Kalistani Major History

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The Puritans strike back
Dr. Benjamin Whitehouse calls the Government to protect children from drugs
Viibin, Duchy of Neveras
17 December 5514

Dr Whitehouse speaks to teachers and parents about the impact of tobacco, alcohol and cannabis on the younger generation. | Photos by Steve Kowalski/KR
When Dr. Whitehouse's monograph "Opium of the People" was published, he faced alienation on the one hand, and overwhelming support on the other. "I lost many friends who called me a liar, a bigot and a crazy one." — says Dr. Whitehouse at the presentation of his book “Common Ethics. Textbook for High School." — "I received letters threatening my family and my children. My phone was blowing up with calls and messages with curses. This was some kind of mass insanity, pure hatred and anger. Insanity fueled by tobacco sniffing, alcohol drinking and hashish smoking. But at the same time, I found many Friends: pure, bright, freedom-loving Friends." «Friends» are the fans of Whitehouse's books and teachings, devout Hosians at the intersection of Brethrenism and Aurorianism. Many of them consider the current educational system to be rotten and dangerous to children's minds; and government policies in the field of alcohol and tobacco distribution to be harmful. They take long «sick-days» for children and teach them religious morals at home. "Common Ethics" is expected to be a best-seller among them for it contains theological teachings about Biology, Sociology, Philosophy and Art. Without passing the inspection of regulatory authorities, this book is neither a certified textbook nor a scientific work. Yet Dr. Whitehouse claims the opposite: "It is surely a textbook. There are full paragraphs and assignments for them, there are methodological recommendations for studying the book. And this is not some kind of government-order-like school textbooks, no, this is a free but truthful presentation of information that will help to raise up a generation of New Kalistanians. My goal is to create a full line of textbooks, starting from the middle school until the very end of high school. Look at those gathered here. These are all Friends, many of whom have children. Some of them have a diploma in education. We could organize a private, home school for children and teach them what's right and what's wrong, but the current laws don't let us to do so."
"On top of that, any kid now can go and buy alcohol and cigarettes without presenting a proof of adulthood. What is this, Friends? Stupidity or treason? I'd like to believe that this dangerous misunderstanding will soon be corrected by my colleagues from Renew party. We must renew our education system and renew our nation to take care of our children. You know, promote sports, not alcohol. Get weed out of our kids. And let people like us determine how we want to teach our children."

We asked the Renew party leader Trevor Parkinson to share his opinion:

Yes, we are indeed in close contact with Dr. Whitehouse. He did us a great service by writing an explanatory note to the bill. Yes, we have already prepared a bill introducing restrictions on the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors, as well as the legalization of homeschooling. Anticipating comments of Mr. Chancellor, I hasten to note that such proposals are not in any way radical or subversive to our core values. The changes we want to implement are just common sense. Talking about Doctor's comments about cannabis... Look, there is obviously no discussion of any cannabis restrictions or violation of any provisions of the ODEN agreement in our party. No, not discussable now. We are looking for constructive and productive cooperation with Institutionalists, who we hope will support our proposals.