The best way to build a healthy self-esteem is by doing something. It can be a ground breaking discovery that will change the world or something as trivial as putting together a really cool web page. The trick is to do something, do it well, succeed or fail at it and then move on to the next thing. People who do this can look back on a long string of successes (which builds self esteem) and an even longer list of failures (which builds experience).This approach to self-esteem requires two things many people can't handle - work and risk. The lazy and the risk averse (more commonly known as losers) build their self-esteem by looking down on other people. Until fairly recently racism provided them ready-made targets for their bile, but now that most minorities have established their place in mainstream society (mostly through their own hard work and risk) racism has become unfashionable. Although some losers still cling to it to fill their needs, most have found much better targets. They've found new, larger, and ever expanding groups of people to hate, and a socially acceptable way to do it. They have become nannies.
They've honed and perfected their techniques on smokers. Their favorite trick is spewing reams of junk science. Government agencies and the charity cartel, always eager to increase their power and funding, are delighted to go along with them. Nannies portray risks that are minor, or in many cases nonexistent, as Horrible Dangers, then use these dangers to justify any action, no matter how intrusive. For example ASH, one of the most hateful of the hate groups, claims second hand smoke in your apartment building can give you a heart attack, even if you can't smell it. They then offer advice on how to get smokers evicted. (Actually, they offer to sell you the advice. They've found a way to make hate profitable.)
But smokers are just the warm up act. Meat eaters, fat people, SUV drivers and the wealthy all provide nannies with their required quota of hate. Their list gets longer almost daily, and they consider everyone on it a legitimate target for all kinds of bile, harassment, legislation, regulation, lawsuits and taxation.
Nannies are quick to point out one difference between their attitude and racism. Race is beyond an individual's control, and their new hatred is based on behavior, which can be changed. They are right on this point. That brings the number of things they are right about to exactly one. Nearly all their other arguments are thinly disguised versions of tired racist rants.
Let's compare the hatred of any given race to the nannies arguments against two of the groups they live to despise: Smokers and SUV drivers.
They'll corrupt our children with their evil ways. Their example encourages kids to smoke They corrupt our children by setting a materialistic example They're stupid and ignorant. It's stupid and ignorant to spend that much money on a vice. It's stupid and ignorant to spend that much money on a vehicle. They Smell Bad. They Smell Bad. They're higher off the ground than cars, putting their pollution closer to our noses. (They Smell Bad.) Many of them are criminals. They're dangerous to be around. Second hand smoke is deadly. They're dangerous to be around. In accidents, they survive while causing extensive damage to other vehicles. They're dangerous to be around. Get in the back of the bus. You're not allowed on the bus. You should take the bus. They increase crime and the need for law enforcement, so they cost us money. They increase medical costs, which increases our insurance, so they cost us money. They increase repair bills of the cars they hit, and cause more wear on the roads, so they cost us money. Laws that restrict where they can go are for the good of society. Laws that restrict where they can go are for the good of society. We don't have any laws restricting them, so let's get some now. They think they're cool, but they're not. They think they're cool, but they're not. They think they're cool, but they're not.
Most people whose self esteem comes from doing things ignore nannies, regarding them as too pitiful to bother with. But if you smoke, eat meat, drive a big vehicle, earn more than the median wage, are overweight, drink alcohol, drink coffee, drink soda, eat at fast food restaurants, eat at fancy restaurants, own a gun, gamble, or take any measurable risks at all, nannies have your activity in their sights. They've perfected their jihad on smokers, and sooner or later, as they work their way down their list, they'll get to you. Make no mistake about it - they are deadly serious, and particularly enjoy using the full weight of the law against their adversaries (i.e. you) at every opportunity. Ask not for whom the nannies finger wags - it wags at thee.
February, 2000
Comments?© 2000 Dave Hitt
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