The 6 Most Insane Moral Panics in American History
Shocking how all our moral panics involve youth. Gasp. I never heard of the shit-huffing one though, that’s bizarre. But shows just how desperately people want to believe that kids are all depraved monsters and toss their common sense out the window to try and make that case. As far as rationality as a requirement for voting, why do we let any of these hysterical adults vote?
I only wish they made this a true top 10 list. There are far more moral panics out there. From video games to rap music to popped collars, this nation’s anti-youth busy bodies have been… well… busy.
February 24th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Of course they’re about youth. Nobody would give a crap if it were 40-somethings doing these things. When you point a finger at a 40-year-old and say “I disapprove!” you might get some mild agreement from some people but eventually that hits a wall when people realize “whatever, he’s an adult, it’s his own business, not harming anyone, leave him alone.” Far from a panic anyway. But, as we know of course, kids get no such privilege, and by age alone, everyone feels invited to stick their noses into their lives and business. Why? Protectionism? Nope! Protection is just a nice sounding excuse adults say to each other when they point fingers at youth to make them look altruistic, and often believe it themselves. The REAL reason is exploitation. I mean, if you don’t want marijuana getting legalized you need only act like it’ll destroy kids and talk about how, even if it’d just be for adults, kids will still get it and still die somehow. Why does this work? Because pretending you care about kids is popular and a sure way to get people on board. Because everyone knows that if kids’ lives are the least bit impure, then the universe will crumble.