Abby is the Litmus Test

[Talisker]

I've found the slander and contempt expressed on Free Republic towards Abby Sunderland and her parents quite interesting. Of course, we're all supposed to believe that every post on FR is independently made, but these hate posts have been too interlocked in similiarly bizarre content for me to believe that.

Basically the hateful screeds boil down to Abby being a child instead of a young woman, unable to understand the danger of her trip, put at risk by fame seeking parents, to do something with no socially approved redeeming value, which ended in abject failure due to Abby's incompetence, and for which CPS should be called in to have Abby pulled from the family for re-education, while the parents are jailed, fined, and billed for the rescue efforts.

In short, an absolutely damning, completely collectivist viewpoint with zero acknowledgement of independent rights, which is based solely on collectivist evaluation, collectivist judgment, and collectivist punishment - fronted as family values and child protection.

Oh yeah, and also a complete and utter lie.

For there were many expert sailors as advisors behind this trip, all of whom signed off on both Abby's abilities, her equipment and her trip plan. And there was never any hint of her family not being willing to pay for any part of the rescue efforts. Entire ships have been destroyed through rogue waves, but there's no acknowledgement of that universal danger. And Abby performed beautifully as a sailor and as an adult, through storms, equipment failures, and difficulties across thousands of miles of sailing, and a crisis situation which would have had all of these naysayers pissing their pants.

But pants pissing is the point here - the very big point. Because Abby threatens the millions of families who base their concept of child rearing on the idea that childhood, literally, never ends. That children must be driven everywhere and monitored constantly, even as teenagers. That they need psych meds for growing pains. That responsibility is an injustice towards them, because they can't be allowed to develop any personal power that is not first approved by the mommy educational collective.

So pants pissing has become noble. It has become the sign of respect towards the community, of good parenting, and of normal childhood - the childhood that never ends. In fact, pants-pissing has become the litmus test of social approval itself, because it enables the protection of neurotic helicopter parents who see bogeymen under every bush so that they can justify an obsession about their children's safety that allows THEM to never grow up.

And guess which political party they ALL belong to, and HOPE to never CHANGE from?

So to them, now - now - "we" have this tiny little thumb-sucking girl child, only 16 years old and so barely out of diapers, being thrown into the ocean by greedy parents, straight into a hurricane to drown for their greed, with absolutely no approval from any group of safety parent educators or state approved parental control boards!

Do you realize what this could do to the carefully created psychological voting blocks of the pants pissers? Especially when that so-called "mom" from Alaska with the big family that hunts and fishes and camps and snow machines is running around actually threatening to run for high office?

Do you see the connection here? If Abby is praised and acknowledged for her courage and maturity, and for living life instead of just conforming to it, and especially - especially - for her individuality, her acceptance of personal risk and responsibility without the approval of the collective, people might start to remember what it means to be an American again! They might start to remember freedom, and risk for the sake of living life to the fullest, and learning through doing, and the value of learning courage in the face of difficulty, and they might start to discover their self-respect again, and build character.

And how would that effect the pants-pissing moms who scuttle through life at the end of the snapping fingers of feminist, communist, education-collective politicians? How would that effect their views of the locked-down, cop-patrolled, drug-infected, psych-medicated, fenced prison hellholes of morale-crushing subservience called public schools? How would that effect the ability of these politicians to convince these collectively-approved, latte-sucking "moms" to continue to destroy their children - by never letting them grow up - in the name of "safety"?

And above all, how would that effect the votes?

No, no, no, no, no. Call out the shills, invade the Net, and even get on Free Republic and in the name of God, parenting, sin, ego, vanity, stupidity and every other communist-studied conservative trigger-word, invoke cowardice in the name of responsibility, rip away adulthood with the insult of enforced childhood, hammer on cost without mentioning no resistance to payment, and above all sneer at parenting that is based of building courage and trust and adventure as an absolutely unforgivable violation of the sacred order of socially approved pants-pissing.

And demand wet pants! Wet pants for social justice! Wet pants for lack of guilt! And especially, wet pants for votes!

After all, it's for the children.

P.S. Congratulations to Abby and her family - you all did great. Abby sailed with competence, courage and joy, and inspired millions of people. If America is to have a future in freedom, she and people like her are the ones who will make it happen. But above all, she and her family made selfish cowards and conniving hypocrites everywhere publicly wet themselves, and for that America is truly grateful.

[hedgetrimmer]

An absolutely terrific post.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

Wha? You mean piloting an account on FR and critiquing doers is not living life to its fullest?!?!?!?

Post. of. the. day.

My vote is for this one:

Her parents thought that putting her on a boat 1000 miles from the nearest male was likely to be more effective than a chastity belt.

(eclecticEel, that sure brought a smile to my face...).

[NYCslicker]

“In short, an absolutely damning, completely collectivist viewpoint with zero acknowledgement of independent rights, which is based solely on collectivist evaluation, collectivist judgment, and collectivist punishment - fronted as family values and child protection.”

You are right. Collectivism is the root of the evil.

Good post.

[Esther Ruth]

Excellent, perfect, agree completely!
It is so gross to hear all this whinning from all these screwed up, disfunctional adults who are afraid to actually live life - cuz gosh darn it - it is sure scary out there.

Congrat dittos to Abby - wish I was with her on that boat!

[gunsequalfreedom]

And the original posters screed ignored how much parental ego might be involved here...

I hope there is a ton of parental ego involved. Do you hear what you are saying?! Have you seen the problems in our society from parents that are uninvolved, pay no attention to their children.

The kids I have seen grow up to be bright, productive adults have had parents with huge egos and put this kind of energy and attention into their kids lives.

I can't believe these are comments on FR that I am reading. Your post is shocking. Have we become totally twisted into liberal group think.

There is a book you might enjoy.

[snowtigger]

People tend to underestimate what children can do. This sixteen-year-old, nearly grown woman, set out on tyhe adventure of a lifetime, after much preperation.

The fact that she ran into conditions she could not control, in no way diminishes her accomplishments. Congratulations Abby!!

In my state, Alaska, we have a mountain. Some people have to climb it. Some are more experienced than others. But every year someone gets in trouble and needs to be rescued.Sometimes it is poor preperation, sometimes it is circumstances beyond anyone's control.

Always, there are those who risk everything to go get them. I don't think monetary cost enters into the picture, at least during the rescue operation, maybe later, but when someone needs help, you just help them.

If you want to see what kids can do, look up a book by a man named Sidney Huntington, called "Shadows Along The Koyukuk". He tells the personal story of three children, ages 5,4, and 20 months. Their mother dies while their father is away, leaving them alone in the wilds of Alaska in the late 1920's.

You will have to read the book to see how capable kids are.

[Lurker]

Personally I don't want to live in a Nation where risk takers like this aren't held up for admiration.

[Screaming_Gerbil]

Oops... I ment to thank null and void for the quote...

Her parents thought that putting her on a boat 1000 miles from the nearest male was likely to be more effective than a chastity belt.

[milwguy]

The guy who designed and built her yacht said it was too big and too fast for Abby to handle alone at her level of experience. The ‘experts’ said sailing solo through the southern Indian Ocean during the SH winter was foolhardy.

I have no problem with her trip, but it appears the effort to sail when she did was motivated MORE on the fact if she completed it unassisted then she would have taken the record away from the Aussie girl who did it a couple months earlier.

If the parents were interested in helping her make the journey safely, they would have waited six months or so when the perilous SH part of her trip was much safer. The rush to sail was to set a record, not go solo around the world, and that opens the entire family up to questioning.

[spectre]

Congratulations to Abby and her family - you all did great.

Congratulations? What for?

She had to be rescued, FGS.

[Balding_Eagle]

it appears the effort to sail when she did was motivated MORE on the fact if she completed it unassisted then she would have taken the record away from the Aussie girl who did it a couple months earlier.

I know, tics me off too!

EVERYONE is a winner, and this little girl is just messing with that FACT!

[Blennos]

The guy who designed and built her yacht said it was too big and too fast for Abby to handle alone at her level of experience. The ‘experts’ said sailing solo through the southern Indian Ocean during the SH winter was foolhardy.

She handled it pretty well for 12,000 miles or so. If that monster storm hadn't come along when it did, I think she would have made it. And she wasn't trying to sail through the SH winter. She was delayed both in Cabo San Lucas and in Capetown, waiting for necessary repairs. That put her behind her original schedule. Should she have given up when she reached Capetown? I might have, and many here surely would have, but this kid has got gumption.

[wastedpotential]

I would not let my 16 year old do this, but if other parents want to, that is up to them. However, viewing this story as a litmus test is very childish in itself. Why do people care so much about the lives of those they don’t know?

Don’t get me wrong, I am glad whenever I hear that someone in peril is rescued, but please, leaving life as a voyeur of others is a poor existence.

[Paved Paradise]

Where is the generalization?

Meanwhile, because kids do not have the best judgment abilities, that’s why God gives them, (we hope) two loving parents who will help them make intelligent decisions.

[Old North State]

Good point about the ‘sponsorships’ too. Again, no problem with taking risks, but if the risk taking is part of a commercial enterprise then those who expect the benefit should pay the costs of the enterprise, for better or for worse. If you sponsor for the advertising advantage, then you pay the costs of the voyage, you don't expect somebody else to pay to clean up the mess if something goes wrong.

[FReepaholic]

...So pants pissing has become noble...And guess which political party they ALL belong to...

I've been on Free Republic since 1998 and I can tell you that there are plenty of pants pissers on the Right.

There is no political boundary for namby-pamby, arm-chair quarterbacking, scared silly ourselves so we don't want anybody else to do anything great in order to justify our puny lives, type people.

[raybbr]

Where is the generalization?

Are you kidding? You made a declarative statement that ALL brains develop/not develop at the same time.

[texmexis best]

I agree with the overall sentiments of the opus.

America was settled by 14, 15 and 16 year olds because they were adults.

Now our 16 year olds pine for Guitar Hero III and a subscription to World of Warcraft. Which we provide to them as they can can’t get booboos while playing the games.

The level of infitilism in our society is stunning. Some of you that have posted on these threads are of the opinion that childhood lasts until the age of 26. You’re wrong.

Abby Sunderland is an adult and an incredibly skilled sailor. Your problem is that you haven’t seen an adult 16 year old in your life. Your great grandparents were more like her than they were like you.

This could be a real wake up call for you and your family. Start treating your 16 year olds like adults and watch them change before your eyes.

[moehoward]

Don’t forget those that feel anyone who helps out of their own good will should be demanding compensation.

[A.A. Cunningham]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/879568/posts