"Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever."
I had a lively chat with the crew this morning about Boy Scouts. My son is at an age when we are just starting out with Cub Scouts, the sons, (and daughter), from other mothers are also involved in BSA programs, or BSA like programs due to changes at their charter organizations.
The primary subject of conversation was mainly centered on BSA going woke which has led to some issues with declining membership and the possible Hail Mary pass of adding girls to the mix, much to the chagrin of the Girl Scouts.
I won't pull any punches, I think the Girl Scouts is a terrible organization and program and I have felt that way since I was a kid. I remember seeing what my sister was doing there, and thinking it sucked. I was a Boy Scout at the time, working my way toward Eagle. Lot's of activities, merit badges, camping, etc. I attended two national jamborees, and GS seemed to have nothing that could compete with that.
Changes at the BSA to be more inclusive of gay and lesbian scouts and scouters as well as the addition of girls in the mix has proved controversial . Large religious groups that had been feeding scouts into the system for decades have noped out.
The bankruptcy and abuse settlements, and charter organizations finding themselves left open to lawsuit exposure has only accelerated charter organizations to dump their packs/troops.
New focus on DEI requirements including a merit badge needed for Eagle Scout with what appear, at least to me, to be amorphous requirements that seem innocuous for now, but will almost certainly change and become more objectionable over time has led even more charter organizations to review their associations with BSA and choose affiliation with competing programs.
I have taken the position that those other programs are not good. They are not good because they do not offer the same world class scouting adventures, programs and facilities that the BSA has at their disposal. They are weak facsimiles, and maybe agenda driven by their founders. As someone who has reached middle age, to me they look lame. I have no idea what kids think of them. The opportunities that young men and now women have at their disposal with BSA can be life affirming/changing. Bed rock stuff that you build a good life on. I have no idea how that shakes out with these other groups. I'd certainly like to know more.
On the flip side of that, the BSA is selling off it's world class assets to pay for lawsuit settlements. I have a lot to say about that kind of stuff another time. But what's the good of saying "hey we have the best stuff", when you are auctioning said stuff off to real estate developers.
I think what's being sold now is under utilized and/or closed facilities. The BSA is not what it was at it's hey day, membership has not been large enough to sustain operation of all these camps for a long time. They have withered and died and the BSA owns a lot or real estate. This is real estate that should probably be conserved, but it's an asset, and it needs to be liquidated to save the rest of the organization.
I think the BSA also suffers from an identity crisis. A corporate race to the bottom to promote uniformity and eliminate any kind of local flavor or regional customs. I saw this first hand as a youth, with consolidation after consolidate of small, closely knit councils and OA lodges, into large monolithic sterile mega councils and lodges. I was aging out as a lot of this came to fruition, but I guess I'll see how it works soon enough with my son.
Long story short. Can the BSA be saved? With the changes made over the last decade, and the controversies, can a competent member driven organization rise from the ashes like a phoenix. Focuses on character development, leadership, and good citizenship? Or is it already dead? Will the new DEI office of the BSA flay it's corpse and parade around in wearing a woke skin suit for a while, destroying it's legacy until it finally collapses into the dumpster fire.
Welcome to the dumpster fire. We've planted the flag here as a base of operations in the ever changing landscape of social media outlets. Based on what I've seen so far Locals seems like a safe bet for now to avoid running afoul of the censorship overlords that seem to increasingly dominate our lives and the public discourse.
I'm Riggs, a recovering social media addict and political junkie. I've begrudgingly ventured back into the twitter cesspool as I prepare to launch youtube and rumble content, hopefully alongside two life long friends. We'll wade into minefields of politics, religion, pop culture, and the general hell scape that is Anno Domini 2022 and beyond.
Here's to hoping we find our footing and grow our community of like minded and perhaps not so like minded internet denizens before we are all turned into radioactive ash.
Cheers!
We are all big fans of the Indiana Jones franchise, as young boys we were treated to nazi's getting their faces melted, and dudes getting their still beating hearts ripped out of their chests. Our favorite middling college professor/grave robber is back in the summer of 2023... and I am hoping for Nuclear Armageddon before we have to see it.
We had our weekly episode of The Bitter End the other night, and one of the topics I want to touch on periodically is the ever changing Cannabis landscape in The United States. As children of the 80's we grew up with "Just Say No", D.A.R.E. and other programs, and then watched a bunch of contemporaries get into drugs anyway. It's never been anything I've been particularly interested in, but as someone fairly naïve about these sorts of things, I've been fascinated by the change in social mores over the last decade as states one by one move to decriminalize.
Is it still a left/right issue? Are pockets of the GOP stupid for not embracing an expansion of liberties? What went on at MJBizCon that was recently held in Las Vegas?
We discuss!
