Self restraint: song and movie references

For further thought, I offer the lyrics of what was one of my favorite songs decades ago, "Restrain Yourself" by Poco.



http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/RESTRAIN-lyrics-Poco/26690C889BC504964825699E0022128A



If you read the song you'll see exactly what I mean. When this song was written, restraint was still considered a virtue. The singer is telling the listen to restrain his or her self until they can't restrain no more. This song literally demarks, without intending to, the crucial shift in thinking about "self restraint" that I just have blogged about. I love this song because it is about the virtue of restraining until one really must act on one's convictions. The singer is by no means being critical of the listener for "restraining." It is right on the edge of the time when people who DO restraint themselves in any way shape or form have become quickly criticized as being "repressed" and "inauthentic." The beat to this song is awesome too, by the way!



The second example is the classic movie "Shane," starring Alan Ladd. It is about a retired gunslinger who takes a lot of crap yet refuses to solve his problems again with a gun. It is the ultimate movie about virtuous restraint. He restrains not only himself from gun slinging, but also from falling in love with the wife of his employer, until it becomes a matter of protecting the family he has come to love. Then the guns are strapped back on. This movie is an icon about virtuous "self restraint" and when it is time to stop restraining when there is dire virtuous need.



You can see how the "hippie" generation destroyed the whole idea of virtuous restraint, something that ALL of humanity valued until the last forty years. It is mind boggling, truly.