From: "garigue" on Wed 22 Jun 2005 22:38


First of all John I see little humor in this discussion bringing into the
mix those poor souls with Alzheimer's syndrome ..... It is like the idiot
who posts here with references to colostomy bags ...... I sincerely hope
that either of you never have to go through that in your lives.

Wow. A LECTURE!

No lecture the Mr. Len just that I can't see injecting this in to the mix

snip

Tom, you had a LECTURE going whether you meant it or not.

That happens every once in a while when someone feels like they
have to proctor morality or preach "good works."

In truth, I posted a STRONG response...but that's because
I've seen a half century's worth of such LECTURES all about
HAVING to "help the young ones" or all about some deaf, blind,
dumb quadriplegic person "finally passing their ham test." As
if the ham test is some Holy Grail to seek, the ultimate test of
one's life?

Amateur radio is a HOBBY. De facto if not de jure. [that means
"in fact" even though it is not explicitly defined in some law
or regulation as such] NO ONE "owes anyone" for something they
do when no money has changed hands. If someone feels obligated
to another, fine, that's a personal thing to that someone. But,
that is NOT in any rules or regulations, and its "requirement"
is just inside some folks' heads...besides the Sumner editorial
pages in QST.

If you or anyone else has TRUE enthusiasm for some hobby, you
can PROJECT that to others and share the enthusiasm. If you
know more than they do, you can - if you are still enthusiastic
and want to share - help them out by increasing their knowledge.
Your enthusiasm for something will help you impart such new
knowledge to them. Even after over a half century of being
involved in radio-electronics, I'm still fascinated by it and
am still enthusiastic about learning more...but that does NOT
mean that I "MUST" "teach others" or any of that false "good
works" stuff for THEM. That's not any sort of "moral obligation"
that I "MUST" do in any hobby. Nor for anyone else with their
hobby. Hobbies are personal activities done for personal
enjoyment and recreation purposes.

As to the "service" word in Title 47, C.F.R., if you ask the FCC
they will tell you it is "a regulatory term denoting the type and
kind of radio activity being regulated." It does NOT imply some
grandiose "national service" at all. Ah, but "the FCC says so"
say many, not understanding what the FCC is saying...and then
they get all confused when I point out other services such as
the Citizens Band Radio SERVICE, the Radio Control Radio SERVICE,
the Family Radio SERVICE and so forth. It's in Title 47 in
nearly every Part.

Now, some folks seem to be tuckered out by all the lifting of
THEIR emotional baggage, at the use of "certain words" and
"certain phrases." In here lots seem to be carrying very OLD
baggage, complete with those stickers from olden times as if
they were there (even though they couldn't have) plastered all
over that "baggage." Sorry, the boat don't go there no more.
Time travel to "happier times" hasn't been invented yet. FCC
rules and regulations apply to time NOW and there's lots more
citizens of the U. S. of A. who MIGHT be interested in a radio
license and have much more modern "baggage" without all those
old-time travel stickers on it. Old-timers do NOT "own" the
hobby despite what they think and shout and demand.

Some folks get a big kick out of being "re-enactors" of every-
thing from midieval life to the American Civil War. Fine. If
that's what makes them happy, I say "have fun" and go for it.
But, trying to ENFORCE such "re-enactment" by keeping hard and
fast rules in LAW to freeze an activity in old, outmoded
standards and practices goes beyond the reasonable. LAW applies
to ALL, not just a bunch of old-timers trying to re-enact a
time when most of them did not exist. The future cannot be
eliminated by mere legislation holding it static.