I'm not middle-class. Nor white. Nor from even a remotely functional family.

Domestic violence? Abuse? Yeah, and then some.

Issues from my childhood? Again, check.

Preys on young girls, cheats on wife and deadbeat to kids?

NOPE.

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In case my point isn't clear: there are men (and women) who endure all Shawn has gone through...

And we don't turn out to be royal arseholes.

Yeah, we have baggage - which we may try to alleviate with therapy, etc...

But we don't perpetuate cycles of abuse.

And we are capable of emotional intelligence and maturity.

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And when commenters on this thread cry that Shawn should get a pass due to his terrible childhood / family life, you are indirectly slapping the face of folks like me who endured similar extreme dysfunction...and came out the end as generally decent people.

So please, folks: stop slapping me already.

P.S. - Can Americans quit romanticizing arseholes already?

Anyone can be a prick like Shawn.

But to be a good person - flawed, imperfect, yet trying to treat your fellow man or woman with empathy?

That takes fuckin' talent. Romanticize that for a change.

(That sound you hear? Around the world little boys' heads are exploding.)

True, indeed...but the "heads" which are exploding are not the ones of which you're thinking.

And it's happening to big boys, too. =)

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Now, show me a butch lesbian superhero who fights crime in practical shoes...

She already exists in real life!

Not sure what shoes she wears - but her name is Rachel Maddow.

Firstly, any responsible dog owner - and there are millions of us - would not "flame" you for your stance on leashes, cleaning up poop or barking.

That being said...

"Don't think for a moment that it deserves to be valued as a human."

I get your basic point: because a person can treat a dog like a slave, dogs are lower than humans.

But DO YOU actually GET WHAT YOU ARE SAYING?

You are justifying enslavement by denigrating the victim.

Which is how white Christian ministers justified slavery back in the day: because you can own Negroes as slaves, they are an inferior race to 'humans' (read: whites).

Good grief, man! I'm assuming your unfortunate analogy was well-intended (unless you're from the Deep South, perhaps)...but think about your argument a little better next time, maybe?

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Oh, and in case you didn't read my other post in this thread:

My stance is that humans are capable of malice, hatred, bloodlust and evil that would make even the most rabid, distempered mutt cower in horror and fear.

So don't think for a moment that humans deserve to be valued as a dog.

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PS I'm a loving, generous, thoughtful husband and father, adored by his family

Good for you. I'm a childless adult male who can't stand undisciplined, misbehaving, screaming, pampered spoilt little human brats - and adores / is adored by animals and adult friends.

To each his own.

life stays Epic all damn week long!!! ;-)

(The weekends, though? Brutal, hombre. Brutal.)

Step 1. Let go of your childhood.

How? Follow Step 2.

Step 2. Read the book "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz. It is neither self-help dogma nor religious instruction; it simply suggests a worldview where we can be free from the "agreements" conditioned in us from the time we are born.

Step 3. If nothing else, heed - and really think about - the first new Agreement: Be impeccable with your Word.

Step 4. Become gracious and giving.

Cheers,

Lonewolfy

She-Ra, Princess of Power!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quzY7ONePM4

(This comment brought to you by Mattel, Inc. =)

a society not so concentrated in cities because of corporate agriculture and the decimation of small towns and small farms;

I am a city-slicker, and that much happier for it. My time in small towns & rural farming devolves my mood and sentiments into:

a.) Absolute boredom. Give me theater, cinema (that plays independent films and not just Adam Sandler crap), museums, art galleries, Irish pubs, various ethnic eateries (good luck finding Chinese food...or even, umm, people...in a small town), interesting curio stores and emporiums that reflect individual thinking...

Do NOT give me just one restaurant in town - a fuckin' Applebees or Perkins at that - and a friggin' Wal-Mart SuperCenter.

b.) Fear. As a brown-skinned person, I have never been so uncomfortable, anxious and isolated in my life as I have been in American small towns.

Yes, I understand they don't see many non-evangelical, non-whites in these parts.

But the hostile glares, and stares trying to pinpoint what I am (Is he Mexican = illegalito? A-rab = terrorist? Native American = drunk, homeless beggar? Their stereotypes, mind ya...not mine!) give me the creeps.

Small towns and farms are the kinda places people can lynch you, and bury you amongst the corn...and the outside world would never find out.

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So you find happiness in small towns? All power to you.

Same to any white evangelical heterosexual conservative person out there.

But the rest of us find our happiness in the multiculti mix of the city.

And I for one will put up with higher crime, traffic and other social warts of city life to feel safe in my ethnicity, enjoy the interesting, vibrant arts and stores...and the occasional pad thai or Moo Shu chicken. =)