LAW

[Anonymous]

Oh please y'all with the law stuff. I read some previous posts and it is all just educated guessing until you talk to a real lawyer. I don't think any one on this board knows if Straight clients have a case or not. As soon as I win the lottery, I will NOT use it to pursue Straight "justice."  

I was in Straight, I suffered then and for a long time afterward, but I think the best cure is to move on.  Even if I still suffer because of Straight, it seems so self-absorbed to spend any more time thinking about getting justice.  I don't think I ever will.  I will be okay anyway.

[Anonymous]

Fuelaw is a prominent Miami Attorney. Are you sure you have read the posts?

[Anonymous]

There are at least two lawyers on this site, and maybe another way of looking at "getting over it" is to think of what you can do for kids who are still being committed to these pits of insanity.  Wouldn't you want to help in preventing the same thing from happening to them?
And every bit of evidence that can be collected from the past will help prevent more of the same in the future.  Or am I just an idealist?

[Tampa survivor]

Idealists have been laughed at for centuries.

Idealists have also changed the world.

Bill

[Anonymous]

So he is an attorney -- is he qualified to take our case?  Until Straight survivors have a real live bona fide lawyer, I personally find it exhausting to continue to speculate and ruminate on the whole lawsuit.  I am not meaning to insult any one person or their opinion.  I am just saying, this is all yakkety-yak until something is done, and, having found these sights two or more years ago and still no Erin Brockovich -- well, I just think it is a waste of time.  So is typing this response.

I don't like to think of kids still being locked up like I was.  Frankly I don't know what I could do to help.  Many people have suggested the affidavit.  I wrote one, but have decided not to send it on right now.  If we had real live legal representation, someone I could meet in person, someone experienced and savvy whom I could trust, who could give us real advice concerning our choices, well, that might change my mind.

I am always game for a march in DC or writing to a congressperson concerning a specific bill, or something like that.

I also have thought about providing a safe house for any kid trying to escape a scene like Straight, although I am not in a position to do so right now. How the hell can anyone discuss such a thing with Big Brother government spying on everything now?

[Anonymous]

As far as I know, there are no simple answers to the problems that harmful treatment centers pose. There is money to be made in these places. There is money to be made in coercive treatment programs. They are paid big bucks to coerce and control. They are willing to do this for money. There isn't a market for alternative or "liberating treatment". There is money to be made through oppression. I'm not being cynical. But this is not exactly a new phenomena. Money and oppression have always seemed to go hand in hand.

The root problems of this type of society in which we all live will not be changed apart from a revolution of sorts.

We need creative solutions to this complex problem because it's not an isolated problem. People throughout history oppress when money is involved. Legislation has not permanently made a difference.

As I see it, the Straight problem, is but a symptom of an even larger evil, the love of money. So, when we are attacking Straight, we should be aware of the real foe, which is the love of money. There would be no Straight, if there was no ability to profit financially from Straight.

Anytime we try to revolt against "systems" or "institutions", we need to be aware that the roots of these can be traced to the love of money, and the love of power, and these two are interwoven together.

The reason for their exaggerations, their fear-mongering, is obviously not pure altruism. If there is any altruistic virtues at all, they have been diluted and even invalidated by profit motives.

So attack the underlying motives. Uproot the whole tree. Strategize.

[Tampa survivor]

Well, a leftist rant about the love of money....
Love of money creates entrepreneureal activism, hiring , building, researching or more.  The guy who came up with post it notes.  The guy who came up with Viagra.  The lady who theorized X-rays, and made it happen. MRI and CT scans.  The Polio vaccine.  New types of cardiac stents.  What about these amazing automobiles?  Beats shoveling horseshit for a 10 mph ride.
THE LOVE OF MONEY.
Rewards rock.  IF you don't have rewards around you, figure out why.  The reason lies within when examining why one envies (despises) the rich.
  The tree needs not to be uprooted from which springs our greatness...
...the cancer of shitty parents (rich and poor) who want to dump their messy teens off on someone else is what needs to be uprooted.

 Very few, if any respected rehab/behavior modification programs endorse COERCIVE treatment.  The modality has been debunked in the counseling world.  Most treatment cannot begin, nor will precious "seat time" be given to an unwilling patient.  The only people who still buy the product are those who need to have their correctness validated. These parents will buy that type of treatment no matter what anybody says.  
It makes me batty to see wwasp parents who believe they are doing good for their kids...
but they DO love their kids usually, and they DO have problems in parenting.  
Remember our folks when they were straight parents?
Bill
PS
In my NEVER humble opinion, an apolitical movement is most appropriate when trying to gather a small group under a single banner for a specific cause.  Leave the Green party shit at home, I will leave my Libertarian mouth at home, and then we can all find room under the same tent.
This "movement" is not big enough for splinters based upon whether you thing "Shrub" is an ignorant plant or a brilliant president.  Or whether Marx or Friedman is your reading favorite.
One thing in common on this board.  Stick to that, and they will come.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a leftist. I am basically right wing. Right now I'm reading "The Death of the West" by Pat Buchanan. The reason I brought up "money" was not because we should ban the use of currency, but as a matter of defining the motives of those who oppress. Not all who use money are oppressive I realize.

I was simply seeking to get to the root of the problem which I still believe is that the tyrants who started Straight love money, or else they love power tripping and ego shots.

I am sure that initially Straight seemed like a good idea, something to throw money at and fund to the hilt. Afterall, they were promising parents that they would "save" their children, yea our funky generation, with revoulutionary concepts of "kids helping kids". It's amazing that they didn't get more patents for their cutting edge concepts and formulas.

The fact that it backfired with us doesn't change the fact that parents still don't know what the hell to do with their "troubled" kids and Straight-like programs are more than willing to step in and offer their "answers" for a fee.

It's supply and demand. As long as people believe they need the intervention of militant Straight-like programs, they will foot the bill for them.

Okay, so money serves positive purposes. I agree. How then do we counter those who are willing to capitalize off of parents fears? How do we stop the flow of money to those who abuse humankind because of money?

This is the essence of what I am getting at. I am convinced that Geraldo Rivera, Ralph Nader, Rush Limbaugh, Charles Grodin, Al Sharpton, Bill Clinton, Condaleeza Rice, Ross Perot, Larry King, Walter Cronkite, Vladmir Putin, Saddam Hussein, and Osama Bin Ladin could combine intellectual and clairvoyant powers. In a mighty display of political presence and spiritual power, they could rally the whole world to chant and hum for days on end against Straight-like programs.

Yet there would still be parents that would pay money to get their children the best help that money can buy: Coercive Treatment.

As far as "Rewards ROCK": Will you oppress men for the rewards of money? Is oppression okay because people are seeking "rocking rewards"? We need to have some basic morals (not politics) when it comes to how we view the acquiring of these rewards. I am sure that Mel Sembler agrees that rewards ROCK as he plays air guitar (Led Zepplin-"Nobody's Fault But Mine") on the plane all the way to Italy. ::drummer::


The subject of money is indeed a slippery one, so I will avoid posting about money in the future. We all use money don't we, we probably should avoid money matters on the posts. Afterall, I don't desire to be a splinter in this movement's ASS!

[Anonymous]

Isn't this movement just about money too? Lets see. Pay for psychologist to screw me first, pay for psychologist to send me to straight, pay for psychologist to assist me in Straight, then pay another one for recovery from Straight? What a fantasy this this psudo-science psychology is. To the Libertarian: You better watch yourself, because those asses will let you twist in the wind when the shit hits the fan. To the one who hates money: stop using it. For all those who think the courts are the last refuge of justice: Go through the system once or twice yourself and see what justice you get.

"I've traveled the world and the seven seas, every-bodys looking for something..." (Eurithmics - Sweet Dreams)

[hedwigfan]

maybe some lithium and a wilderness vacation would help?...

[Anonymous]

I never thought this movement was a psychology movement. Is it?

[Anonymous]

Sure would, wish I could hold a steady job to be able to pay for it. I wish I could leave my house. I wish I could trust a psychiatrist to prescribe me lithium. and to sum it up... Fuck yourself because you know I'm right.

[hedwigfan]

Right about what?

[Tampa survivor]

Now now ...lets not start tossing f-offs around.  I much prefered the splintered ass comment, but shall compliment a well written reply.
As for when the shit hits, I can survive in many modes, and I fear none.  Miller Newton taught me that.
Oppression for rewards is anethemic to every shred of my being.  My family is comprised of entrepreneurs who spread wealth and give people jobs.  I am just another overworked and underpaid RN single parent of three trolls.  But I will have mine, because I believe in myself, and my future in biz or whatever certainly makes me a mint.  And I promise , no workers will be exploited.
Be nice to the proletariat, and the proletariat will be nice to you.
Bill