"Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny." -- unknown

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results - Albert Einstein

early morning musings.. thanks fark!
April 21, 2006 - 6:47 am

what it's about: the US attorney general is issuing a "wake-up call" regarding the internet and kiddie porn.

on the surface, who can't applaude this? well, other than pedophiles.

but with a little reflection, it seems to me.. this is trying to cure a problem by addressing a sympton -- not the real problem.

the real problem, at least the real question that should be being addressed is: why do so many people find sexual gratification in such images?

laws won't stop kiddie porn.. it's been illegal in the US for a hell of a long time and still it exists. just like laws don't stop drug use. sure laws punish those who break them, but people never think they are going to get caught.. and once your "hooked" on something, you'll rationalize away any chance of facing the punishments.

from what i understand, kiddie porn is rather like a fetish. it's a mental thing. a mental disease i guess you could call it. it's an addiction. you can "fix" an addicition with laws. you can make it harder to get what's needed - and i applaude that.. but only to a degree.

everyone, generally speaking, can agree kiddie porn is bad... but what comes next? are we started down a slippery slope of laws regarding online content? you can sure as hell bet there's TONS of folks chomping at the bit to impose a hell of a lot more laws regarind what's fit to be viewed.

to get back on track..

is pedophila becoming more common? shouldn't the money and research be going into finding out if this is so.. and why? not to mention if it is an addiction, how does one "cure" it?

if pedophila isn't becoming more common.. and, if memory serves, back in the day, the greeks did love young boys.. perhaps pedophila is a nature part of human nature -- if you're religious, that means it's just the way god made some people.. and that should give you pause. if it is a part of human nature, then i suppose punishments are the best that can be done.. for you can't fix that.. just like you can't fix greed -- not without a wholesale shift in our nature.

when i say it's a mental addiction.. i mean that. i'm not trying to defend anything.. just trying to call a spade a spade. people that develop a fetish simply "need" it. a compulsion. regardless of if they know it's right or wrong.

making new laws.. i don't know, seems like an easy window dressing approach to fix a problem. i can definitly see this as groundwork for other things being deemed unsuitable for the internet.

at times.. for loving to say we live in the land of free.. we spend so very much time looking for angles to impose our will on each other. find something like kiddie porn.. draft broad semi-vauge laws to outlaw it.. reassure people the spirit of the law is just to stop the spread of vile kiddie porn.. wait a few years... and expand that spirit a bit... wait and expand...

i'm rambling a bit now.. getting off topic as it were.