Comments on: purity ball, abstinence and changing society

By: Kelly Lavoie

Kelly Lavoie — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:02:20 +0000

I think that the bottom line is we need to really educate people, men AND women, about sex, and let them make the decision for themselves. There should be no legislation on this sort of thing…I find the idea of that ridiculous. It’s stepping way over the boundaries; telling people whether or not they should have sex? I consider myself neither conservative nor liberal, but I do know that at my school (UMass Dartmouth) abstinance is made to seem like a ridiculous choice, when it really isn’t in and of itself. I personally abstain from sex. Whenever sex is discussed, I get the feeling that the teachers assume that nobody would consider abstinance, so it is barely touched upon. I think there should just be more HONEST and thorough sex education…to help people make good decisions, whatever decision is the best for them. And no legislation can tell a whole group of people what is and is not good for them when it comes to something like sex.

By: Producer007

Producer007 — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 08:54:14 +0000

I am a producer who is facinated with the different views about the purity ball and virginity pledge. I am looking to speak further with families and young people who believe strongly in and against this issue. 212-506-4381

By: Greg Cremer

Greg Cremer — Sun, 21 May 2006 22:01:42 +0000

Just because you have a self-indulgent, self-destructive philosophy about life doesn’t add credibility to your dreamed up statistics on abstenance. Moral lowgrounders like yourself are the total contributors to unwanted pregnancy, elevated STD’s and the gambit of other societal issues that comes out of an undisciplined self-serving philosophy such as yours. Those who practice purity before marriage (and I know several) are reaping the benefits of their purity by sustaining healthy lifestyles and raising traditional families with a solid foundation based on their ethical philosophy. The benefits of abstinance are irrefutible (if you don’t eat poison, it won’t kill you). This certainly can not be said of permiscuity. The philosophy I’ve seen the low grounders always comes down to the consideration that “they’re going to do it anyway”. This of course comes from the same undisciplined thinking that has resulted in this chaotic sort of thinking in the first place.

By: Lawrence Krubner

Lawrence Krubner — Sat, 13 May 2006 18:57:12 +0000

“What is happening with the baby boomers is that they are strapped for cash (or insecure about retirement due to terrible 80s policies), not opening up positions for the younger generation and otherwise clogging the structure”

This simply isn’t true. A society’s full economic potential is the output of the number of hours worked, mulitplied by hourly activity. If you have 110 million workers and they work an average of 1200 hours a year, and productivity (the amount of wealth they produce each hour, not the amount they are paid) is $100 an hour, then you get an economy of $13 trillion, which is roughly where America is now.

110,000,000 * 1200 * 100 = 13,200,000,000,000

If an extra 10 million people suddenly join the labor force, and their average productivity is the national average, then the economy should simply expand an extra $1.2 trillion.

Mind you, I agree with your general sense that there are chokeholds holding back the younger generation from moving up the economic ladder. Labor unions, and the general world expasion, were crucial to the class fluidity of the mid to late 20th century post-war world. I agree that there is now much more stratification than in the past. The nation’s economic elites are doing a better job of insulating themselves from challenge, change and risk. But I disagree with you about the specific chokehold you’re identifying – baby boomers not wanting to retire. It just doesn’t work that way.

By: Lawrence Krubner

Lawrence Krubner — Sat, 13 May 2006 18:20:15 +0000

“folks either take the moral highground or a practical approach”

The practical approach is certainly the moral high ground.

By: Dan Ancona

Dan Ancona — Fri, 12 May 2006 13:17:43 +0000

Re: feeling powerless from conservative politics, the only way to fix this is to fight back. The thing we need to do isn’t to start new single-issue groups; instead we need to start groups that define a clear alternative to the conservative worldview.

I’ve been volunteering with just such a group, Speak Out California. We don’t have an internet freedom action alert up right now but I’m working on one – if anyone would like to help contribute some ideas for this I’d appreciate it. My email & contact info is listed on our weblog, the link is above. Thanks!

By: zephoria

zephoria — Fri, 12 May 2006 10:25:32 +0000

Sorry, Janet – i’m speaking too loosely out of laziness. Historically, youth get married and “settle down” when they feel secure in their jobs and prospects moving forward. Often, this is brought on by the parent generation making room for them to enter the workforce and take on powerful roles in the guidance of the structure. This is particularly visible in systems where advancement is obvious (and one of the reasons that unions were so critical). What is happening with the baby boomers is that they are strapped for cash (or insecure about retirement due to terrible 80s policies), not opening up positions for the younger generation and otherwise clogging the structure. With the disappearance of unions and the lack of obvious structural advancement, there’s no security for the vast majority of younger Gen Xers. They’re not settling down as a result. (Of course, the exception is the tech industry where Gen Xers entered with a storm and made their own rules, much to the horror of the older generation.) But, by and large, Baby Boomers hold most of the power structurally and yet the political moves they are making deal with their generations security issues rather than making certain the system will be stable long term. When i get home, i’ll find a few citations for you, but my side comment was meant to refer to this structural dynamic which is wreaking havoc in the system.

By: Janet

Janet — Fri, 12 May 2006 10:14:40 +0000

“Today, many 22/23-year olds are still working in Starbucks because the Baby Boomers aren’t willing to retire and give up the privileged positions within society.”
Oh please Dana, why do you write ridiculous stuff like this? Baby Boomers are now in their 40′s to 60′s. We work to support ourselves and our Millennial children, many of whom are in college.
I consider you a brilliant woman, surely you must understand the world economic situation better than this. X’er’s arguing with Baby Boomers is misguided.
It’s also misguided to argue with crazy people.
(x tian conservatives)

By: Jeff Hester

Jeff Hester — Thu, 11 May 2006 22:15:14 +0000

I abstained until I met my wife but I also got married at the young age of 20, and I’d have a hard time advising anyone to do the same. There are advantages, but there are probably an equal number of disadvantages.

That said, I’m for better education. Purity balls and abstinence programs are more about comforting distressed parents and giving them a false sense of security. Better to make sure that when (not if) they do have sex, they’re smart about protection.

And I’ve got three kids: 20, 21 and 22.

By: john

john — Thu, 11 May 2006 07:24:05 +0000

This is just wrong (and it doesn’t really help your argument very much, either, ‘cos the more important case are those who are unemployed at 22/23 rather than working at Starbucks):

At the same time, young men could assume to have a meaningful career path by the time they were 22/23. Today, many 22/23-year olds are still working in Starbucks because the Baby Boomers aren’t willing to retire and give up the privileged positions within society.

I work for a company that provides an on-line tool to help companies hire people, and, believe me, the problem isn’t that the baby boomers aren’t retiring (indeed, they are, and have been!), it’s the skills deficit among the young:

http://featuredreports.monster.com/laborshortage/forecast/
http://featuredreports.monster.com/laborshortage/graphics/#chart1