[animus9]

One might wonder why it is that we have higher standards for our children than for ourselves. Maybe it's because they are born with a kind of innocence that we do not want to see corrupted. Maybe instead of lowering our standards for our kids we should actually set a good example and live up to the same standards we expect of them.

(Imagine if we did this with respect to all things that we try to hide from our children.)

I have heard all the arguments in favour of swearing and I used to believe them: I no longer do. The problem with swearing is that it becomes an unchecked impulse of aggression -- and eventually a habit that is very hard to break. The least that could be said is that it degrades the quality and content of speech to the point where some people become nearly unintelligible. What do we gain by introducing unnecessary chaos into the ordered system of communication?

Let us look above, not below, for our moral standards.