Large Fierce Mammal

There’s a bit o’ readin’ in this here article today. Let’s start with this snippet. The entire article is linked to the title at the end of the excerpt.

The controlling mindset of those attempting to protect every person from everything has gone off the deep end. From the anti-bullying movement to government intrusion in banning all guns from public possession, there is no longer logic in building government policy or formulating scientific protocols around modes of reason. All is based on the ludicrous nature of our nanny culture. There is an absolute refusal to accept the fact that it is the people who cause harm and not the objects they classify as weapons themselves. ~ Let’s Ban Everything Pointy To Reduce Deaths, Marco Torres

Now do the same with this one.

Would you like to empower children with the wisdom to be responsible for their own actions based on solid moral principles and empathy, or would you prefer teaching all kids to fit into a behavioral template and abide by certain rules to create a completely safe utopian environment in which everyone is always nice to each other by default, without moral responsibility and the wisdom to know the difference? You can’t have both. ~ How The Anti-Bullying Movement Is Setting Up Kids For Failure In Life and Their Evolution of Consciousness, Marco Torres

A worthy read, and my first exposure to the Pierson’s Puppeteer.

While I was at university back in the 1970’s, I read Ringworld by Larry Niven, and got my first exposure to a non-humanoid sentient being called the Pierson’s Puppeteer. Conceived more than 40 years ago, Puppeteer society exemplifies what has come to be referred to in this time and place as the nanny state – the step by step effort to turn human society into a child proof daycare centre for people of all ages.

Consider these descriptions and stay tuned:

“The Puppeteers’ herd-beast ancestors were prey to many different carnivores, and for protection developed a disproportionate instinct for survival. This survival instinct causes them to avoid or flee from danger in any form, no matter how insignificant. Puppeteers go to great lengths to avoid and minimize any possible danger to themselves and their civilization ….”

“Every Puppeteer is trained at a young age to respond to danger from which it cannot flee by tucking both necks beneath its forelegs and folding its legs beneath itself, to resemble a furry footstool. Assuming this position is called the “explosion reflex.” A fearful Puppeteer may remain in this fetal position for hours or possibly days, quivering with fear, withdrawn from a hostile universe. However, the presence of preventable danger will bring the Puppeteer out from hiding in its own belly.”

“Puppeteers’ fear of danger has lead them to strive for subtle, behind-the-scenes dominance in the affairs of other species. They do not hesitate to resort to blackmail, bribery, or any other form of influence. They prefer to avoid using even carefully applied violence, but if necessary they will employ an outside agency for such unpleasantness. The Puppeteers’ drive to minimize danger, coupled with their pragmatism, gives them a ruthlessness beyond that of even the Kzinti, only falling short of the Pak (other species that include Humans, sharing the Universe with Puppeteers). To ensure their own safety, they might go so far as to utterly destroy another species.”