Diane Mulonas said:
>...the US, where we came from and why we are the
>greatest, free-est country in the world...

A lot of people living in this country (USA) confuse "freedom" with
"anarchy."  We are not an anarchist society, nor would we want to live in
one.

We have, thankfully, millions of laws in this country restricting behavior;
of the undisciplined, of the immoral,  of the powerful to prey on the less
powerful.  We have landlord-tenant laws.  We have labor laws.  We have laws
meant to control the amount of violence, degradation, and sexual predation
inflicted on one's person by those in positions of strength or authority:
spouses, parents, employers, teachers, neighbors, physicians, and
policemen.  None of these has yet brought us to a perfect society, but they
are helping to channel our behavior toward a better society.

We restrict cigarette and liquor and pornography sales to children.  We
restrict advertisements of the same to this audience--not an outright ban,
but an attempt to limit their influence and control over a susceptible
audience.

The beauty and power of advertising is that everyone is susceptible.  One
only needs to find the right "hook."

How about the advertising slogan, "America:  Land of the Free"?  Ever stop
to think about it?  Can anyone who says this actually support it?  What
makes Canada, Australia, or Scotland "Land of the Un-Free"?  But one hears
people repeat it all the time.  It has bypassed our rational questioning
and acquired the status of unquestioned truth--like "infant formula is just
as good as breastmilk."



Arly Helm                                       [log in to unmask]
MS, Nutrition; CLE, IBCLC; Lactation Consultant