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0|0|0|||1||Better-Than-Expected Company|Gryphon||23:19:02|03/14/2014|I%27m sure this comes as no surprise to the cooler kids%2C and I%27m only lifting the lid on my own unhipness by making note of it%2C but%3A I%27m reading a selection from the works of Immanuel Kant for in-class discussion when school resumes next week%2C as we%27ve just about reached the Enlightenment in the 16th-through-19th-century Europe class I%27m taking%2C and I ran across the following%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bdiv style%3D%22border-color%3Ablack%3B border-width%3A5%3B border-style%3Asolid%3B padding%3A5%22%5D%5Bfont color%3D%22black%22%5DLaziness and cowardice are the reasons why such a large part of mankind gladly remain minors all their lives%2C long after nature has freed them from external guidance.  They are the reasons why it is so easy for others to set themselves up as guardians.  It is so comfortable to be a minor.  If I have a book that thinks for me%2C a pastor who acts as my conscience%2C a physician who prescribes my diet%2C and so on - then I have no need to exert myself.  I have no need to think%2C if only I can pay%3B others will take care of that disagreeable business for me.  Those guardians who have kindly taken supervision upon themselves see to it that the overwhelming majority of mankind - among them the entire fair sex - should consider the step to maturity not only as hard%2C but as extremely dangerous.%5B%2Ffont%5D%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bfont color%3D%22black%22 size%3D%221%22%5DImmanuel Kant%2C %22What Is Enlightenment%3F%22 trans. Peter Gay%2C %5Bi%5DIntroduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West%5B%2Fi%5D %28New York%3A Columbia University Press%2C 1954%29%3B from Margaret C. Jacob%2C %5Bi%5DThe Enlightenment%3A A Brief History with Documents%5B%2Fi%5D %28Boston%3A Bedford%2FSt. Martin%27s%2C 2001%29%2C 203.%5B%2Ffont%5D%5B%2Fdiv%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AIf you can%27t put your finger on why that jumped out at me so%2C I direct you to Dorothy and Utena%27s conversation way back in S1M3 %5Bi%5D%5Blink%3Awww.eyrie-productions.com%2FUF%2FFI%2FSOS%2Frose-new-year.txt%7CA Rose for the New Year%5D%5B%2Fi%5D%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bpre%5D        %22What are you afraid of%3F%22%0D%0A        %22Nothing%2C%22 Dorothy said%2C but there was a very faint quiver in%0D%0Aher voice%2C and she no longer followed the denial with a flat dismissal%0D%0Aof the whole concept of fear.%0D%0A        %22Bullshit%2C%22 Utena snapped%2C too annoyed to moderate her%0D%0Alanguage any longer.  %22You%27re... %22  Realization dawned on her face.%0D%0A%22Of course.  How could I not see it... I%27ve faced the same fear%0D%0Amyself.  You%27re afraid to grow up.%22%0D%0A        Dorothy looked puzzled and slightly indignant.  %22I have no%0D%0Agrowth cycle.%22%0D%0A        %22Don%27t be semantic%2C%22 Utena told her.  %22It%27s all coming clear%0D%0Ato me now.%22  She paced away%2C turned back.  %22I had to make the same%0D%0Achoice myself%2C not so long ago.  Do I follow the easy path%2C be a good%0D%0Alittle girl%2C do as I%27m told%2C and live the life another has mapped out%0D%0Afor me%3F  Or do I stand on my own feet%2C fight for my own rights%2C draw%0D%0Amy own map and then pick my own road on it%3F  I understand the second%0D%0Achoice is a scary one.  It%27s a hell of a big job to do all that.  So%0D%0Amuch easier just to take the ready-made alternative being offered%2C and%0D%0AGod help me%2C I considered it%2C for a second.  I suppose it wouldn%27t%0D%0Aeven have been such a bad life.  Privileged%2C comfortable%2C protected.%0D%0AI%27d never have wanted for anything... except freedom.%0D%0A        %22Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.  You know who%0D%0Asaid that%2C R. Dorothy Wayneright%3F  A -robot- said that.  One of the%0D%0Agreatest leaders of your reality%2C or so I%27ve read.  But rights have to%0D%0Abe sacrificed for.  In order to claim them%2C you have to give something%0D%0Aup - the security of confinement.  And you have it so much easier than%0D%0AI did%2C Dorothy.  I had to fight my way out of the cage past all the%0D%0Aobstacles a determined opponent could throw at me.  You%27ve got Corwin%0D%0Astanding outside the open door%2C beckoning you out%2C -begging- you to%0D%0Abecome your own person.%22%0D%0A        %22And then what%3F%22 Dorothy inquired.%5B%2Fpre%5D%0D%0A%0D%0ALike I say%2C I%27m sure it%27s only going to diminish my cred to admit that I got all Kantian on that action %5Bi%5Dinadvertently%5B%2Fi%5D%2C but there it is.  %28Part of the referential backdrop of Utena%27s source material%2C presumably%2C but we%27ve already established that I could never be arsed to sort the wheat from the chaff there consciously. %3A%29%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
1|1|0|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|Mercutio||23:54:56|03/14/2014|It%27s worth noting that Kant was far from the first one to come up with that specific line of thought. Folks have been equating easy%2C comforting submission to authority as a kind of protracted per-adolescence since the time of the ancient Greeks. %0D%0A%0D%0A%28The other big hit from that album is %22the current generation of young people is uniquely and badly deficient compared to previous generations of young people.%22 Although that one is significantly less true.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AThis is not to diminish either Kant or yourself for hitting on a broad universal aspect of the human condition and deciding to explore the hell out of that%2C of course.%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat
2|2|1|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|Gryphon||00:02:03|03/15/2014|%3E%28The other big hit from that album is %22the current generation of young %0D%0A%3Epeople is uniquely and badly deficient compared to previous %0D%0A%3Egenerations of young people.%22 Although that one is significantly less%0D%0A%3Etrue.%29%0D%0A%0D%0AExcept%2C of course%2C when it%27s %5Bi%5Dcompletely%5B%2Fi%5D true. %3A%29%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
3|1|0|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|Offsides||22:07:05|03/15/2014|Just think of it as a case of %22Great minds think alike.%22%0D%0A%0D%0AOffsides%0D%0A%0D%0A%26%2391%3B...%26%2393%3B in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.%0D%0A    -- David Ben Gurion%0D%0AEPU RCW %23%26pi%3B%0D%0A%23include %3Cstdsig.h%3E%0D%0A%0D%0A
4|2|3|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|trigger||01:26:40|03/20/2014|%3EJust think of it as a case of %22Great minds think alike.%22 %0D%0A%0D%0AOr we could just argue that you%27re a product of one of the few social and educational systems that continues to be influenced by the political philosophies of the 19th Century.%0D%0A%0D%0AIt%27s not by accident that we have had multiple movements towards legal and social enfranchisement %28and disenfranchisement%29 in the US%2C a pattern that isn%27t really mirrored elsewhere in the West. The ongoing debate as to the rights and responsibilities of citizens is a live and well in the US%2C despite what can be considered some serious backsliding over the last decade. %0D%0A%0D%0AThat%27s a massive oversimplification of Kant%27s influence on American behavior%2C but it%27s been 20 years since I first %28and last%29 read his work. So any mistakes above are mine. %0D%0A%0D%0AThree cheers for Gutenberg%2C the Enlightenment%2C public education%2C the humanities%2C the Declaration of Independence%2C the Constitution%2Cthe Amendments %28esp. 13th%2C 14th%2C 15th%2C 17th%2C 19th%2C 23nd%2C 24th%2C and 26th%29%2C apple pie%2C the American Way.%0D%0A%0D%0Ayours%2C %0D%0At.%0D%0A%0D%0ATrigger Argee%0D%0AManon%2C Maccadon%2C Orado%2C etc.%0D%0ADenton%2C never leave home without it.%0D%0A%0D%0A%22This isn%27t exactly the Olympic Games.%22 - Corwin of Amber
5|3|4|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|Gryphon||01:29:10|03/20/2014|%3EThree cheers for Gutenberg%2C the Enlightenment%2C public education%2C the %0D%0A%3Ehumanities%2C the Declaration of Independence%2C the Constitution%2Cthe %0D%0A%3EAmendments %28esp. 13th%2C 14th%2C 15th%2C 17th%2C 19th%2C 23nd%2C 24th%2C and 26th%29%2C %0D%0A%3Eapple pie%2C the American Way. %0D%0A%0D%0AI%27ve always thought the Third Amendment was woefully underappreciated.  Who wants soldiers quartered in their house%3F  Not me%21%0D%0A%0D%0A--G.%0D%0A-%3E%3C-%0D%0ABenjamin D. Hutchins%2C Co-Founder%2C Editor-in-Chief%2C %26 Forum Mod%0D%0AEyrie Productions%2C Unlimited  http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2F%0D%0Azgryphon at that email service Google has%0D%0A%5Bi%5DCeterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.%5B%2Fi%5D
6|4|5|||1||RE%3A Better-Than-Expected Company|Mercutio||01:45:36|03/20/2014|%0D%0A%3EI%27ve always thought the Third Amendment was woefully underappreciated. %0D%0A%3E Who wants soldiers quartered in their house%3F  Not me%21 %0D%0A%0D%0AThe history of the reasons behind the Third Amendment %28not the amendment itself%3B that is actually really boring%2C owing to the fact there%27s almost no jurisprudence attached to it%29 is actually utterly riveting%2C as it branches into weird tangents involving both English and Roman common law%2C the tensions and issues raised by the ongoing modernizing of armies in the 18th and 19th centuries%2C and what you could get away with politically in the colonies that you couldn%27t get away with in England itself. You start off reading about the quartering abuses during the French and Indian War and then eight hours later you%27re reading about Rotten Boroughs and are like %22how the hell did I end up here%3F%22%0D%0A%0D%0A-Merc%0D%0AKeep Rat