[MaggieL]

Originally posted by jennofay

good for you, you want a fucking cookie? does this make you better, holier, or more intelligent than the rest of us? i think not.

No, but it speaks to Jag's point that writing online is somehow different from other writing.

this being the case, why was his age such a big deal to begin with

Because he'd been holding forth on how immoral engaging in business was. Unless he's found some way to survive *without* engaging in commerce, other than living off Mom and Dad, that's empty. At his age, I doubt he's done that.

im 19, does this make me inferior to your greatness? age is a number. it means nothing.

I disagree. There's a Mark Twain quote that's apropos, but I won't bother you with it. I"ve been 19 and I've been bunches older too. It *does* make a difference. It's *not* just a number. Of course, when I was 19, I probably would have agreed with you. That's how big the difference is. :-)

are you also almost too old to be your daughters parent? why do you bring it up to begin with?

Actually, yes, I am. Were I much older, I wouldn't be in a position to support my youngest though college and out on her own. I mentioned it to create a frame of reference relating my age and cultural context to Jag's and to Jonson's.

how old was he when he wrote? he didnt write when he was 380. why was this brought up? your arguments, too, have holes, and are difficult to follow at times. this being an example.

Lets see...it was published in 1640, so he would have been about 67.

'and for homework, kids,

I was trying to gauge the language gap was between us, to illustrate a point. If Jag--and you--can read language almost four centuries old and understand it the point it makes, then it has compelled you despite having been written in a *radically* different cultural context....much greater than the difference between my culture and Jag's, or yours. Jag was suggesting that it was because I was *old* that I wasn't understanding and agreeing with his points (here and in other threads), which he thought quite obvious. My point was that good writing bridges the gap even between readers of very different backgrounds. My suspicion was that he *does* understand Jonson's point....maybe he'll register his own answer.(although looking upthread I see only appeals to the crowd, the proprietor, and a few obscenities).

why didnt you just say that to begin with?

By quoting Jonson I *was* saying *exactly* that, while at the same time challenging the idea that I was missing Jag's points because he was speaking some sort of new age patois or Internet argot.

What it seemed to me had happened was Jag had flung a cheap shot about how immoral being in business was, and then danced around when others suggested that he should walk a few miles in those shoes before moralizing about them. Later he claimed to *be* in business and to be buying his own food, paying taxes, and funding his political activism. My credulity is a *bit* strained to imagine a 16-yo feeding himself on a regular basis by selling Linux boxen to local businesses, but that's not the first time that's happened.

Juju: I don't hand out respect just for "poetry". My respect is *earned*, and cluttering up the Cellar with sloppy writing or shoddy logic is to my mind a form of disrespect to the others here. Jag's age isn't germane except when he offers opinions about stuff he has little experience with--like firearms ownership, or the morality of engaging in business--then insists they be given equal weight with the views of people who have been around those blocks a few times. Otherwise, I hold his writings here to the same standards as I do everybody else's. To do otherwise *would* be disrespectful.

Smutty jokes are a long-time Cellar tradition, though.