Good article Chris, Once again, the identities of the real terrorists are lost to a willingly mislead American public. This rather compliments Ray's "Interesting Article" today on 1,170,000 Bush lies, etc.
One shudders to think how these kids are going to turn out. Natalia ----- Original Message ----- From: Christoph Reuss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, January 10, 2004 8:04 AM Subject: [Futurework] Fwd: Land of the Fear > [maybe they should try a bit of magnesium...] > > > Fear is driving parents in the United States to strange behaviour > > By Olga Lorenzo, The Age > http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/05/1073267964070.html > > > America, these holidays, has been on a high > terror alert. This means that every time you turn > on the news, a banner informs you that the terror > risk is high. It's like a high fire danger or a > high pollen day, but the word used is "terror". > > People generally acknowledge that there isn't > much they can do about the "terror threat" and > little prospect that their lives will be touched > by terror. They tune out the dire warnings. But > one wonders how such emotive words impact on > children who, because of their inexperience, are > more apt to conclude that the world is a > terrifying place. > > Visiting the United States after having been > educated there and leaving two decades ago, some > of the more visible cultural changes struck me as > bizarre. > > Our neighbourhood, Hialeah, was a middle to > lower-class Anglo suburb of Miami; we were some > of its first Cubans. It looks no more or less > affluent, only now it's almost entirely Hispanic. > Like everyone else, we rode our bicycles or > walked alongside the drainage canals to school. > Visiting a fairly seedy part of Montmartre before > arriving in the States, the streets were thronged > at eight, as one would expect, with children on > their way to school. Not so in Miami. On a > morning jog to my former primary school, I met > not a soul. Only when I nearly reached it did I > see children who lived within a block of the > school walked by parents to its gates. > > Like other public schools in Florida, the windows > of Twin Lakes Elementary are now boarded with > aluminium cladding that allows no light, and the > school is surrounded by high walls. > > Inside, where we had played hopscotch and swung > from the monkey bars, now children are led to sit > on the asphalt. Even those in the upper grades > are led by the hand, and many of these children > are obese. We had the school "fatty"; now the > healthy-looking child is the exception. Many who > aren't overweight are pale and overly thin - the > nerdy, nervous children who whittle away their > hours in front of TVs, computers and electronic > games. > > Going by "terror alerts" emitted by the > Government and seized by the media, it would seem > that terrorists have succeeded in frightening a > nation. > > Children don't play outside after school as they > once did; while we were there, the sounds on our > block came from my Australian teenagers. "Why > must they be outside?" my mother lamented. "Why > not?" I asked. She admitted there was no real > reason to keep them in. > > Yet children are kept in. My brother told me of a > girl who was not even allowed to be alone in her > fenced backyard. The fear of kidnapping and > sexual molestation had overwhelmed her parents' > common sense. > > I walked from my school feeling angry, sad and > relieved. Relieved that despite my parents' > objections and sorrow I had raised my children in > Australia. Sad for those robbed of their freedom > and, ultimately, their childhood. And angry > because it seems unnecessary - the crime rate has > not increased significantly, nor have child > abductions. Why then are American children being > raised as if they were Muslim women under the > Taliban - given so little unsupervised freedom, > denied the chance to move about unescorted, to > discover that life is not overwhelmingly > precarious, that it can be navigated and even > trusted? > > Another day, I jogged to my former junior high > school. When I was a student, it was the third > most overcrowded middle school in the nation. Our > hours were curtailed to allow for two shifts, > seven to noon and noon to five. Some classes were > in the auditorium, with more than 200 students. > It is no longer a two-session school but, from > the outside, shuttered and enclosed, it could be > a maximum-security prison. Every student has to > show identification to the guard at the entrance. > > It is similar in other places I've visited in the > United States. Fewer children walk to school, > where there may be a private contract with the > county sheriff's office for security. A friend > remarked that it was almost always the sad result > of an adverse incident: an intruder in a nearby > school, for instance, or the Columbine shootings. > Parents demand heightened security and schools, > worried about lawsuits, respond. > > Long before September 11, 2001, it seems many > children were being raised in an atmosphere of > distrust. Although racial tension, drugs and guns > disproportionately afflict depressed ghetto > areas, even in middle-class neighbourhoods life > has changed, with emphasis on the potential > threats that children face every day. > > Another side of the obsession with social > standards seems to be the phenomenon of > proclaiming your child's achievements. People > actually drive around with car stickers that > read: "I am the proud parent of an honour student > at...". There are placards outside homes, small > billboards on the lawn with the student's > photograph and achievements. I am told that this > trend began about 10 years ago, perhaps arising > in the ghettos where any scrap of pride is > elusive. It has spread to middle suburbia. I > think that an Australian child would axe their > parents, thus adding to the crime rate, rather > than allow such an embarrassment. > > The mainland has survived two world wars and > other foreign engagements without anything more > than a spent Japanese torpedo drifting onto a > California beach. Militarily, this is the > best-armed nation on Earth. Given the odds of > harm to any one citizen (which are infinitely > less than the likelihood of dying from a car > accident), Americans should be mostly undaunted > by al-Qaeda. > > Yet, going by "terror alerts" emitted by the > Government and seized by the media, it would seem > that terrorists have succeeded in frightening a > nation. They may be aided by several decades of > over-reaction to the social malaise that is > endemic to the poorer and disenfranchised parts > of America. It seems that at least one generation > has already grown up in the grip of largely > irrational fears. A loss of equanimity and that > much-vaunted value - freedom - seems to have been > the cost. > > Olga Lorenzo is an Australian novelist. > > Copyright � 2004. The Age Company Ltd > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword > "igve". > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
