Nicker on 14/2/2012 at 23:11
I realise this topic could prove as divisive as abortion or evolution, so if the mods want to erase it I would not complain... BUT...
My subtitle for this was "The Decline of Empire"
I am sure most of us have not been able to avoid this story, (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl1ujzRidmU&lc=W90-lS7HaOtMcaleaHzpVyVf9XlTtkFwkCwmUXVHLFA&feature=inbox) Dad Shoots Laptop.
Quite apart from the whole
parenting with guns madness, what I find really disturbing is that people approve of his actions 10 to 1. Those results may be skewed a bit but not much. That split pretty much follows the topic all over youtube.
Either those in favour of the 45 solution can't separate the issue of a being a frustrated parent from the fact that he used a gun to make his point OR they fully approve of violently destroying things as a method of instilling adult sensibilities in teenagers. (This kind of behaviour is a symptom of an abusive relationship - how to hurt without leaving bruises.)
Either way I find it hard to fathom the enormous anger and alienation that could fuel the overwhelming approval of such dysfunctional behaviour. I can't imagine how wide the gap between generations has become that it can only be bridged by hot lead.
How can we survive as a species when people with the emotional maturity of toddlers are raising teenagers? And how can the vast majority of people celebrate this sickness?
This, as much as any other symptom, makes me wonder if the end of western civilisation, at least in North America, is closer at hand than previously suspected.
I hope it's just a momentary release and that cooler heads will prevail but right now it looks like is just the first shot in a summer of gunboat parenting. Maybe it means something else. I await any enlightenment that TTLG might offer.
Al_B on 14/2/2012 at 23:55
Quote Posted by Nicker
what I find really disturbing is that people approve of his actions 10 to 1. Those results may be skewed a bit but not much. That split pretty much follows the topic all over youtube.
To be fair, it's quite probably a case of people who tend to post comments on youtube approving his action more than people in general. It seems more often than not these days that any popular video attracts a disproportionate number of impulse based reactions.
Of course, the video is also presented from only one perspective which is only going to skew matters in the first place, no matter how ridiculous it is for a parent to think that a long, boring monologue about how dreadful he's brought up his daughter is an acceptable thing to place online. The "gun" aspect of the video is probably my least problem with it - he could have easily dropped the laptop off a ten storey building, set fire to it or thrown it into a river and it wouldn't change the nature of it.
Scots Taffer on 15/2/2012 at 01:38
"This is your laptop. This is my 45."
Gold.
demagogue on 15/2/2012 at 02:01
So a lot of people haven't gotten the memo yet that you don't take anything seriously anymore, FB posts & Tweets least of all. So much the worse for them. For that girl, college probably can't come fast enough and then she gets the hell out of there & now they're estranged.
If you think it's troubling, the compassionate response is to be a good example to everyone around you and inspire them not to be such glorious assholes, and maybe to travel outside the country (and not with a hand-holding tour group but one where they have to deal with the foreigners being different from them and can't say it's "wrong") or read a book outside their comfort zone once and a while. Don't underestimate the healing power of utter & complete disillusionment, the kind that makes people nauseous to the point of anguish, and encourage it in others when you can. Edit: Not that it's possible to save a guy like this short of cataclysmic disillusionment in his asshole values that his confidence in them is ground to dust. But short of that, some people will just never get it.
Yakoob on 15/2/2012 at 02:06
Honestly, I am totally on the girl's side. Her rant sounds like a typical angsty teenager. But then when you consider the guy, his response, his overall demeanor and just the vibe he gives off, I can totally see him being the anal-retentive snap-at-your-kid-for-the-most-insignificant-shit parent. Especially when he talks about how at her age he moved out and paid for college (nevermind he's forgetting massive tuition increase since then), which just smells of "I had a hard time so should you" attitude.
I mean not only does he SHOOT HER LAPTOP because she said a few things, he FILMED AND PUT IT ON YOUTUBE afterwards. I mean, who the hell does that? And as I first said, it's a "typical angsty teenager," it's a phase every kid goes through and should not require such extreme reactions, especially since her worst offense was merely saying a few things to her friends. Like other kids dont talk shit about their parents behind their backs.
Fafhrd on 15/2/2012 at 02:22
I'm pretty much the only one at work who responded to that video with 'That guy's a total asshole.'
It's a teenage facebook rant. Who gives a fuck? It's no different than her bitching about her mean dad to her friends when they're at school, or him bitching about his manager being kind of a dick at the local watering hole. Children are just as entitled to privately blow off steam as adults are.
And twenty bucks says the daughter is going to be pregnant within a year.
Scots Taffer on 15/2/2012 at 04:14
Entitlement culture is definitely a troubling issue in western civilisation, but I have a suspicion that it will soon be moderated by the potentially permanent and severe onset of global deleveraging.
jay pettitt on 15/2/2012 at 04:23
...thing with parenting, is that you try and instil the values that you think are important. Which can look pretty odd if they're not your values.
It's not something I'd want to do - but otherwise I don't have a big problem with this.
The copyright notice is tinsel on the tree though.
catbarf on 15/2/2012 at 06:59
Quote Posted by Fafhrd
It's a teenage facebook rant. Who gives a fuck? It's no different than her bitching about her mean dad to her friends when they're at school, or him bitching about his manager being kind of a dick at the local watering hole. Children are just as entitled to privately blow off steam as adults are.
You're right that a kid's entitled to privately blow off steam, but I don't think Facebook qualifies as 'privately'. If I posted on Facebook or a bunch of forums that I hate my job and hate my boss and hate the management, I wouldn't be surprised if it was noticed and I got fired as a result. That stuff's out there, accessible by more than just a couple of friends, and stays there long after you're done being angry.
I think a lot of people (not pointing at anyone here, just in general) are being biased by the use of the gun, because there's a stigma associated with firearms in many cultures that wouldn't be relevant if he had, say, used an axe or thrown it off a roof. If we look at the basic facts, it's basically that a girl posted an unappreciative, angry rant to her Facebook, and her father destroyed her laptop as a response.
From what little's in the video I don't think there's enough to really support or condemn his actions. Shooting the laptop instead of just confiscating it seems really over the top, but I can appreciate some of the sentiment of his response, and it wasn't a simple 'you said bad things, I go shoot shiny technology'.
Sulphur on 15/2/2012 at 07:43
It's not about the gun, though, is it? The gun's the icing on the cake, but even if he did throw the laptop off a building, or set it on fire, or take an axe to it, here's the problem: his daughter is a teenager, and teens are likely to do this sort of shit -- you deal with it as a mature adult in a mature fashion, not in a tit-for-tat game of escalating aggression.
All this brilliant little drama is going to do is provoke worse behaviour and make her resent her parents (and the fact that it's a step-mom currently doesn't help, I'm sure) even more. That's the problem. All this video is about is a power play -- 'I'm bigger than you, so when you act like a brat, I'm going to fuck up your shit and there's nothing you can do about it.' So he blows off some steam and gets an ego boost by showing up his 15-year old daughter. Good for him. So much for addressing and dealing with adolescent behaviour.
