Stunslinger.com Blog

As someone who has morals, values, and opinions (yes, I know…so unique!) I struggle when some of these values seem to conflict. As a psychologist-in-training I place a high value on promoting mental health. Time and again, I see situations where people who are in a vulnerable place are taken advantage of, and are driven deeper into illness… like any human being (especially one dedicated to helping people) I am greatly troubled by this.

Now, I also am someone who values human rights (again, who doesn’t?). I have long maintained that it is important to protect freedoms for people who I disagree with, because disagreeing with me does not limit your fundamental rights–just as my disagreeing with you does not limit my rights. Specifically, I believe in freedom of expression. I believe that hateful, “evil” speech should be countered not with censorship, but with more speech. To use a famous poem that said it far better than I ever could:

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.

So, you may be asking, how exactly do these values (mental health and free speech) conflict? Well, I recently was listening to a presentation about eating disorders, and the subject was brought up of Pro-Ana websites that encourage people to push themselves deeper into an eating disorder. Somebody commented that it was good that these sites are being blocked by many of the popular search engines, and a number of the webhosts deleted the sites from their servers. It was at this point that I paused.

Do I grieve that these sites exist, and that they encourage young people (usually young and usually girls, although more and more boys are becoming anorexic/bulimic) to damage their bodies through destructive eating habits? Absolutely. Do I wish that people struggling with this disorder would get encouragement towards health rather than towards an eating disorder? Of course! Do I think we should censor these sites to prevent people from viewing them? Um, well…you see….no?

I think this is one of those times where I have to decide whether freedom of expression is important enough to allow content that disturbs me to be out in the public eye. I am not happy that I make this decision, because I have seen the power of misinformation and the horrible encouragement these sites provide. I have seen families torn apart and people kill themselves because of eating disorders. To quote a supporter of the Anti-Ana movement:

I’m anti-ana because I want it out of my body. I’m anti-ana because I wouldn’t wish this hell upon my worst enemy, and it’s scary as anything to see how these uninformed girls embrace the disease.
– falls2climb on livejournal

This is an example of what should be happening, speech to counter speech. This is a discussion, this is preserving the rights of all while still taking a stand for what I believe in.

I don’t always know the reason, but I seem to go through periods of being bored with punk rock. I start feeling like I’ve heard all the songs before and nothing gets me excited. During these times I find myself listening to metal, rap, indie rock, anything other than punk really. Inevitably, an album comes along that makes me excited about punk rock again, and this album is definitely one such excitement inducing album.

Keep Your Heart is the first release by The Loved Ones for Fat Wreck Chords. I could go on and on about the rather famous bands the members of the Loved Ones have played in, or attempt to somehow describe their sound, but I’d rather just let you watch the video for one of their singles and make your own judgment.

I must say I’m very impressed with this signing by Fat, a label which has housed some of my favorite bands but hasn’t really done much to interest me with many of their recently signed bands. Smoke or Fire and None More Black moderately interested me, but I was very bored by Love Equals Death and the Sainte Catherines. Of course, they are entirely redeemed, not only by this signing, but also by the forthcoming Strike Anywhere record!

I seem to be perfecting the art of getting started on something and then ignoring it and letting it sit in the corner, banging its head trying to get some attention. Poor old blog, it found itself in that position…but thankfully blog is a little bit more psychologically healthy, so it took a little vacation (it says Cancun is nice, but a little overrated) and waited for me to return. Blog knows me so well, it knew I couldn’t stay away forever, and the seeming indifference would make me more interested in returning.

I love you blog, even when I ignore you…

In fact, I love blog so much that I’m actually going to try and get a readership. Mainly I’d like to get readers to fuel my ego, but also it would be cool if I could make at least $2 a month in google ads. Seriously. So don’t feel betrayed if you’re reading this now and then some day in the future you see some ads pop up on the site…don’t worry, you have credibility because you knew me back when. I’ll even make up t-shirts and sell them for profit that say “I knew Stunslinger.com before you did”. Hmm…that’s actually not such a horrible idea.