Doug Henwood writes: >> > His viewpoint is not nonsensical. You can see his version of "freedom" in >> > action in >> any kindergarten class. Which is consistent with a common critique of >> certain types of >> leftists, that they simply do not want to grow up. >> >> You say that as if "growing up," whatever that means exactly, is an unmixed >> blessing.
I think there is something fundamentally unhealthy when individuals attempt to hold on to their youth for as long as possible, or idealize their childhood. I think it is much healthier to accept who you are and the stage of life you are at. I also think of childhood as potentiality and preparatory to adulthood, and society needs adults to function. Lord of the Flies and all of that. And by adults, I means adult in the sense of taking responsibility, which is the antithesis of "freedom" as described by Carroll. On a related note, one of my fundamental philosophies of life is that each person is a certain psychological age, which they physically age to and then mentally stop. Their physical bodies continue to age but mentally they stay the same. I knew I was 35 years old when I was 10. I could not wait to see what life was going to be like when I turned 35 in the year 2000, which meant I didn't truly enjoy being a child, in the sense I viewed childhood as something I had to get through to becoming an adult. Ten years past, and I am still fundamentally the same person I was when I was 35. Many people I know are much younger. My father, who is 90, is basically a 13 year old boy. My mother never made it past age 10. David Shemano _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
