Comments on Last Left Turn Before Hooterville: Worse Than Dying

Thanks, AT. I didn't know about the GMA story, but...

2008-06-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks, AT. I didn't know about the GMA story, but this has been on my mind for a while, and I hope this is something that people will talk about and take seriously when somebody decides to start a war.

You're welcome, Terrible - I think it's a pretty a...

2008-06-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

You're welcome, Terrible - I think it's a pretty awesome quote, and one that should be better known in certain circles.

Batocchio - it is a very strong book. I know that ...

2008-06-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

Batocchio - it is a very strong book. I know that he's received a lot of criticism for his views on kids and violent games, movies, etc. but I haven't read all of that yet. I am not quite ready to categorically deny his claims, considering his field of expertise, but I think we'll find out over the next decade or so if his ideas are on point on that subject.

I tend to lean toward his point of view - I look at violent games, movies and TV as real pornography, rather than people having sex. However, I don't forbid my kids to play games or watch TV; I do monitor them and talk with them about my views on the subject.

I think that desensitizing kids to violence by giving them the endorphin rush that accompanies violence without suffering the consequences cannot be a good thing. I am not an expert, though, and many people see it as harmless.

What a powerful post. I was writing post today abo...

2008-06-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

What a powerful post.
I was writing post today about the Good Morning America story this morning about the hell returning soldiers are living with experimental anti-depressant drugs they are giving them and this fits right in.
Thanks for writing this.

Thanks for posting the McArthur quote!! It was on ...

2008-06-17T10:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks for posting the McArthur quote!! It was on the wall at the barracks I stayed in at Ft Benning back in '82 but I couldn't remember exactly how it went or which General had said it. But it's been in my mind for the past few years and I've been trying to remember it and keep meaning to look it up. You've saved me a google search!

Well done, AM. I actually bought that book almost...

2008-06-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

Well done, AM. I actually bought that book almost a decade ago for research. I'm less sold on his ideas about the evils of video games and pop culture, but he handles PTSD and the psychological effects of killing on the killers quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Ez9eGD1ZQ --Mary...

2008-06-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5Ez9eGD1ZQ --MaryK

You know, physioprof, this is a subject that it to...

2008-06-16T18:15:00.000-07:00

You know, physioprof, this is a subject that it took me a while to decide to write about. I don't hear people talking about it, and I wasn't sure how people would respond to it, but in the end I felt that I had to address it.

It makes me have to think about war in general, and the fact that there are and will be times that we must legitimately fight and kill to defend our country. I wish I could say that wasn't so; as of yet we have not figured out how to defend ourselves from attack without war.

But when we ask our soldiers to be there when we need them, we damn well better make sure that we know and respect what we are asking of them. To ask them to live the rest of their lives with the pain of the knowledge that they have had to kill or witness up close that kind of atrocity to satisfy someone's personal greed and power - is simply the most heinous, evil thing I can think of. May the Bush Crime Family rot in hell for that.

Alicia, that is an incredibly powerful and horrify...

2008-06-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

Alicia, that is an incredibly powerful and horrifying post. Will we as a nation ever recover our soul?

Exactly, Comrade. That is an important component o...

2008-06-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

Exactly, Comrade. That is an important component of the conditioning and restructuring of the personality that a soldier must undergo to counteract his natural, built-in reluctance to kill. Desensitization, dehumanization, distancing - all essential for killing; all destroyers of the soul.

Well said.And if one observes the techniques by wh...

2008-06-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well said.

And if one observes the techniques by which an enemy is reduced to the crudest, most horrific stereotype of evil possible, which is the only way you can coerce human beings to kill others in a field of combat, this is where the truly soul-destroying component comes in.