Posted by caraher on November 3, 2005, at 10:27:57
In reply to Re: please be civil » Maynerd, posted by Dr. Bob on November 3, 2005, at 9:22:16
> > People so afraid of being involved they stare at the ground
> > Headphones in their ears to avoid hearing a sound
> > Self-centered leaders so obsessed with power and wealth
> > They happily destroy both our happiness and health
>
> Please don't post anything that could lead others to feel accused or put down.I am utterly baffled by this PBC. First, it accuses nobody in particular. Any literate reader knows that this is not a diatribe against people wearing headphones, and the unnamed self-centered leaders can take on a wide variety of identities ranging from Saddam Hussein to heads of any number of countries. The deliberate ambiguity in this poem allows readers to populate that phrase with personalities that come from their own experience and opinions - that's part of the beauty of the poetic form! Simply observing that there exist self-centered leaders is no more an accusation or put down than patently acceptable, more specific remarks on other boards concerning unethical therapists, abusive parents or spouses and the motives of drug companies and government agencies.
Taken as a whole, the poem's message to get involved in a positive way in peaceful action against violence is exactly the sort of thing most peoiple here arguably need to read. The fear and apathy decried at the beginning is closely related to the "learned helplessness" that exacerbates the troubles of so many people with depression and other illnesses. The exhortation is not to give up in despair and hopelessness, but to dream of a brighter future and act on that dream. That a post with such a therapeutic, hopeful conclusion could be tagged by a PBC warning leads me to question whether any substantive posts could ever appear on the Politics board without a PBC if whatever standards led to this warning were applied with absolute consistency.
poster:caraher
thread:574918
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20051013/msgs/574918.html