Have We Lost Our Minds?

By Rich Kozlovich

My Friend Jay Lehr was a great fan of Burt Prelutsky, who passed away a few years ago.  Prelutsky was a well known and insightful writer who wrote an article some years back entitled “Those poor, poor perverts”. 

The basis of the article was a discussion as to how ridiculous are the arguments surrounding pedophiles, and how they are to be treated by society.  He uses the old story of how “intellectuals” (he used the word “nuts”, but they were the intellectuals of the day. Nothing has changed!) would sit around for hours and discuss how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. See, television isn't as vast a wasteland as you thought.  It did cure one thing.

The only problem is that so many of those who are in decision making positions apparently don’t waste their time on television - mores’ the pity - because they now sit around and decide how many feet away from a school a convicted pedophile may live who has been released from prison.  

Prelutsky makes a point that should be obvious to the most casual observer:

“For what reason would any sane society ever release such a person from jail? The notion that kids are safe if the creep lives 2,000 feet away from where they play is perfectly loony. What about the kids walking to and from those parks and playgrounds? “

He points out that it is like releasing all the bank robbers from the prisons and telling them they can’t live any closer that two blocks away from a bank and expecting this to be the solution to their wanting to rob banks. He goes on to say:

“judges and lawmakers seem happy to ignore the rates of recidivism among rapists and pedophiles. Is there anyone else, aside from defense attorneys, who would argue that a man who’s raped a six year old child deserves a second chance?” 

We have ceded our own common sense to the “experts”! Are they really all that credible?   So credible that we willingly abandon traditional values, common sense and moral balance? Where is our moral compass?   As unpleasant an issue as this is, I use it to show a peculiar mindset that has permeated society that really is nuts. Concern about pedophiles, bank robbers, rapists, murders, thieves and other assorted villains of society.  All of whom we should share a common concern. 

Instead we now have judges that sentence murderers to "in house imprisonment". In house imprisonment doesn't mean you can't leave your house, it just means the criminal will have restrictions, but not so many it will effect their "ability to maintain their place in society".  And we're to believe this a good thing that will be followed, and that this will be effective? 

If they really believe all of the stuff they spew out they're in serious need of psychological help, and this kind of insanity is growing.

To paraphrase the earlier question asked by Burt Prelutsky:

 “For what reason would any sane society ever believe anything these people promote? The notion that society would be safe if these creeps ideas and philosophies were followed is perfectly loony.” 

Yes, well, if Burt was still alive I would say to him: 

"We're there now Burt, the creeps are in charge, we've gone completely nuts, and the nation's children are in more danger now than ever in the history of America.   The left is destroying us at our foundation.  And yes, we really have lost our minds, because now the schools themselves are the problem, and there are no longer any boundaries."