#don't take any of this as me saying all minors are incapable of being intelligent

[pearapeachfuzz]

I feel like I should add some things:

I understand that children have sexual feelings too, but that doesn't mean they need to be able to access every porn site. They will survive just fine without porn. They don't need it.

Helicopter parents are bad and overprotection is bad, but not all protection is overprotection. Children, generally, will seek out things that they know are bad, such as porn. If you don't stop them they are going to continue to seek out more bad things that could harm them mentally.

Yes, parents can be abusers too and use internet restriction against their child, I understand that. Obviously, it's bad, but people misusing a good thing in a bad way shouldn't mean people stop using the good thing. (Does that make sense?)

I had unrestricted internet access starting at age 3. I found cartoon gore (Happy Tree Friends!) at age 3, porn at age 7, then found real life gore and hardcore porn starting at age 8, some of which traumatized me. I spoke sexually with adults at age 8-12 too. These experiences caused me to develop my paraphilias (pedophilia and more) and hypersexuality. As much as I support paraphilias and people who have them, I don't want children to develop them! Not when everyone hates us and it's something that we're made to be ashamed of.

If my parents had monitored or restricted my internet, I wouldn't be a pedophile (which I'm sure many people would prefer ;3), I wouldn't be hypersexual, I wouldn't have been traumatized by gore and murder, etc.

Yes, children deserve freedom and they should be able to learn about "mature" things, like being taught about rape and sexual education so they can keep themselves safe and healthy, but do they need unrestricted internet access? No. They don't need it. They can have Wattpad, they don't need PornHub.

Basically, I support children having some internet freedom at certain ages, but children cannot be expected to protect themselves from danger on the internet. Danger doesn't just include predators, it also includes images and videos that will mentally harm them, whether they know it or not.

Maybe none of this makes sense because it's me rambling my thoughts but I hope someone understands my point here

I'm not responsible for children on the internet. I'm not responsible for children coming into adult spaces, children finding proship content, children with unsupervised internet access, misinformed children, children who don't yet know what sex is, or any other children.

It is YOUR job as a parent to make sure your kids are safe, NOT MINE. I do what I can, but ultimately it's you who needs to protect your kids.

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

So I was showing my sister your amazing Q-A posts, when I came across Peter's. I realized that you just keep mentioning the incompetence of the Order, and how they're just a bunch of babysitters who don't do anything throughout many posts, but never actually wrote a rant about them and their members. Can you do that, while stating all the things they did/didn't do and their uselessness to the Order? What can I say I love your rants!

Caveat that it has been a while since I’ve read books 5, 6, and 7 of Harry Potter. I have a fantastic memory but some things may slip my mind. If I grievously offend anyone and it turns out the Order does actually do something, anything, of any vague importance then feel free to let me know and shame me on the internet.

With that, the story of why I think the Order of the Phoenix is a ridiculous organization that was mostly there because Dumbledore felt the need to have a guerilla resistance group (you’ve got to have a guerilla resistance group! Or, if Tom has a secret cult, I must have one too! BUT WITH BIRDS! COO COO KACHOO TOM RIDDLE!)

First, let’s look at our lineup.

Yes, we have a few aurors in the midst, but even with them the lineup is... worrying. In the first war we knew that key figures had presumably just graduated Hogwarts and joined the Order (James and Sirius). For all we know, they were recruited even before graduation. This makes sense as James’ is a big financial win for Dumbledore and was probably, perhaps with Longbottom, in charge of funding most of their operations. That and he and Longbottom give Dumbledore a voice in the Wizengamot (which so far as I can surmise is the only real governing body in the country, the ministry exists, but it all boils down to the Wizengamot). 

The point being, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Lily are all barely squeaking out of Hogwarts not only when they join the Order but also even by the time they die. More, it could be because the books are from Harry’s point of view and he has a serious thing about worshipping James, but James in particular is made to sound very vital to the Order’s operations. A twenty-one-year-old who charged Voldemort without a wand (I really shouldn’t give James shit for this, it was a desperate situation, an attack they had not anticipated, he’s young, and panicking. I will still give James shit for this.)

Otherwise we have Mundungus Fletcher, who gives strong vibes of being an alcoholic and is just a generally unreliable, shady, dude who will steal your silverware and pawn it on the black market when you aren’t looking.

We have Molly and Arthur Weasley, whose only use I can possibly think of is being moral support and... I don’t know... providing safe houses maybe? Seriously, we have no indication they’re good at dueling (less so as Harry’s shocked when Molly takes on Bellatrix and miraculously wins). We know Arthur’s not a very intelligent guy. Arthur and Molly have no sense of... Well, suffice to say, if Dumbledore gave them any real information they’d run away screaming. They throw Percy out of the family for becoming Fudge’s secretary, I’m sure Dumbledore was just internally screaming and begging them not to do it so he can make Percy a spy. But he can never say as much as such a notion would horrify Molly and Arthur. Molly and Arthur are also presented as vital members of the Order by the way. Molly and Arthur. ARTHUR.

We have what remains of the Marauders in the second go around: Remus and Sirius. Remus, while a competent wizard, nobody can quite trust for the reason they couldn’t quite trust him last time: he’s still a werewolf and has no reason to support the current government. Sirius is recovering from ten years in hell and is in no condition to do anything, knows it, loathes it, and is clawing at the walls of the safehouse he was pretty much forced to provide the Order.

We then have the aurors. Kingsly seems competent enough but more than him we have Moody and we have Tonks. Tonks is young and seems very very green, she was a good enough duelist to get into the auror corps but we know she’s dreadfully clumsy and often seems to treat Order business as this very exciting super secret mission she’s on. Moody, is a paranoid wreck who is almost comical for his utterly ridiculous skepticism of everything and seems incapable of making any true plans or taking any real action.

Looking at the Order of the Phoenix is kind of like watching “Dodgeball”, you just have this really weird collection of people who try to dodge wrenches, only the Death Eaters aren’t much better, so it kind of evens out. 

But onto why I think they do nothing... It’s because we see them do nothing.

We don’t get much information on the first war but at best it seems like there were a few minor skirmishes in the street now and then. I always imagine something like the Sharks and the Jets in Westside Story. They’re walking along the streets, spot each other, dramatic music ensues and a rumble begins, then they scamper away when the aurors come in.

Remember that these guys aren’t a legitimate organization and really don’t have the structure of one. Back in the day they were probably, essentially, a street gang.

We get a little more evidence of what we see them get up to in the later books. And it’s all just kind of sad.

Remus is sent on the world’s most ridiculous and hopeless quest to recruit werewolves. Why do I say ridiculous and hopeless, what the hell does Remus have to offer these guys? Werewolves are ridiculously oppressed by the current government, they cannot obtain an education, they cannot hold jobs, they’re desperately unemployed and people routinely talk about wiping them out. Remus comes up to them and says, “Hey guys, come support the guerilla movement that supports the government that talks about killing you all the time! It’ll be great!” They’ll either put Remus’ head on a pike or if they’re nice just laugh at him until he leaves. I’d say it’d be worth it, except that it’s an exceedingly dangerous task that probably would end with Remus’ head on a pike. As it is, it ends in embarrassing failure. And this is one of the more legitimate Order missions.

Hagrid, similarly, is sent to talk to the giants and it ends in equally embarrassing failure for the same reasons (why would the giants ever support the ministry and or Dumbledore who promises them nothing). Also, sending Hagrid to talk diplomacy, with anyone, ever. Surely, there’s no way that could possibly go wrong.

Otherwise their big task seems to be to babysit Harry and transfer him from the Dursleys to the Burrow/Grimmuald Place. The first, they fail at, Mundungus gets put on the job the one day something actually happens and it’s a complete disaster. The second, they also fail at, as I never understood why they couldn’t just portkey him where they needed him to go or at least closer by. The polyjuice flight across the sky was... really unecessary. 

You can tell by the seriousness with which most Order members, i.e. Tonks, take the babysitting Harry duty that this is a very serious task for very serious people. Given this, Tom’s lack of overt action in the fifth and sixth books, the fact that we don’t seem to see them do anything even in the seventh book... Yeah, this and keeping an eye out for that prophecy are their most exciting jobs.

Remember that rescuing Harry from the Department of Mysteries wasn’t really Dumbledore’s idea. That was an emergency situation where he had to pull out the stops, more, I suspect Sirius went “CHAAAAAARGE” and gleefully rushed out into glorious battle with the Order directly behind him and Dumbledore going, “Well, shit.”

I guess the last thing I’ll say is that we also see that Dumbledore has very little confidence in the Order. He gives them nothing important to do and, more, gives them virtually no intelligence.

He never tells the Order about the horcruxes (their existence or Harry, Hermione, and Ron’s super serial mission to track them down and destroy them). He never relays to them that Harry himself is a horcrux. He never reveals the suicide ploy with Snape or that he was in fact dying before that point. He never reveals Malfoy’s assassination attempts. Dumbledore doesn’t tell them jack shit.

If he relies on anyone, usually when he’s forced to, it’s Severus Snape. This I think is not only because Snape is forced in a way to be loyal thanks to the life debt to Harry as well as his own overwhelming sense of guilt but also because he’s the only really intelligent and competent one there.

The Order’s just... if you need someone to pick up Harry or else keep an eye on him when Mrs. Figg is busy: they’re your guys. Otherwise, they make Dumbledore feel good about himself?

[beaniebaneenie]

Not to go against the grain here, but this is an ice cold take.

Look, I enjoy my privacy.

I have a right to it, and I don't like people or strangers very much... and it's not because of the scary big bad internet.

It's because I value my alone time, and my personal space. Both were constantly infringed upon and taken from me by force growing up- and now that I am the one in charge of my schedule and my time? I revel in being able to be alone without any expectations on me, or demands on my time.

It also comes from being autistic and having ADHD, and having multiple disabilities, many of which come with chronic pain and other symptoms that the larger world demands I mask in order to fit in and be accepted.

When I'm home? I don't have to mask, or hide my pain, or pretend like everything is okay, or that I'm a "people person".

If I don't know you and you decide that you're going to take over my space and force me into a social interaction that I was not prepared for, because YOU think I need it?

You're immediately going in the same category as my abusers, who did that shit to me for 20+ years, and you can fuck right back off from whence you came.

Also? I'm gonna say it: the idea that socializing with friends online isn't "real" socializing, and isn't "real conversation" is insulting, hurtful, and frankly, ableist as fuck.

Some of the best conversations I've had in my life have been strictly online. I've had some truly insightful and profound self-discovery moments that came about because of an online socialization. I have friendships with people that have lasted YEARS, including being each other's critical support systems in times of need, and these are people I cherish deeply- some of whom yeah, I don't know what they look or sound like.

But that doesn't mean it's any less "real".

Many disabled people are incapable of leaving their house for significant periods of time, or at all. Many neurodivergent people would feel utterly alone without their online lifelines. And deciding that those things are not "real" because they don't fit your personal, arbitrary definition of what should count as socializing is ableist and awful.

So yeah, I keep my blinds drawn... but real talk? My neighbors don't have a right to know when I'm home (whether they want to bring me a Bundt cake and welcome me to the neighborhood or just because they're nosy and want to know stuff). That's my business, not theirs.

I am allowed to put a premium on privacy, both in my space and in my life, and that doesn't make me deficient or stunted or terrified of the world because the Big Bad Internet™️ and evil technology made me that way.

Yes, the internet is out of control in so many ways... but you don't get to go around saying, "omfg minors need to stop putting every piece of personal info in their carrds, don't they know that privacy is important? Jfc, the government needs to back off with their spyware and data mining, privacy is a fundamental human right" and then judge those of us who decide to keep our privacy intact in all areas of our life, including offline.

You don't get to have it both ways.

And when you claim it's the internet's fault, it robs us (particularly us elder Millennials) of the intelligence and autonomy of making that decision for ourselves.

So, no... I don't know my neighbors' names. And they don't know mine.

And that's the way I want it.