Pounding Sand - Kym Kemp Style

This is the Kym Kemp of the Redheaded Blackbelt blog - a co-conspirator of and with Hank Sims of the Lost Coast Outpost blog. This post is NOT about Kym Kemp per se, some personal vendetta, blog or comment censorship as much as it is about what it means to be a responsible ADULT.

You can find the definition of what it means to "pound sand" here or as defined here the second variation: "A variant meaning is to suffer or to act in a pointless manner" – the titled meaning used for this posting.

I recently had an interesting and sort of profitable email conversation with Kym. (Probably more profitable for me than her, but what the heck?) I figured she'd be, or at least the incentive would be there for her to be more honest in our efforts to communicate. We were talking about “after-the-fact” blog censorship – arbitrary blocking and deleting comments in the public comments section based upon individual ignorance, bias and personal prejudice – a form of racism*. I thought about what she said in that conversation and about what she did NOT say. I tried to answer her concerns about talking to her like a "small child." That and while she said I usually talk over everyone's head, my comments somehow become nothing more than unacceptable "negative," "ugly taunts. Apparently, according to her, I was unable speak to her like a mature adult. There is a time to be a whinny little baby and then there is the time to grow up and become an adult. Adults understand that most children live in the moment where life's realities are defined by how everything affects and profits them. Adults, on the other hand, know that life encompasses much, much more than living an animal existence. In the process I happened to read her comments posted on her affiliate blog. Also posted below. (A place I never make comments just to avoid this kind of a double-edged trap.)

Then it occurred to me, when she had accused me of treating her like a small child, why. What she said and what she wanted me to give her the right to do, was exactly the same conversation I'd had with my own daughter when she was moving out of adolescence. She wanted to be an adult and wanted her mother and me to treat her like an adult, but without any responsibility or accountability. She naively believed that being an adult meant that she had the right to come and go, do and say whatever she felt like WITHOUT any personal accountability. Of course, we all know that the world does not work like that, even though they all believe it does. Being an adult meant that you were free from any rules or laws. Enforcement of any rules or laws amounted to nothing more than a wannabe adult making "ugly taunts." That's when our relationship got dicey – for awhile. Even so, during this time she had a protected environment to grow and become a more mature person – her stated goal. So, what does that say about Kym? 

Kym's problem, the one she refuses to accept, is that she is exactly what she still is, an adolescent. I say that, because just like my daughter, she refuses to accept responsibility for her stipulated lifestyle beliefs. She believes that 50 years of an ingrained criminal culture involving large amounts of tax-free easy money, lying, stealing, money laundering, corruption and murder has or had NO morally detrimental or harmful effects on the social structure or the integrity of the individual, family and community, including the business community. Not only does Kym believe this nonsense, but she's constantly trying to justify and legitimize why the individual has the moral, ethical and legal right to trash social and societal rules, norms and laws at will - at the individuals sole discretion. (I posted the above referenced relevant comments below.) Notice her comment: “Just because people are willing to break stupid laws doesn't mean they are willing to be immoral.” This judgmental statement, in and of itself, "stupid laws," defines the morality, or rather, amorality of the speaker. It is that judgement repudiating the majority right to define and enforce rules of the road; LAW, that is "immoral." Here the mantra is the defacto enforcement of the Rule of Men replacing the Rule of Law. I believe, therefore I am truth, right and justice – LAW.

To me, her statement is morally repugnant and highly offensive. Why? Because of the untold numbers of the murdered dead, rotting in those hills who scream out something altogether different. These people,  so-called innocent "plant growers" – pot growers et al. and business community alike, whether they intended to become or ever wanted to become, are all part and party to the deaths of these “innocent plant growers.” Growing that “plant” and “breaking stupid laws,” as she so naively puts it, is not only immoral, but is the self-centered, self-righteous arrogance of the “corrupt to the gut” amoral.

a·mor·al [http://www.thefreedictionary.com/amoral ] 

  1. Not admitting of moral distinctions or judgments; neither moral nor immoral.
  2. Lacking moral sensibility; not caring about right and wrong.

There is an easy way to illustrate and bring home what and how these people, not only the growers, but all the local businesses and untold numbers of non-grower "growers" that have exploited this corrupt, immoral and depraved criminal enterprise, enforce their personal, opinion based beliefs and judgments on a day to day basis. Notice that on her blog and that of Hank Sims you will NOT find any rules or guidelines for making comments on their blog. Here is an example of what I mean along with MY Comment Guidelines, located first paragraph top left. Again, reinforced under Pages: Comment Etiquette below. They simply expect you to divine or submit like a little puppy to their unspoken demands and personal prejudices. Since I'm not a mind reader that created a bit of problem when being judged by bigotry, bias and racist prejudices – not to mention childish ignorance and bullying stupidity. They, and others, divine the right to judge everyone as you go. They post NO rules of the road so that everyone knows without doubt what is and is not expected. They not only want to be judge, jury and executioner, they expect everyone commenting on their blog to give them that right. How this corrupt way bleeds over into society was graphically demonstrated when the Fortuna police asserted this right by killing Jacob Newmaker March 16, 2012. I've written fairly extensively how this police killing is the result of enforcing the Rule of Men. See below Self Defense Is a Bitch and Resist AND Die - Why?

Then there is the OTHER SIDE – The Dark Side. Where the totally innocent person or family that wants absolutely nothing to do with the corruption and it's handmaidens, the criminal elite that get drawn into a serious life and death struggle to survive. Two good examples of this are the Saturday, March 24, 2012 Times-Standard account of "Victim recounts harrowing home invasion, torture" and the Arcata Police home invasion by deception of a 64 year old Barbara Sage by "about a dozen officers with guns drawn." You can read about that in today's Times-Standard here: Arcata woman sues city, police over potless pot search; suit alleges unlawful search, rough treatment hastened husband's death.

Synonymous to the Rule of Men is its root cause: CORRUPTION. What does one rotten apple have in common with a barrel of good apples? A whole barrel full of rotten apples, that's what. Kym's moralizing and devaluing law is symptomatic of much more than an adolescent attitude and understanding. It is the sand pounding of her constant justification that, in view of the corrupt and depraved consequences, where rot is the norm, that is reprehensible and intolerable. It is the dead in these hills that do the judging. No matter how much sand pounding Kym does in support of this corruption and these criminals, the dead are still dead. You can't censor them.

--Joe

Racism:
1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races  determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race  is superior and has the right to rule others.
2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination.

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Comments on Lost Coast Outpost :: Starting with "Noone's comment" :: Beach Scum Perpetrate Peninsula Car Burglary Spree 

Noone,
Personally I wonder how much of the theft problem is related to the wink, wink, nudge, nudge, drug culture that permeates Humboldt.  It's not that far a stretch to say if you're willing to overlook one law (or set of laws) relating to production of cannabis, then other laws are overlookable (to coin a term).  Especially when most of the media sources contain advertising that is directly targeted towards production of cannabis

Kym Kemp, Freelance writer, photographer, blogger. Associated with Lost Coast Radio
I'm sure there are marijuana growers that are thieves BUT it is a big stretch to go from growing a plant to stealing a camera. Just because people are willing to break stupid laws doesn't mean they are willing to be immoral.

Noone,
Kym,  I was actually talking more about the culture in which law-breaking is tolerated with a wink and a nudge rather than saying growers are thieves.  For instance, how much did Prohibition drive the development of organized crime that promoted many other illegal activities but used bootlegging as the ground floor, so to speak?  How much of the current violence in Mexican drug cartels is based on the idea that since they're willing to make money on illegal cannabis (and meth, cocaine, etc..) shipments then everything else, including murder, is okay too?

And if you're willing to say some are laws are stupid and okay to break, who's to say someone else doesn't think some other laws are also stupid and okay to break.  The point is that when we as a culture tolerate illegal behavior of one kind, we're probably going to tolerate more illegal behavior of every kind.  How much of the current property crime exists because no one bothers to prosecute it because it's just a little crime, not a big one just like modest MJ grows are a little crime, so let's just ignore it.

At least that's what I'm wondering if it holds true because why else do we have a crime rate that's considerably higher than other comparably sized rural communities in the country.

I'm aware that you're supportive of growers as people just trying to make a living, but when it's based on an ostensibly illegal activity when does it inculcate a culture of illegality?

Kym Kemp,
Noone, I appreciate your thoughtful response. It is a reality that Humboldt culture tolerates (to some extent) marijuana growing.  We love all that green green money that supports our businesses and their workers. Who knows how much tolerating lawbreaking leads to other lawbreaking?  But I have to say most growers lean heavily to the "break one law at a time rule."  In other words, if you are growing pot, you better not give law enforcement a reason to look at you. If you read the news, you see people getting caught growing because they got caught doing something else or upsetting the neighbors so most growers avoid other crimes.

--Joe