The urchling is absolutely bang on in her analysis - and she's correct in her assertion that swapping genital leaking for facial leaking is a very good good compromise.... unfortunately there is a problem in this particular bit of socialising teenage boys in particular.

If you don't teach teenage boys how to differentiate all their emotions, they'll experience them all as anger (anger, carefully channelled into aggression can be a very useful emotion for competitive teenage boys if harnessed appropriately) and it's the one most teenage boys can easily identify. However, if what they should be emotionally responding with is sadness, anger won't help. It usually makes things worse. Until we teach boys to facially leak and have adults around them to guide this process we will be stuck. Instead, we have a form of emotional constipation, rather like putting a cork in a toddler's bumhole, eventually it'll explode and cover everyone in shit. The kids are not okay.

Alas, the democratic process is still fine because when it isn't fine, you have armed uprising - it may be swayed towards a system that doesn't enact what the majority of people want, but that's still the system you have and it isn't broken (yet), that 20% need to be voted out in order for change to occur - but I think there are valid arguments on both sides. Some Guy makes an excellent case for why guns aren't the problem

I suspect the quickest way to reach gun reform would be for the 80% of the population who want it, to unionise and quit working every other day until the law is passsed- but the US doesn't seem to work in a collectivist way... but if you hurt the GDP and stayed home, something would get done I suspect. The evangelical right currently has far too much sway and that's mirrored here in the UK with our wealthy minority right wing centred government. I think in the fullness of time they will sully themselves as a voting option for moderates and there will be a move towards the left once again... whether that pre-dates the civil war or not remains to be seen.

In the meantime, keep conversing with the urchling because she sounds ace and like she knows what's what. Seventeen year olds who discuss complicated issues with their parents, via anthropomorphic British Penguins are the future. Whitney Houston would've sung that if she'd done a second draft.

Now I know there's a message about Jupe somewhere in my comments section. I'm going to go off and find it - because there might've been the promise of photos. God damn this clunky interface. :o/