Tom, it isn't a specific you, but a generic towards the world in general.<br><br>As far scouting s concerned, leavingout the politics, I've had the chance to watch only my younger brother's troop. He was the unoffical head of a group of rebels who did things like winter camping on thier own, repelling, and learned woodscraft. I taught that group a lot, outside of thier troop, becuase thier leaders were more of the macaroni-project types. That's fine for cub scouts, maybe, but boy scouts? Camping from cars, rather than walking in to the site. The only tme anything even remotely risky was attempted by a new scout leader, these rebels basically mutinied becuase he was needlessly endangering scouters on a winter campout- no rations, minimal water, all kinds of garbage that would have landed the troop in court if something unscoutly hadn't happened.<br><br>These are the same rebels who bulled through a fire/rescue explorer post that did things like actually show up at fire grounds, much to the horror of the council. <br><br>And they all got thier Eagle, and they all were OA. And they all left in disgust after thier troop decided that it was too dangerous to teach knives and fire making when they had kids who lit fires and used knives in inappropriate manners already. Never mind throwing out the psychos, just punish everyone else. <br><br>Maybe I'm in an area that needs a major house cleaning. But every scout troop I've seen hasn't impressed me. The kids who want to learn fieldcraft leave and learn on thier own, becuase they are bored. The only ones left are the ones who's parents make them go, thinking that it is a good influence, while thier little monsters would rather be out torturing small animals and lighting fires. (I'm not making that up- I know some of the kids in question, and some of them had already been in juvi court by the age of 10.) <br><br>When it comes parenting, a lot of us here are or will be trying to raise kids right, to make sure they know about something other than the couch. But most parents aren't- and I don't buy the "too busy just making ends meet" line, becuase my mom did, by herself, with a three boys and girl. I mght be the most comfortable living from a twenty pound pack for a week, but we all can do it. We all knew how to use a knife by the time we were 8. We all knew how to shoot by age 9. We all learned that nature isn't a special on the Discovery Channel, but as real or more so than anything that humans wrap themselves up in, try to escape it.<br><br>And part of it is, we as the older generations, don't think the younger generations can do things. We, as a culture, shelter them and insulate them from anything that isn't synthetic. And part of that is the growing urban concentration- I consider raising a kid int he city a form of neglect, becuase they never get to see the stars or white snow or clean water or anything else natural. And then when city folk move to the rural areas, they whine becuase they don't want the real country, but rather the cute and cuddly and sanitized for thier protection green acres version. <br><br>It isn't attack on anyone person. It's a complaint about an organization that has, in my experince, left it roots, and about a society that seems to be collapsing under the weight of the clueless. A rant. A venting. <br><br>And nothing personal.