I think I would like this story if it was science-fiction, but in real life it's child abuse because the child cannot consent. Not that "the west" is much better with its garbage fire excusal of genital mutilation due to a millennia-old religious text. (It's especially ridiculous when people bend themselves into pretzels to defend the circumcision of babies while simultaneously claiming that teenagers who seek gender-affirming surgery are somehow victims of child abuse.) In any case, I'm sure many children who go through this abuse learn to appreciate it as a part of their culture and fulfil the role that was forced upon them at birth, just as many of our royals do, but as an outsider who believes in equal opportunity I find this story creepy and not inspiring at all!
That's the thing, I didn't say I **like** this story, just that it's one I often think about.
What I most appreciate is a culture that has real appreciation for the power of human wonder/astonishment about the everyday world, and use that as an anchor to keep their society grounded in the wonder about *all* existence and human experience of the world.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a society who has "clean" hands, where every child actually does have an equal opportunity for success/failure with no danger of abuse and their full consent being expected/respected along the way. But,... my, that does sound nice. Just because our world happens to be pretty awful... to lots of people, but that is not a reason to excuse being awful to someone, either.
I agree that it doesn't make sense to look at something that seems morally wrong and then forgive it because some other thing done by somebody else is also morally wrong. Either something is wrong or it isn't, and in my opinion selecting a child at birth to undergo "special treatment" (whether for good or for evil) is wrong.
In the capitalist system we do this implicitly through inheritance. I think one thing we could do to improve equal opportunity in our society would be a 100% estate tax above the median net worth. You're rich and you die? All of your excess wealth should go to the government to redistribute fairly. Your heirs should include the community you lived in and the society that enabled you to become a success, not just arbitrary individuals who already experienced the privilege of a more comfortable lifestyle while they were related to you in life.
Of course to make this work you would also need to limit gifts and strictly regulate NGOs and corporations to make sure they are not just fronts for a nepotistic transfer of
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That is really interesting! Sounds like a great plot for a movie, too (ever hear of The Giver?
The one thing I'd be curious about, medically, is if the child suffers any vision problems from eyes not being used/exposed for a long time when much development happens. I think of moles who live their whole lives underground and thus have very poor vision.
The way I remember it being explained (by the people who make this happen) was that the children end up with ULTRA vision, very sensitive to light and ESPECIALLY sensitive to color, and whether that is an emotional reaction to oly having color described before they get to see it or the ways the eyes become highly attuned... well, I don't know if anyone knows.
I am a little creeped out by the thought of denying a child of their sight for 9 years and what it does psychologically. It seems wrong to control human beings like that. Yet - something is intriguing about being forced to use your other senses to make sense of the world. By their nature (at least in my opinion), the sense of touch and smell requires more intimacy with the world and people around you. (or that's my evaluation). Being denied sight would force you to be more in tune with the world. But (another thought) maybe it would also foster too much dependency.
I think my brain exploded when I read Ovid's "The Art of Love" and how he's totally supportive of the catamite system and gives all the reasons for why men NEED other (young)men (but most especially boys) for "stimulation" and how women and young boys are talked about in much the same way as being physical AND sexual property for adult men to "have fun" with and "use as needed" to feel happy and excited by life and if the women/boys don't like it, so what? The boys will grow into men who WILL UNDERSTAND why its enjoyable, and women's feelings don't matter anyways, so who cares?
From someone raised in 80s/90s American culture where homosexuality is very present but very taboo...a 2000 year old dude being very matter of fact and supportive of not only male/male sexual attraction but being very blase about male rape and sexual submission/coercion as well was pretty wild.
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just that it's one I often think about.
What I most appreciate is a culture that has real appreciation for the power of human wonder/astonishment about the everyday world, and use that as an anchor to keep their society grounded in the wonder about *all* existence and human experience of the world.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a society who has "clean" hands, where every child actually does have an equal opportunity for success/failure with no danger of abuse and their full consent being expected/respected along the way. But,... my, that does sound nice. Just because our world happens to be pretty awful... to lots of people, but that is not a reason to excuse being awful to someone, either.
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I agree that it doesn't make sense to look at something that seems morally wrong and then forgive it because some other thing done by somebody else is also morally wrong. Either something is wrong or it isn't, and in my opinion selecting a child at birth to undergo "special treatment" (whether for good or for evil) is wrong.
In the capitalist system we do this implicitly through inheritance. I think one thing we could do to improve equal opportunity in our society would be a 100% estate tax above the median net worth. You're rich and you die? All of your excess wealth should go to the government to redistribute fairly. Your heirs should include the community you lived in and the society that enabled you to become a success, not just arbitrary individuals who already experienced the privilege of a more comfortable lifestyle while they were related to you in life.
Of course to make this work you would also need to limit gifts and strictly regulate NGOs and corporations to make sure they are not just fronts for a nepotistic transfer of ( ... )
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Progress for all.
Simple enough.
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The one thing I'd be curious about, medically, is if the child suffers any vision problems from eyes not being used/exposed for a long time when much development happens. I think of moles who live their whole lives underground and thus have very poor vision.
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The way I remember it being explained (by the people who make this happen) was that the children end up with ULTRA vision, very sensitive to light and ESPECIALLY sensitive to color, and whether that is an emotional reaction to oly having color described before they get to see it or the ways the eyes become highly attuned... well, I don't know if anyone knows.
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But... what system is?
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From someone raised in 80s/90s American culture where homosexuality is very present but very taboo...a 2000 year old dude being very matter of fact and supportive of not only male/male sexual attraction but being very blase about male rape and sexual submission/coercion as well was pretty wild.
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