Well, the Fear, Inc. cult-ure keeps the so-called "Well-educated" in a sort of box as well. And, generally, parents are just trying to protect their loved ones from The Worst. Whatever that means to them. Or whatever horror they experienced, or saw someone "Made and Example Of".Not Forever wrote: Thu Feb 12, 2026 3:16 pmYes, my point implicitly assumed a somewhat modern and paranoid way of doing things, where the few adults someone encounters are their own parents and perhaps an occasional grandparent or uncle on the weekends, coupled with the fear of letting the child leave the house. But at the same time, there’s the fear that they might see something inappropriate on TV. The fear that they might have friends with a bad influence. The fear that they might read or watch something on the internet that could lead them to antisocial behavior. In short, I had implicitly assumed the worst-case scenario in terms of socialization and learning.
They see the world as it Really Is to some extent. Not perfectly, of course, and tainted by ideas and ideologies that they found "worked" for them, at least partially. Or maybe not. But the bottom line is, they are largely uncritically reproducing the Social Orders. And they do it from a position of weakness. Not knowing that they don't know.
And only much later, when you're getting up in age yourself, will some of them level with you --if you can empathize! So i happen to value that approach, over, say, just doing what our programming teaches: separating ourselves and NEVER talking to them again, and such things.