Peaceful Posting continues:
I begin with the Chip Tagged me tag, it seems to have started as a “three things I haven’t let go”, and morphed into “three things I can’t let go”. In the end it’s the same thing. If you haven’t let it go obviously you can’t. It was also changed to three aspects, one physical, one mental, and one emotional. I’ll continue with that trend.
1. Physical: There’s very little of a physical nature I can’t do without, but the following books have followed me around since I was three or four years old and will continue to do so. They are also my most frequently purchased gifts for children, and are inhabitants of one of my current bookshelves.
2. Mental: The idea that in the end people are basically good, care about other people, and will do what they can, even if caring about others and doing good has no direct benefit to them.
3. Emotional: That would be baggage right? I like to think I have no emotional baggage, but if I had it I probably wouldn’t empty it in my blog. That having been said I carry a piece of baggage around on a daily basis which may have emotional as well as mental components. Are they really separate? I have never been able to access the part of my brain which allows a very good friend to become more so — for fear of in the end losing a very good friend. Some risks are jut not worth taking.
Please do the tag and if you do let me know. I am always curious as to what others have to say to questions such as this.
A not so peaceful read for the day.
Is Pornography Really Harmful?
Alternet discusses Robert Jensen’s thoughts from his latest book, Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity, with clinical psychologists Michael Bader and Vivian Dent. Dent and Bader give their own take on pornography and why people watch it.
Jensen’s book, from which the following quote is taken,
Pornography is a mirror that shows us how men see women, and with mainstream porn becoming increasingly degrading and violent toward women, looking into that mirror can be unsettling., was reviewed by Alternet in September.
I love Where The Sidewalk Ends! I’ve given that (or The Giving Tree) to just about every kid I know.
As for your posting, I sure hope you’re right about this part:
“The idea that in the end people are basically good , care about other people, and will do what they can, even if caring about others and doing good has no direct benefit to them.“
I like to think that…but wow, people sure can make you doubt it sometimes!
I also just recenlty bought Robert Jensen’s book you mentioned.
It is still on my “to read” shelf.
And…I voted for you!
I was wondering how to post some things I’d been thinking, and I think this setup will do the trick nicely. As always, you’re so cutting edge you don’t even know it.
Losing a friend at the end of a relationship is crappy. Crappy, crappy. But having a great relationship with someone who you know in advance you respect, love talking to, and enjoy time with? Ridiculously good. It’s the nature of risk/reward, isn’t it? The more you risk, the more you stand to gain (or lose). So it’s little about right and wrong… and more about economic choices about the opportunity cost. Damn Adam Smith.
I also believe, in the end, that most people are good and go about things with the best of intentions. Most of us just want to get by and do the best we can. Its our common denominator, but it gets lost in labels of religion and group affiliation. : \
If nothing else, at least Saturday is one day closer than it was yesterday.
I got the page to load — it took about three minutes.
And I’d like to truly believe that people innately do the right thing — I just wish those who do stood out more than those who seem oblivious to everyone but themselves.
The porn thing isn’t something I want to delve into this afternoon (pumpkin bread and sugar cookies to make…) but I completely disagree with the idea that it’s a mirror that reflects how men see women. Imagine if women decided not to be a part of it all.
A very nice selection of books, cooper. The only one I haven’t read is Eric Carle’s, though I’ve read others by him.
Thanks for participating — you did manage to keep it positive. I only wish I could be as positive as you are in #2.
Been without a computer all week. Will
vote when I can get the page to load. It’s has been impossible the last five minutes.
Love each of those books, I still keep some of mine in my old room at my parent’s home. Yours look to be in better shape than mine, I used to chew on mine.
I like when you go off on this kind of tangent — you so rarely do.
Baggage we all have.Just have to know when to check it.
There is another video of this song — in Toronto circia 1969 with Clapton on the far right.…pretty cool.
The alternet article is long, I will read it but I already know where it’s going. I’ve been on your side of this since the beginning.
I’ve tried each of the past few days trying to get to that page so that I can cast a ballot. No luck thus far. Not sure what the problem is, maybe my cookie cache is too full again.
Anyone who has ever looked at my MBL page can get a sense of what I think about porn. It’s too damn pervasive to enjoy anymore, even in the closet. Enough of Britney’s crotch already.
I found a really good way to keep a good friend. I married her.
It was almost three years ago now that Nature magazine published the study that showed rhesus macaques would pay to see pictures of the faces of high-ranking conspecifics, and of the hindquarters of females. The monkey equivalent of celebrities and soft core. When I saw that, I reckoned we were doomed. Doomed! I wrote about that on my most ancient of blogs, if anyone should be interested.
http://bloggerparty.com/the_drive_east_part_5_nebraska_radio_and_monkey_por
My take is that, as far as mass media are concerned, it’s not just porn that’s getting more violent these days. But then, I reckon I don’t have to tell you about the phenomenon of desensitization. But I am reminded about how Oliver Cromwell reset the moral bar in the 1600s in England. By closing the theatres …
physical, mental and emotional – all the same thing – I’m having a hard time letting go of my apartment as I won’t be moving to another borough or county around here
I’m trying to write a sexual novel without actual explicit sex as I personally find explicit sex in most books boring – even the ones that seem explicit – DH Lawerence, Mary Gaitskill for example – leave much to the imagination, and only become truly explicit in film when it can be brilliant
I can’t speak for men not being one but I have loved DH Lawerence since I was a young teenager, before I knew what sex really was for the way he portrayed sex between men and women – of course he’s not “porn” though was banned
I don’t know how many times I have voted for you. As a Cooper early adopter I feel very proud of you
Vanessa: You are much missed. You are right, I am an idealist at heart and have not as yet been hardened to the core.
I’ve not read the book, but as I post on porn once in awhile and much disagreement occurs between others and myself to the affects of it, the article caught my eye and I just ordered the book.
dan: I’m glad it will work for you. I’ll be there to check it out.
kelly: We will disagree on the porn thing because sadly I think it does reflect such and the whole porn scenario is much more complicated than what it appears to be. I believe that people are so all encompassed in preventing others from stepping on what they perceive to be their rights that they fail to see the degradation of society which allows for the type pf pornography so easily available today.
Sterling:Thanks and your welcome. Well it is positive post week — what could I do.
G: thanks mr. g. I keep those with me, among others. It’s quite a burden really.;)
sk: thanks for trying. Well that is nice for you of course I’m only twenty two and tend to sing the song which goes something like
I never will marry
I’ll be no man’s wife
I expect to be single
for the rest of my life
oc: I believe it has been proclaimed :The Wilding of America” by Derber. I believe he has a valid point or two.
pia: I have not read enough DH Lawrence. If only all those idiots jacking off to women being thrown around and raped would read a little more of him and stop viewing vids online for their daily computer jerk off the world would be a better place.
The idea that in the end people are basically good , care about other people, and will do what they can, even if caring about others and doing good has no direct benefit to them.
That kind of echoes that famous Anne Frank quote, “Despite everything, I still believe people are good at heart.” Not to mention Rachel Joy Scott’s quote, “I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”
Miss Cooper up there with Anne and Rachel in terms of being a humanitarian? I can see it.
Sylvia Plath would be on my list
well Christmas is a good example for bringing out the goodt in people…if only it were Christmas every day.…..
given a choice…ideally I would choose 1 month alone then 1 month with my family.…who happen to be my best friends…and so on and so on.…
the voting page loaded just fine for me about half an hour ago.….
Kim
I’m planning on giving the first and only Courting awards sometime this winter
They will be very elite as only people who have actually finished reading at least ten of my posts will be eligible – and will be tailored to fit the winner exactly
This is America – I can tamper with the procedure
I’m trying to vote for you. When I click the vote button at the end of your post, it took me to a page with several radio buttons. I don’t see your name there. What do I do next?
Yes We Hope People Do the Right thing — most of it is just Plain Good Old Common Sense that we don’t need Government or Laws or Religious Laws telling us what to do.
They are the Issues that are current Lightning Rods — Abortion, Stem Cell Research, Euthanasia, Homosexuality, Sex Education, Condoms etc.
In this Enlightened Day + Age in Human History we should all be able to Decide + Make an Educated CHOICE on what is Right for us. Not what Pat Robertson or the Pope or the Mullah or George W. Bush in their Divine Wisdom god bless them all — But what YOU decide is the Right thing for YOU in YOUR particular situation.
I was lamenting to a friend this morning why i waste + we all waste Precious TIME debating this Crap when there are so many other Pressing Issues with
PEOPLE STARVING + NEEDING FOOD + CLEAN FRESH WATER + SHELTER + CLOTHING + MEDICINE is a
DISGRACE!!
Those are just the BASICS that we in the West — well North America take for Granted but ferget DARFUR + all of
AFRICA + countless MILLIONS Suffering in India + China + other 3rd World Countries — we have people right here
in our own Backyards of Canada + America that desperately NEED ALL OUR HELP!!!!!!!
Peace*
p.s. I love Jenna Jameson + Quality Nudie Mags + Vids like Playboy + Penthouse + Hustler + SWANK + Black Tail USA!!
so there! ;PPP
Mojo: Not quite up there I’m afraid.
laketrees: I have a a large contingent these are just the earliest ones I have. One month alone would be my choice as well.
PiaL America is a good place to tamper i hear. LOL, I will love your awards.
jesie: don’t worry about it it works but not always.
Billy: Mostly people do the right thing for themselves, for their own agenda.
I personally detest pornography.
Don’t worry about baggage, I think I have enough for 2 – 3 people.
I am undoubtedly sure we could have a very long discussion about the issue of porn.
It does degrade women — especially the most violent stuff.
Have I watched porn? Guilty. How much? 2 – 3 times a year. There are a wide array of types of it. Never liked the violent stuff — more of a 1-to-1, imagery and sexy appealing type.
For me it is a substitute — I haven’t been in the game of love for a decade. And that likely will not change. So I accept it.
For pornography to end its hold, people in America would have to become comfortable with their sexuality in all forms. We are not. Many nations across the world are not either.
It goes back in various ways to Puritical values. It goes back to Roman times. It goes to biblical teachings and interpretations. And also how we interpret LOVE.…love was not the initial foundation of our world…Survival and procreation came before the concept…Love is a learned concept, not a instinctual one.
I also think the pervasive growth (of porn) goes to the way men feel about themselves. (And you’ll disagree probably.) How many are being raised right — or with anyone caring about them? And granted, many women who participate in porn come from less-than-ideal backgrounds. Some though, “say” they like the money — especially when a top performer is making $300,000 or more a year…
Since so much else is wrong about the world, we have to ask this, are those problems rooted in such an issue OR can the solution or reduction of suffering be address without it? In Africa, the violence against women is wide spread. Stuff that is unimaginable.…and beyond the pale. And it goes on plenty of other places…
No every society or culture grows into valuing people (women) at an equal rate. 1918, women still didn’t vote. In Louisana, women couldn’t hold property. And we marginalize so many people for reasons that didn’t make sense.
When we pressure other countries (and can’t solve our own messes), it sounds hypocritical.
So, what do you plan to do about it???
I went to a party last night where a table was lucite with your sidebar design in the middle
Very excited. Pointed it out of course
[…] Cooper answered my three things meme tag with books, ideals, and a little fear — with peace and pornography on the side. […]