Re: Reply

I am no authority on what is just or fair but it seems to me that we have laws to protect the vulnerable and to frame them for every case is simply not possible and the alternative (no laws) is even worse.

And what about the rights of the vulnerable, especially since women were once considered "the vulnerable"? Have you ever considered that greater civil rights can actually decrease vulnerability? Have you ever considered that empowerment is a superior alternative to further disempowerment in the name of "protection"? Are you also aware that the concept of protectionism is not democratic? It's my strong belief, with a lot of history to back up this contention, that no democratic society will ever face a problem or issue that will require a draconian rather than democratic solution. A single draconian solution in a democratic framework, no matter how noble the intention, always spreads like a cancer to justify more draconian "solutions" as time passes, and inevitably leads towards a borderline police state.

I am not sure that democracy is actually what will be the norm in the future anyway. At the moment we are largely cowed by the large Industrial-Commercial complexes so that "democracy" plays second fiddle to them, particularly it seems in our most advanced society - the USA. I wouldn't bother going in this direction Diss since I don't really have much interest here and I am not really willing to do research in this area.

I think there is much truth in what you say here and I certainly do not see the West as what the rest of the world should emulate in any manner but that education - in the broader sense of awareness and understanding - generally gives more choices in people's lives and greater freedom.

Agreed, which is why I'm a strong proponent of the concept of education, but merging it with work rather than forcing someone to choose between one or the other, and to treat both as entirely separate endeavors that compete with each other for a person's time. The main problem is when one assumes that education always and necessarily must take the form of a classroom setting, with students as a captive audience working out of a textbook assigned by an authoritarian instructor who judges them almost solely via standardized written tests that focus largely upon the ability to memorize information out of a book, and with all students being compelled to study largely the same curricula outside the basics (i.e., reading, writing, arithmetic, and maybe some citizenship) regardless of where their personal talents lie, or what type of educational method may be best for them as individuals. Those who can't meet the single standard set for all in this system are labeled "learning impaired." Such a system hardly gives everyone more choices.

We can agree here since perhaps education at the moment is mainly geared towards the economy rather then towards critical thinking and expansion of abilities but this might change.

I'll agree that there might be a lack of information with regard to this issue but my guess, looking at how kids behave, is that there is more "abuse" than "consensuality" when talking about this issue.

And if you looked completely objectively at the way children behave, you will see that it's very difficult to get them to do things they truly dislike doing unless force or threats are used. This should give you consideration when a child continuously visits a non-related adult who has no direct power over them under their own volition. You can assume the child was coerced without actually knowing it all you want, but you know that is very likely grasping at straws and asking people to prove a negative.

That isn't the issue is it really. It is quite easy to get children to like one and when that happens then they are more likely to do what is asked of them or to not make it known they in some discomfort perhaps. I once did an experiment with the two-year-old child of a friend of mine. I hadn't known the girl long - we were on holiday together abroad - and sat in the back of their car I was reading to her and placed her leg on mine. I placed it back and shortly after she repeated it on her own. Now don't tell me that kids can't be "coached". The girl obviously liked me and when we came back from a short trip away the girl ran up to me and hugged me. Even at that age kids can be so affected by relationships and hence so vulnerable when the intentions of the adult are not for the good of the child.