A Bit of a Rant about Moral Values

Okay, I'm really peeved right now. I have been trying, nicely, for a couple of weeks, to unsubscribe from a stupid Internet email "hotsheet" that is supposed to entice me to buy more from a vendor I made the mistake of purchasing from several years ago. When you add to that recent violence in sports, movies, and books and the experience of driving in Massachusetts it gives me plenty to rant about. Let's get a few things straight:

1. My buying something from you doesn't mean I am giving my okay to be harassed ad infinitum, no matter how small the print is that you are using to justify it or how backhanded the "mining" of my information is. Here is a moral value: see your customers as more than a money dispensing piece of meat. Treat them with respect instead of gambling your relationship with them on the chance that they'll become your revenue stream. Luring someone to sign up for a drawing so you can then sell their information is not ethical, no matter how legal it is.
2. Spam, and advertising, are NOT free speech. You do not have the right to walk into my living room and spout your marketing spiel, why should you have the right to do it through email? Moral value: respect for others. Value humans above dollars.
3. When someone clicks a link that says 'unsubscribe me' it should do that. It should not validate the email address so that you can tell the people you sell it to that it is a validated address. Moral values: Honesty and Truthfulness. The Baha'i Writings say: "Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues." We learned in kindergarten that lying is bad. Were you absent that day?
4. Violence in sports outside the bounds of play is unacceptable. Football is a violent sport, but when played within the bounds of the rules it is a risk those who play it acknowledge and accept. Those who watch it know and accept the rules and what they will see. The spirit of the sport is shown in the reaction when a player is knocked unconscious or paralyzed. Everyone in the stadium, players and fans alike, hold their breath in hope for the health of the injured player. Respect for life and your competitor is acknowledged. When that violence and aggression turns into shoving matches, fights and bench-clearing brawls, it is unacceptable. Machismo is not a necessary part of sports or competition. Fighting among athletes is despicable. Fighting between fans is despicable. Fighting between fans and athletes is reprehensible. Ron Artest got suspended for the rest of the NBA season. The fans that were involved should be suspended for life. Moral Values: good sportsmanship and respect.
5. Alcohol at sporting events is ridiculous. If you are looking for an excuse to drink, stay home. If you want to see sports, enjoy it for the competition. Hey NBA, don't hide behind the fact that it is a major revenue stream to support a fan's right to get drunk. Hypocrisy doesn't become you. Why don't we just start selling alcohol at high school sporting events. At least they could really benefit from the revenue. Let's sell tobacco there, too.
6. Moving on to movies, I just watched The Incredibles this weekend. I was nearly in tears at the end of it, and they weren't tears of joy. They were tears of disgust and sadness as I watched dozens of children file past me on the way out of what was purportedly "family" entertainment. Admittedly, it was rated PG. Obviously the trailers for the movie wanted you to turn a blind eye to that and to take all the kiddies to it. All the trailers I saw before the movie were geared at children. The opening cartoon feature was geared at children. Why, then, were there scenes of torture? The most disturbing scene to me, if you'll pardon the spoiler, was Mr. Incredible grabbing Mirage by the throat and choking her. Once again, even in cartoon, we have normalized images of men being violent to women. Then we get upset when men beat their wives and wonder why they just can't control themselves. Because the normalizing images are everywhere! That's why! And this is in a cartoon being sold to children. Freaking brilliant, I say! Perhaps I am too sensitive to the issue having witnessed my own mother being subjected to domestic violence until I was five, but I think until we start pointing out this crap and how pervasive it is, it isn't going to go away.
7. I also read a book recently that was highly recommended. Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind. A relatively good book if you are looking for some fantasy escapism. I enjoyed most of it. Unfortunately the 75 page episode of torture rather turned me off. Moving on to a graphically described near rape was too much. I want my reading to be educational or entertaining. I don't want to read graphic descriptions of torture and rape. While deciding whether to read the second book, the dust jacket helped me make my decision. It said, "War, suffering, torture, and deceit lie in their paths, and nothing will save them from a destiny of violent death, unless..." Enough said. I'm on to another book. Maybe I'm getting prudish in my old age, but I don't watch movies that are advertised with sex and violence and blowing things up. I stay away from books that are like that too. Ever see the movie Children of Heaven? That's what I'm talking about.
8. Lastly, there are an enormous number of drivers in Massachusetts that have absolutely no concept of the drivers around them. They have no concept of space. The other day I was sitting in heavy traffic waiting to make a left hand turn when a car zoomed around me on the right, swerved to the left and dodged through a small hole in traffic to make a left turn 10 feet ahead of me. I shouldn't worry, they had at least 3 feet to spare. Today, someone did nearly the same thing. They saw me slowing down to make a left hand turn behind the car in front of me. The yanked the wheel to the right and went around the two cars only to make a left turn into where I was going. There is a culture of aggression here that is inexcusable. The cops, who regularly pull people over for having a license plate light out, should be arresting aggressive drivers who are running lights and cutting people off. Patience, people. You'll get there. It may be a minute later, and you may not have "beaten" the person in front of you, but the world will be a happier place.

By the way. Never, ever, order anything from eCost.com if you value your privacy.

Rant over. I'm out.