Thursday, April 17, 2008

Bad Childhoods

People blame their poor choices in life too much on their "bad" childhoods. I think they just use it as an excuse to shift the blame so that they have a green light to make bad choices and then claim that "all the bad stuff in my life was because of my childhood."

Plus if you think about it, bad childhoods are relative. For the average person, being homeless as a child would pretty much top the score, but Paris Hilton would have had a bad childhood if she had been required to do chores and get a monthly allowance of less than $30k.

Sure you can probably be raised without morals or respect for the law, but that doesn't mean you have to always retain the same values. I have met many people who had poor childhoods (chances are, you have as well), but did they harp on that til the end of time? No, they turned themselves into productive members of society and accomplished many things. Why can't the people who constantly use it as a crutch do the same? Plus, there are plenty of people who had great privileged childhoods and they turn into criminals and worthless members of society.

Flora Jessop's childhood in the FLDS cult apparently turned her to cocaine and stripping. You have to think about the possibility that perhaps this was just the kind of person she was anyway, even before she escaped. Did she not have a choice when she escaped the cult? She could have chosen a constructive path with her newfound freedom, but she chose not to. Why didn't she allocate at least a portion of her blow money on an education or something useful? That stuff isn't cheap, people!

You make your own path in life. You might start out at the bottom of the stairs, but where you end up is ultimately up to you.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

DNA Arrest Collections

Here's something kind of scary: The government is going to start collecting DNA samples from everybody they arrest. Let me repeat, you do not have to even be convicted of a crime and your DNA will end up in some database. You know how easy it is to get arrested? I think it goes without saying, but clearly I am against this out of privacy concerns.

Remember, small steps lead to big changes. The government will then start requiring DNA to get passports. Then to get drivers licenses. Then when you're born.

Think about the future technology. You shed dead skin and hair follicles all day long. Pretty soon there could be scanners that detect not only where you are, but where you've been! Sure it is probably a long ways away, but before you know it, the future is here and all those little steps that slowly took away your privacy (and/or freedoms) have now culminated into one giant step from the beginning.

Please reference my post about RFID Passports if you think that one with nothing to hide has nothing to fear.