Posted on 11/08/2003 9:14:33 AM PST by Akira
Moscovites caught kissing in public places could be fined if city authorities pass a new law currently under consideration, according to a Russian newspaper. The kissing ban could even extend to lawfully wedded spouses, Stolichnaya Vechernyaya Gazeta reported.
Quoting unnamed sources, it said the plan was aimed at raising levels of public morality in the Russian capital.
The newspaper added that "particularly blatant cases could even lead to a spell of temporary detention in jail".
It said that if approved the new regulations would be introduced earlier next year.
The newspaper quoted a city education official, Tatyana Maskimova, as saying that travellers in the Moscow underground were in particular indulging in lax behaviour.
"Our children are getting love lessons all day long from what they see around them," Ms Maksimova said.
Human rights campaigner and a leading member of Russia's Democratic Union party, Valeriya Novodvorskaya said she would defy the ban if the new bill is introduced.
"Introducing a ban on kissing is really taking things to the Orwellian level of an anti-sexual league and capital punishment for the offence," Ms Novodvorskaya told Echo Moskvy radio station.
"However, if this is not a joke and the mayor's office is indeed drafting such a resolution, I will from now on spend my days kissing in public places - simply out of principle.
"The moment I see a nice person I know, I will immediately kiss them - even if I don't feel like it. I invite all other Moscovites to do the same," Ms Novodvorskaya added.
I dunno. Maybe Orwellian. But Huxleylike totalitarianism seemed to endorse lascivious behavior. I think this is technicaly more "Puritanical" than "Orwellian."
Oh no, not public morality, only immorality will do.
Or this?
Brave New World indeed!
Then only 1920 movies will be shown when kissing was implied but not displayed in love scenes:
Another aspect of "Orwellian" control is that the control is arbitrary. One day the nation is aligned with "Oceania" and the next day opposed. The people were expected to adapt to the changed allegiances and controls without question. The state which can prohibit kissing in public can also mandate it. That which is not prohibited becomes required.
I believe it is in Missouri that the state constitution enumerates the right to keep and bear arms but which contains a clause that such right "shall not justify the carrying of concealed weapons". A judge has ruled that this clause prohibits carrying of concealed weapons. The "thinking" (if it can be called that) is that whatever is not a protected right must therefor be prohibited even with legislative approval.
The aim of the Party was not merely to prevent men and women from forming loyalties which it might not be able to control. Its real, undeclared purpose was to remove all pleasure from the sexual act. Not love so much as eroticism was the enemy, inside marriage as well as outside it. All marriages between Party members had to be approved by a committee appointed for the purpose, and -- though the principle was never clearly stated -- permission was always refused if the couple concerned gave the impression of being physically attracted to one another. The only recognized purpose of marriage was to beget children for the service of the Party.Sexual intercourse was to be looked on as a slightly disgusting minor operation, like having an enema. This again was never put into plain words, but in an indirect way it was rubbed into every Party member from childhood onwards. There were even organizations such as the Junior Anti-Sex League, which advocated complete celibacy for both sexes. All children were to be begotten by artificial insemination (artsem, it was called in Newspeak) and brought up in public institutions. This, Winston was aware, was not meant altogether seriously, but somehow it fitted in with the general ideology of the Party. The Party was trying to kill the sex instinct, or, if it could not be killed, then to distort it and dirty it. He did not know why this was so, but it seemed natural that it should be so. And as far as the women were concerned, the Party's efforts were largely successful.
What about if they're kissed in their private places?
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