This can't be the USA I learned to love.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Catfish

When England declared war, in 1914

I dunno, I'd say Vienna, for Austria-Hungary, they're the ones that really kicked it all off. Although deciding to steamroller through Belgium didn't help. Gave us a bit extra legitimacy to intervene, although we'd have found a way eventually.

I think Betonov probably got the better answer, it wasn't just one nation, although when the UK (not just England ) declared war, that's when it turned global.

Anyway, God help me I've decided to take this conservative clickbait apart piece by piece, it probably won't do jack but what the hell, I'm a glutton for punishment.

1) Jack and his Quail Hunting Gun
A) Well...durr, for every Jack that takes his gun in and doesn't shoot up a school, there's an Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold who take their guns in to kill as many people as possible. In light of this it should really be common sense to keep your guns as far away as possible from a school. In a way, 'Jack' was lucky not to be shot.

2) Johnny and Marks fist fight
Has this ever actually happened, to the point that SWAT gets called? The only results I get are copies of this facebook clickbait and one incident involving a teenager and two people in their twenties, that only involved SWAT because someone pulled a gun.

3) Jeffrey not sitting still
So, what's the moral of this story? That kids who might have ADD or ADHD should just suffer in silence, just because that's what their predecessors did? That they should be denied any possible treatment for their problems just because some people don't think that ADD or ADHD are real problems?

4) Billys Dad
Yeah, I can understand this one. But it's a Catch-22, because for every seemingly feeble excuse for Child Services to get involved, there are at least two or three instances where they were legitimately needed, and another three or more where they were needed but didn't get involved.
So, again, do Child Services not respond and run the risk that Billys Dad might actually be abusing Billy? You can bet that there will be a hell of a scandal if Billy was to die and it was found that Child Services could have prevented it but didn't. To be fair, this is not just an American problem, it's a global problem, but it is a sign of progression in America that they actually have organisations in place to try to prevent child abuse. Many countries don't, and this does not make them superior.

5) Mark and his aspirin
Mark may have had aspirin in his bottle of aspirin, but who is to say that Mike doesn't have ecstasy in his bottle? Again it's Catch-22. There is a problem with drugs at school, and it's one that you're never going to fully stamp out. But these zero tolerance policies are put in place to try to block various avenues in which drugs can be imported into a school. It's not perfect, but what is?

6) Pedro
Really? Pedro? Anyway, I'm going to hold off on this one. There are problems in the system, and there is perhaps some element of truth in this one. The white knights do tend to cause as much damage as the racist elements in situations like this, and in the end 'Pedro' just gets lead around the houses anyway.

7) Johnny and the Bomb (with sincere apologies to T.Pratchett)
School bombings aren't really in fashion anymore because it's easier to just use a gun instead, but for why things like this should be taken seriously it's best to look at the Unabomber, Poe Elementary School, and Sterling Hall.
Makes one wonder that if the FBI, ATF and Homeland Security had been called to the Tsarnev brothers home after a failed explosion whether three Boston marathon runners would still be alive.

8) Johnny (sure lives an active lifestyle) and Mary
Yeah, again, it's another Catch-22. Now, if you were to swap the names around, and have it as a young girl and a male teacher, would it still be as acceptable? Paedophilia does happen, it is a problem, but we are still rather clumsy about addressing it. However, does that mean that it shouldn't be addressed?



Well...that's half an hour of my life I'll never get back, and for what? Urinating into the wind I suppose, but what the hell, it's my urine and I'll spray it where I want to.

In short, most of these situations fall under the 'Catch-22' scenario. Drugs, school shootings, child abuse, terrorist bombings and paedophilia, they are all real world problems and they all need addressing. Just because we are occasionally clumsy in how we address them, does this mean that they shouldn't be addressed? Just because 'Jack' accidentally left his gun in his car, does that mean that we should not take efforts to prevent Adam Lanza, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold and Seung-Hui Cho from massacring our children? Just because Billys Dad was legitimately punishing his son for misbehaviour does that mean we should not take efforts to prevent child abuse? The list goes on, but it boils down to the fact that you have to take every single threat seriously because if you don't then people will slip through the net, and people will die, people who shouldn't have died, be they adults or children. If Lanza had been stopped before he entered Sandy Hook, would 26 students and teachers still be alive? If the alarm had been raised earlier, would more people have managed to escape? Would Lanza have committed suicide earlier? Those are questions that, of course, cannot be answered, but surely if there is a chance, if there is a possibility that children can be saved from being exposed to drugs, shot or blown up by a psychopath or molested by a paedophile then it's worth the potential side-effects? Or should we just accept a portion of dead or psychologically damaged children as a fact of life? Is a childs life not worth the effort?

Something to think about.