Warning. Having an opinion is dangerous. Have you noticed the plethora of "needed" (choke) rules, regulations and safety requirements which stalk anyone who might want to do something adventurous? Take for instance a group who sets up a children's adventure camp. They analyse any possible problems, and try to cover every eventuality. Parents sign their kids up, (great, pay money, someone else can baby-sit my kids), but there's an accident, and a child dies. Fingers are pointed and people are sued. Therefore, in future there will be disclaimers. "We've done our best, but if you sign up, it's your risk." Everywhere we turn now, we see disclaimers. And the cultivation of an assumption that anything without a disclaimer could invite liability.
People have now been conditioned like cooked frogs to the point where they think that if it's sold on a shelf, it must be good for them. The "government" wouldn't allow anything to be sold that would be bad; wouldn't allow a medical profession that was unsafe, or an education system which wasn't the best, right? anything provided for us, will be "failsafe"....
Disclaimers are designed to protect from another party's unpredicable abuse, misuse, or other so-called "innocent behaviour".
You know.... "Don't try this at home" or, "Consult your doctor first" or "Don't put this bag over your head." "We will not be responsible if you do."
If something doesn't have a disclaimer on it, .... is it presumed to be beyond reproach, .... and therefore, you can abdicate from having to think about it?
Here are a few CAUTION NOTICES which I believe should be placed on some of the guilty parties responsible for the dumbing down of New Zealanders, and making some people both fearful of life, and incapable of thinking for themselves:
"CAUTION: Placing your children in these education institutions could kill their love of learning; stifle innovation and thinking outside the square; divorce what is learned from the real world; provide an education in bullying; and teach them the worst possible habits of everyone else around them. However, your children will come out as conformed, conditioned, clones, because we've only taught them what the powers that be need them to know."
"CAUTION: Accepting care of you in this medical establishment, could result in you considering pregnancy to be a seriously dangerous pathological condition, which can only be managed by us. You may not eat this long list of foods, which will result in you losing your baby from listeriosis. You must come and be scanned, pummelled and scrutinised regularly, because pregnancy must always be professionally managed. The rise in caesarians, is because we've convinced you that birth is best managed by us. We haven't yet perfected the automatic tummy zip, but that won't be far down the lane. And one day we'll make sure that we inject you with everything possible in pregnancy, so that before your baby even takes a breath, he or she is protected from everything we can think of. Naturally, even after that, anything like a bee sting, or twig cut must be followed by a tetanus booster, because otherwise your child might die. And while you're at it, make sure that your child never runs on grass with bare feet, or picks up any animal, because they have lice, ticks and all sorts of nasty diseases."
"CAUTION: This obstetric practice uses a cord clamp which is put on immediately. This might result in several very serious medical conditions which could blight your child for the whole of their lives, but because that's our dogma, we do it. No we can't give you any statistics, because we don't study them, but we do know that being under our care is tantamount to Russian Roulette. You will only find out about that in our literature - but only if you know where to look - and accessing full text medical articles requires a lot of money, which you aren't likely to have, so we're safe from your prying eyes."
Over the last decades, the medical profession has made silly pronouncements on so many things, we've lost count. "Don't go out in the sun, because you'll get cancer." Never mind about vitamin D which is crucial for strong bones, and let's not tell people that the rate of fractures in children has increased 30% in the last 20 years. "Here is a food pyramid...oops, here is a different food pyramid...oops here is another food pyramid... oops..), and no doubt, another different one will be in vogue in another two year's time.
A society is being created which believes that the medical profession is THE ONLY RELIABLE judge of all truth and risk.
The Herald exemplified this hoax-type thinking on 14th October in this article of Ray Columbus describing how "Enhanced External Counter Pulsation" (EECP) had successfully reversed his heart disease and the medical profession should use it.... As usual, the Herald rushed off to the medical "system" for "advice", and what did they say? The beginning of the article says, "people should consult a GP before they take it up" ... and at the end "People thinking of starting the therapy should consult their GP to make sure they were aware of any risks."
Did Ray Columbus "consult his GP", or take responsibility for curing himself when doctors could do nothing useful about his condition?
How many GP's would actually have a CLUE what EECP is, or it's risks or benefits? Or ... herbs, vitamin C, and a whole raft of other things I could name.
A few weeks ago, proof that the medical system is part of the insanity running this planet, was dropped into my email in-box, in the form of an AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) email alert. A speech at the AAP conference discussed the cure for a new disease afflicting children called "NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER". Kids have become disconnected with nature by diminishing encouragement to play and explore outdoors. The MEDICAL PROFESSION blames parental security fears, and "technology" like computers, TVs and mobile phones.
But looking back over the last 30 years, during which time the medical profession repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried to scare me witless about pregnancy, childbirth, raising babies, eating, diseases, etc, in order to persuade me to be scared enough to use all their "solutions", I can see how the fear-tactics used, could stop many parents from thinking for themselves. After all, doctors are experts, and parents are ignorant. Parents are easily tempted not to allow their kids do anything "dangerous" until the necessary services have been supplied. Even the school camp form comes listed with the "requirement" of a tetanus shot, and woe-betide you if you put down the fact that your child is unvaccinated! The school might not even accept a disclaimer absolving them from possible tetanus!.
To me, "Nature Deficit Disorder", is most definitely the end-point of carefully cultivated mindsets put in place over decades, by the medical system.
And no, parents aren't the one to have the responsibility of curing this new disease. They are easily intimidated. The awesome responsibility of teaching parents to allow their children to go walkees, is being handed to the very fox which stalked these parents and children in the first place. We are told:
Pediatricians can play a key role in reversing this trend and helping to combat nature-deficit disorder.
"Why do we need you?" You really are the giants," Louv said. "In your daily practices and daily lives, it's simply using your wisdom and your daily common sense to recommend to parents that kids go outside, whether it is to walk or ride a bike."
Pediatricians can help calm those fears of parents, and so he asked audience members to join the movement to help children connect with nature — for their own health.
"This is a person-to-person campaign. This is a cultural change," Louv said, and he suggested that pediatricians and families go the Children in Nature network website to learn more about the movement and to start Family Nature clubs.
In your practices, you can do more than the White House," Louv said. "You are the most important people in this movement."
Surely, the job of the various systems is to empower parents to BE CONFIDENT parents, not "take charge", yet again? And will these supervised walkees in the woods come at a huge financial cost?
You can bet ONE condition will come with the medical profession's treatment for NATURE DEFICIT DISORDER! You can't experience "nature" unless you've all had your jabs first!
As we were researching the whole issue of disclaimers, the fact that there are sytems which should have disclaimers, but don't, was something which really got under Peter's skin the most. He wrote an article for Out of the Mould called:
NOT THERE, WHERE NEEDED MOST. <--- click on it!
