The Wussification of America?

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dodge1

Thinking about some of the other articles linked in the comments section as it relates to the topic in this earlier post about how children are being conditioned by our schools to view guns, I came across the following video that resonates with the ring of truth:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/GWRdHXbTmrs[/youtube]

Randomly stumbled upon this article that mentions:

3) Dodgeball — The Wyndham School District in New Hampshire banned dodgeball and other “human target” games to prevent bullying, the Eagle-Tribune reported.

Even before Sandy Hook, allowance of dodgeball, I believe, has been on the wane due to being “too violent”.

Are the adults making these decisions really part of my same generation:

“When I saw the names of some of these (dodgeball) games, unfortunately guys, we live in a world where 20 babies were slaughtered, Windham School Board member Stephanie Wimmer said. “We need to take the violence out of our schools and not teach it.”

The board voted 4-1 to ban “human target games” for kindergarten through 12th grade at all schools. It cited a National Association for Sport and Physical Education study that called dodgeball inappropriate because “weaker” children are targeted more often and “being hit by a hard-thrown ball does not help kids develop confidence.”

Maybe they were often on the receiving end of getting hit by the ball and bullying? And what of the issue of bullying? I agree bullies are bad; but we hear so much about that, today, like there’s an epidemic; or some recent phenomenon previous generations never dealt with.

I loved playing army dodge ball as a kid! Throwing the ball as hard as I could at other kids and getting hit in return! A lot of fun!

I’m also reminded of a couple of articles from my early days of blogging:

Yep, life’ll burst that self-esteem bubble

Enough already with kid gloves

CHEAP ‘SHOT’ HITS KID HARD

Of course our generation wasn’t like our great grandpa’s generation that trudged 10 miles through the snow….uphill in both directions…to school every day. 😉

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As this “wussification’ continues perhaps the murder rate also will continue to go down. It is now at it’s lowest total number since 1968 when our population was 1/3 lower. Gun ownership among American households also is dropping probably as a direct result of their now being less hunters and smaller rural population. The number who are buying for home defense or because of TYRANNY is less than the number lost to fewer hunters.
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

The board voted 4-1 to ban “human target games” for kindergarten through 12th grade at all schools. It cited a National Association for Sport and Physical Education study that called dodgeball inappropriate because “weaker” children are targeted more often and “being hit by a hard-thrown ball does not help kids develop confidence.”

Just think about that statement and whether it can actually be true. First, one of the objectives of Dodgeball was to hit someone as directly as you could so that they knew they had been hit. But, is it possible that “weaker” children were ‘targeted more often’? No, why? Because the game starts with all the kids in the middle, once someone is hit (and only one time) that person sits out until the next game. The result? Each kid gets hit one time per game. The interesting thing is that the better you are at ducking (avoiding being hit) the longer you play and the better you get and the more exercise you get. So, the better you got at avoiding being hit, the better shape you were in. The harder they threw the ball, the more you wanted to avoid it so you got better at avoiding it. And they said, “being hit by a hard-thrown ball does not help kids develop confidence.” Maybe not, BUT! avoiding being hit by a hard-thrown ball DOES help kids develop confidence. Remember, there are TWO objectives to the game, not one. First, if you are the thrower, you want to hit everyone. Second, if you are the target, you want to ‘DODGE’ ball. Get a game organized today, if you can get the kids away from a video game for a few minutes.

I’m now taking seriously, what I once thought was a whackjob tinfoil hat theory.

This has nothing to do with Zero Tolerance idiocy, nor with hysteria after the Sandy Hook shootings. It is not idiocy. It is deliberate. It is a tactic. Idiocy is just the smoke screen. This is a program to condition, to terrorize, to brainwash our children into fearing and hating guns, patriotism, and Americanism. Hating everything good about America. If the Liberal scum can ruin our children, they have won.

Counterattack. Buy your child a gun, as young as he or she can operate one, and take them to the range. Let them talk it up with their friends. Spread the Good News. Spread the Good News in school.

And teach your children to trust nothing about the education system. Take the education they give you, but only believe the “hard” stuff like mathematics and physics. Parrot the rest back, but never believe it. Be subtle as snakes. Know that the teacher is a cop who wants to destroy you.

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@john:

Interesting, particularly as literally tens of millions of firearms have been sold to Americans since the Treasonous Criminal Zerobama and the Democratic Enemy have stepped up their campaign to extinguish our human rights. They’re not being bought in large numbers by a small number of people. They are being bought singly bu millions of Americans.

@john:

It is now at it’s lowest total number since 1968 when our population was 1/3 lower.

Whew!!! That’s good to know, Greggie. More people owning fewer guns surely means less crime. After all, remember when there were gun racks in the back of pickup trucks holding rifles and shotguns and high schools had rifle clubs? Thank God those days are over and now we have fewer school shootings and less drive by killings in cities like Chicago, LA and New York. What a relief to know that if we can just manage to create a culture where our children grow up basically afraid of nothing more than a tool, like a hammer, or an ax or a sword, we will have less criminal murders.

And then, we must worry about how poor little Janie and Johnny feels about themselves. They must have “confidence”, who cares if they can do more than third grade math? What a blessing to this nation to have a whole new generation of confident illiterates.

John, you are insane!
There are only about 14-16 million licensed hunters in the USA in any given year…..for decades now.
Gun buying goes up every year:
http://www.ammoland.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/nics-background-check-2009.jpg
BUT there have been over 14 million NEW guns sold in the USA almost every year Obama has been president!

As of November, the FBI recorded 16,808,538 instant background checks for gun purchases for 2012.
Even without counting December, which has historically been the busiest month, this beats last year’s record by more than 350,000.

Trust me, there are plenty of us who hunt using bow instead of gun.
It is not just a financial consideration.
It is a terrific challenge.
Yet, even though I hunt as an archer, I own guns for home protection and to carry in the wild for emergencies.
(My dad had to shoot at/not kill a bear that came after me while I was carrying a days’ worth of fish back to our place years ago. I have not forgotten.)

When we have reduced our children and young adults to whimpering sissies, they will be ready to meet the Radical Jihadist with play day games, with lots of hugs and kisses.

The Wussification of America?

I think the title might hint at part of America’s problem: Guns are often seen in our culture as symbols of masculinity, and are often acquired to compensate for feelings of gender inadequacy. They’re perceived as power objects, and in some cases are acquired to make the insecure male feel “more like a man.”

Those who fall into this category are precisely the people who shouldn’t have guns. Their desire for firepower is driven by a deep-seated sense of powerlessness to begin with. None of the ways that a gun can ultimately solve that sort of psychological problem are good ones.

@retire05:

who cares if they can do more than third grade math? What a blessing to this nation to have a whole new generation of confident illiterates

That vote more and more for the Dimocrats. I still can’t figure out why kids riding bicycles need a dumb looking helmet. I never wore a helmet when I rode a bicycle and never even thought of wearing one. Like the video says, how in the hell did I manage to grow up. I was a child in the 40’s and 50’s and apparently I didn’t stand a chance of making it to adulthood. But I did and I own guns, can you imagine how much jeopardy that put me in? Almost all the children that I heard of being killed was by automobile accident or drowning and I don’t hear of any groups advocating doing away with autos or swimming pools.

@Redteam:

Almost all the children that I heard of being killed was by automobile accident or drowning and I don’t hear of any groups advocating doing away with autos or swimming pools.

You get it. Banning guns has nothing to do with protecting children. If it did, we would not be dealing with this:

http://www.examiner.com/immigration-reform-in-national/dave-gibson

Take a look at the pages and how many children have been harmed. Do you hear the left demanding that child abuse be ended by stopping the cause?

@Greg: In addition, people have other ways to deal with inadequacies. Government is seen by some in our culture as a symbol of power and control and is often used to compensate for gender inadequacies. It is perceived as a power and control mechanism and in some cases used to make the insecure male feel more like a man because of the perceived power and control it can give him over others. These are precisely the types of people we should be on guard against because they don’t respect the rights of those with opposing views and want complete dominance. Their desire for power and control over others is driven by their deep seated sense of powerlessness to begin with. None of the ways that government can solve that sort of psychological problem are good ones. Just ask those who fled Nazi Germany, the former USSR, or Castro’s Cuba.

@ Greg

Guns are often seen in our culture as symbols of masculinity, and are often acquired to compensate for feelings of gender inadequacy…and in some cases are acquired to make the insecure male feel “more like a man.” ¦ Their desire for firepower is driven by a deep-seated sense of powerlessness…

More projection Greg? You’ve mentioned before that *you* own guns and I believe once mentioned that where you sat in your home you had one within a few feet of you. Compensating for some your own shortcomings? Or is it maybe just more liberal elitism that you are somehow better qualified than the great unwashed?

What about the other half of our population? Do they all secretly long to be men?

Approximately 1 in 4 women are gun owners in America today, which equates to over 15 million women.

As the saying goes, “God made men, but Sam Colt made [them] equal,”

The average woman is not as strong as the average man. In a hand-to-hand struggle, even if she goes to the gym five times a week, the woman is probably going to lose.

Unless she has a gun, and knows how to use it.

Natalie Foster of the website “The Girl’s Guide to Guns” summarizes the mentality of “the emerging female shooter”…”Shooting gives us a sense of equality, a sense of safety, a sense of being in control of ourselves. That sense of control is empowering, and is something we should seek in other aspects of our life. This, along with the “tough woman” image of shooting guns, gives us a more positive self-image, which is a powerful thing.”

The liberal talking points include making women feel more empowered, do they not? Along with making sure everyone has a positive self-image?

Besides:

Those who fall into this category are precisely the people who shouldn’t have guns. Their desire for firepower is driven by a deep-seated sense of powerlessness to begin with. None of the ways that a gun can ultimately solve that sort of psychological problem are good ones.

By extension, shouldn’t this caveat also apply to those who seek to control others lives? How big of a soda they can order? What their sources of electricity are? Seems to me anyone who wants to exert that level of control over someone else’s life is also precisely the type of person who shouldn’t be allowed that control.

@Greg:Greg:

I think the title might hint at part of America’s problem: Guns are often seen in our culture as symbols of masculinity, and are often acquired to compensate for feelings of gender inadequacy. They’re perceived as power objects, and in some cases are acquired to make the insecure male feel “more like a man.”

Where does your opinion on this come from? Has some man said in an interview that he felt like a wuss so he went out and bought a gun so he would feel more manly? Even if it were true, I doubt men would generally acknowledge it in an interview. I personally don’t want to be ‘equal’ to someone who is threatening me, I want to be overpowering. I want to make sure that someone threatening me regrets the decision they made. It’s not about ‘equal’ at all.

Regarding #12 & #13:

A fair understanding of how guns are viewed in present-day America can be gained from observing how they’re portrayed in our collective fantasies on television, in movies, and more recently in video games. They’re portrayed as objects of empowerment, most often for males. Males in our culture are exposed to that same message in various forms thousands of times over, from childhood on.

Angry, mentally unbalanced males with deep-seated feelings of inadequacy or powerlessness are particularly susceptible to the negative effects of that message. Such people will often acquire firearms as an means of compensating. This seems like a fairly straightforward observation. Just consider what we know of the psychological profiles of recent mass murderers.

I don’t include myself in that category, nor did I suggest that most firearm owners fall into it. Even so, the gun as symbol of empowerment is an effective marketing tool.

@Greg:

Even so, the gun as symbol of empowerment is an effective marketing tool.

from observing how they’re portrayed in our collective fantasies on television, in movies, and more recently in video games.

Such people will often acquire firearms as an means of compensating.

Greg, in these three quotes, you are referencing the fantasy world of television and movies. I’m not sure that reality/tv fantasy are related. I know of no survey of men that indicate that they feel inadequate and so they buy a gun to be more powerful. That don’t happen (in my opinion). I own several guns, but not a single one of them were bought to improve my ego or ‘manliness’. Some are for killing things such as poisonous snakes, others are for ensuring that if someone wants to visit my house without an invitation, that they are properly greeted. Now one of the most important reasons for buying a gun is to ensure that my 2nd amendment rights are not infringed. None of these things involve ‘self esteem’. I don’t know where that argument comes from, but I don’t agree at all.

@Greg: #15

“Just consider what we know of the psychological political profiles of recent mass murderers. ”

Ft Hood Shooter: Registered Democrat.
Columbine: Too young to vote. All 4 parents registered Democrats.
VA Tech Shooter: Registered Democrat. Wrote hate mail to President Bush.
Colorado Theater shooter: Registered Democrat. Staff worker on the Obama campaign, Occupy Wall Street participant.
CN School shooter: Registered Democrat, hated Christians.

See a trend here?

Perhaps being a registered Democrat should be an automatic lifetime bar to any firearms possession.
After all, if it would have saved the life of even one child… and preventing Democrats from owning firearms would have done just that, in the cited instances.

And, yes, Greg, some people acquire firearms to compensate for a feeling of inadequacy. I am one of them, because when faced with multiple young, uncivilized thugs I damned well am inadequate!

@Redteam: #2

Actually, in Dodgeball, the “weaker” children get hit less often, because the strongest would get hit more than once per game, being the ones who would be called back into play when a teammate caught a thrown ball.
(Ref: Ned’s Declassified, Season 1, Episode 11)

As a last thought, maybe the reason that young people turn to guns is that, subconsciously, they know that they are being denutted, and are turning to guns because the media has consistently portrayed guns as a quick and easy path to manhood.

And so, something outside of themselves, in their experience, makes one a man… because no one has taught them how to become a man from the inside.

Which is a sentence that I could expand, well, to infinity…

I must say I hate BULLYS,,
MY sister son came home BLOODY from school and at dinner time,
he told his story, and my older sister told him to go back and beat the crap out of him.
he didn’t want to go back for the afternoon, his mother said okay,
but my elder fierless sister said no you go back, he was crying,
she took his hand and dragged him out to school, and ask who is the bully? he pointed at him and my sister said, if you don’t beat him .I will do it.
my nephew was bigger than her, he look at her and went to the bully, and beat him up,
while we where looking ready to get in,
my nephew change from than on, he had conquer his fears.

@Petercat: Petercat, you may be right, I haven’t played Dodge ball in about 60 years so I had forgotten that you get a teammate of your choice back in. So the less agile kids did get hit even less. That just blows the libs theories all to hell.

Petercat
excuse me for saying this but on your 18
it doesn’t need to many but only one ball to put down the weaker,
glad to know they get less because they could get injured even one ball couple with the arm power is a projectile and depending where it hit could turn a kid with a contusion he would feel all his life, and if it’s on the head it’s dangerous
even more
bye

Being a man largely consists of facing up to unwelcome realities. Facing up generally makes life harder, not easier.

You owe money or other obligation, you pay up.
You believe in something, you stick up for it.
You need a skill, you develop it.
When the ship is sinking, the women and children go into the lifeboats first.

Guns are not a gender-specific item. I would encourage firearm familiarization and training for both boys and girls.
To keep your child from drowning, you don’t condition them like Pavlov’s dog to hate and fear water, you teach them to swim. When the child comes of driving age, you don’t drum into them an unreasoning fear of the deadly instrument that is the automobile, you teach them everything you know about how to drive. Useful but hazardous chemicals in the house such drain cleaner, bleach and gasoline are to be explained, not permanently forbidden.

Greg is first last and always a troll. He (predictably) dredges up the ancient canard about guns being conflated with manhood in mainstream society. That is a falsehood, Greg, and it is of course intended as an insult, thinly camouflaged as “concern.”

The entertainment industries are dominated by leftists who align themselves with the Democratic party. Explain, Greggie, why these are the people who keep producing shallow gunfire and explosion extravaganzas with lots of special effects and zero character development. They certainly aren’t doing it for me. I want at least a little competent drama and insight, not material made for the population portrayed in the movie “Idiocracy.”

@Wm T Sherman: #23

Actually, I prefer to teach girls to shoot. They tend to outperform the boys.
Girls (and grown women) pay close attention to everything that I say, and are more careful about doing exactly what I tell them to do, exactly how I tell them to do it.
Boys need to be un-trained from everything that they have learned from the media before I can to begin training them the right way.
It is so much fun to watch little girls outshoot little boys…
It is so satisfying to watch little girls learn that with the right tools, they need not bow to anyone.
The youngest child that I have ever taught to shoot handguns well was a six-year old girl.
Her favorite became the 1911 .45…that first day.
She now owns and carries a S&W .40, as she can’t comfortably wrap her hands around the grip of a double stack .45.

@Wm T Sherman: #23
“Women and Children First” is not an archaic phrase out of an old book. It is the core belief of any true man, the willingness to place ahead of himself the welfare of those more important than himself.
Men are the present, those who maintain what has been created.
Women are those who create, nurture, and shape the future.
Children are that future.
Men are the most expendable.

Petercat
what would woman do without MEN?
the BRAVES protect, they do hard work,
build the house, charm the woman
ecetera

@ilovebeeswarzone: #26
Bees, the only reason civilizations are created is for the benefit of women. If it weren’t for you, we’d still be living in caves.

Petercat
I like that STAND you take on WOMEN,
you are a PROTECTOR and women like them.
bye

@Greg: Wow, Greg- I guess you can just awe the jihadi ragheads by your sheer mascuinity alone.
Perhaps you could just go over to the ‘stans and show us poor, ignorant, impotent people just how it’s done. Please show the way or shut up.