>>Without openness, "moderation" can quickly
>>spill into censorship.
>
I've got to ask, What's wrong with censorship? We do it everyday in so many
ways. And I say "we" because I mean all of us. Yes, even Kent.
Up in Singapore a few or more years ago I sat on a panel for an
International Book Fair during Singapore Writers Week. The topic:
Censorship. Well, the fellow panel members were all for an absolute lack of
censorship, and the crowd appaluded every word. Then it was my turn. I
brought up snuff movies and images of fellatio practised by mature men on
small boys (as exhibited in shop windows in Soho in the early Seventies),
and they agreed that such images should not be exhibited willynilly (no pun
intended) to the public. This is censorship. There are always extremists in
any society - and all praise to 'em when their actions don't cause harm to
others. But some form of censorship is necessary. Through social
conditioning our interpersonal behaviour acts within certain bounds
everyday. That is why a crowd will gather around a sick person ranting in a
shopping centre, etc.
I'll stop raving here and get on with cleaning up my flat. Guests coming,
and social etiquette says I must not have my jocks sitting on the table.
Andrew
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Andrew Burke Copywriting
[log in to unmask] Creative Writing
http://www.bam.com.au/andrew/ Editing
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