Re: Love-Hounds Digest #7.361

[genel@pyrtech.pyramid.com (Gene Lege')]

In article <9111131637.AA17575@echelon> you write:
>
>? censorship?  I think you'll find the only definition is along the
>? lines of "censorship is the prevention of free speech by the use of
>? physical force".  A definition any more broad than this will give you
>? troubles.  So if the government passes a law that selling labelled
>? albums is illegal, that is censorship, because disobeying will get
...
>
>But psychological pressure is different - when someone says "If you really
>loved me you'd sleep with me" or "It's only because you're frigid that 
>you won't sleep with me" or "Only immoral people would want to listen to
>that music" the attacker crawls under the skin - causing you to doubt 
>yourself.  It takes a much stronger defense to battle these sorts of
>attacks effectively, and because the constraints of physical force are
>removed, the attacker can sustain himself/herself for much longer periods
>of time.
...
>					larry...

I don't disagree that psychological pressure is a different matter.  It most
certainly is.

However, you overlook one crucial distinction - I control my psyche through
the choices *I* make.  I have never bought the argument that words/thoughts/
ideas/psychological manipulation are in the same class as physical restraint.

Yes, sociological forces are strong and compelling, and yes there have been
changes in our social milieu that must be acknowledged and dealt with
from a broad-minded and open perspective if we hope to grow and adapt
in this brave-new-world of mass communication and develop the potentials
that are the flip-side of the "cow-mentaility" that leads to the psycho-
logical manipulations to which you refer.  This short-sighted identification
of these issues with the physical restraint of individual choice is, however,
IMHO, *much* more dangerous than the pitiful lack of awareness and maturity
that leads to acceptance of said manipulation and the mindless-mooing to
the pied-piper tune of our pseudo-intellectuals and compound(:-) idiots
that advocate these so-called progressive concepts.

With all due respect, how old are you anyway?

gl

PS.  I guess I'm just in a (compoundedly:-) frustrated mood...
-- 
Gene Lege' Jr. - Regional Support Engineer / Software  pyramid!pyrtech!genel
Pyramid Technology Corporation - Customer Support, Houston TX (713) 682-2711