Death By A Thousand Cuts
Psy bumped a thread a few minutes ago that I started some time back. The thread titled, “Winning the culture war,†starts with me saying that G. Miller’s legislation is about as useful as a box of wet farts. I can honestly say my predictions, not all that hard to see at the time either and certainly I wasn’t the only one making them, came to pass. During the hey day of the hearings people started a slew of threads predicting the day that Mr. Big Government Man would come in with his legion of party vans and cut a swath through the heart land of the American private Child Abuse Outsourcing industry. I guess we can all say this didn’t and won’t happen.
I won’t laugh at you all and say, “Neener neener I told you so!†I won’t do this for a couple reasons with the primary one being I to had a hope that Mr. Government Man would put a boot to the gut of private Child Abuse Outsourcers. It wouldn’t be at all fair for me to mock or ridicule others for what I to hoped would come to pass. Instead I’d like a moment or two of your time to reflect a different concept.
The metaphorical kill shot of programs being put aside we now face that same long drawn out road of cultural warfare that existed we previous were busy trudging down. There will be no easy solution to ending the pain and suffering programs inflict. Completely eradicating abuse in programs to me implies completely eradicating abuse against others in all forms. This is not something I see happen without the wholesale use of nuclear weapons on a global scale. But this does not and can not imply that the road we must travel shouldn’t be traveled.
What kind of people are we to sit back and say, “Let us not travel a road unless absolute success is promised.â€
I say, “Let us travel the road because it needs to be traveled. No promise of victory, glory, and redemption can ever be made for those who walk this road. Only the smallest possible joy of knowing that you will inflict a smallest of cuts on the beast called programs.â€
Small cuts have been made by those before us. For example;
Ray Bradbury roughing up Straight Inc. with his bodacious advocacy.
Phil “The Shill†Elberg’s litigation of programs that have gained survivors millions of dollars in award monies.
The founding and growth of ISAC.
The hundreds, if not thousands, of children saved the hell of calling themselves a program survivor by the hard work of those who quietly did their part to convince parents not to send their kids to a program.
The articles and books written exposing programs.
The videos produced to educate the proles in ways a written word never can about the evil that programs can inflict.
The websites that expose programs for what they are.
The list I present to you is only the very tip of the ice berg. I’d go further with it, but a certain amount of sleep deprivation prevents me from being able to do so. Each of those items represents a metaphorical cut on the beast. The beast is bleeding, its weeping, its crying, and its pissed off. The beast is flailing its arms about trying to scrape us annoying little bastards off of him.
But we aren’t going anywhere. Fornits might be quiet for awhile, but that is ok. The old timers will still be out there spreading their message from person to person. The next generation will step into their shoes. The war to stop the private Child Abuse Outsourcers will take on a different face. I think we all need to step back and take a look at what role we have played and what role we intend to play in this changing dynamic environment.
Look around your neighborhood and see what opportunities are out there for you to influence your neighbors. Be creative and be aggressive when you inflict your small cut. Above all make sure you tell us about it. We are creatures that thrive on the success of others. We will feel empowered by your small victory. These small cuts and the stories of them will urge us to inflict our own. While we won’t ever kill the beast we certain will leave it a rather raggedly looking specimen. The battles we fight can ensure that others can fight against programs free of harassment.
Don’t give up, don’t loose hope.
Above all.. Keep kicking ass.
Yeah.. And let us know about it.