Our society relies on individual good judgment. Individuals can observe what goes on around them, read news and history, discuss things with their friends, and individuals are free to be entertained by professionals and also listen to “experts” who swoop in with a book or TV appearance and then disappear and occasionally reappear in places Parade magazine, Inside Edition or the Oprah show to tell us what they’re really like.
We have much freedom to live our lives as we please. That is a wonderful freedom.
But when someone uses their freedom to make decisions that cause them suffering, I want them to suffer and not be bailed out by my dollars. This is not cruel if you believe that suffering is an essential way people learn. And fear is an inportant mechanism for self control and serious analysis.
The Media often portreys bad things as good things, but to most of us it is just entertainment, and we live decent lives, and who’s to tell us or the Media what to do?
To summarize, I’d rather us keep our freedoms and pay for our bad decisions and become wiser in the process than have government protect support us and bail us out of our bad decisions.
Um. Who said anything about Government?
“The Media often portreys bad things as good things, but to most of us it is just entertainment, and we live decent lives, and who’s to tell us or the Media what to do?”
I don’t agree with your premise. If advertising didn’t work, it wouldn’t exist. In other words, it may seem like it’s just entertainment, but you’re influenced by what you see in the movies or on TV whether you’re aware of it or not. To give an example, movies used to not portray direct sexuality. The mother and father’s room had to have two beds and the parents (or couple) would not be shown doing anything more than kissing. We’ve gradually gotten used to seeing more and more sex on the screen. That makes us less sensitive when it comes to what children are exposed to.
To take another example, I loved “Mad Magazine” when I was in the 6th grade. I recently looked through a contemporary “Mad Magazine” and was surprised by the skimpy clothes in the cartoons (something else we’ve gotten used to). It’s basically cruder than what I remember from decades ago.