME. What ever happened to the government being afraid of their constituents? It has become bold as brass, flinging the very freedoms this nation has been built upon back in our faces. It is thoroughly fallacious to blame anything solely on a party, corporation, or system without digging deeper to uncover the all-too-familiar stench of the government's ever-growing yet slowly-stagnating reach. One example is the BP leak in the Gulf- every news station blasts the corporation for their failure, except, few realize that it is the restrictive LEGISLATION AND REGULATION of the government that forced BP into taking unnecessary risk in drilling in such a precarious area. But no, we are content with whining and asking for a larger pension. Grow up America.
Good Day.
