A poem for FTL has been added as a related post - related requested by Zawash.

Agree on pretty much all of that, apart from the copyright part.

There are a caveats like smoking in non-smoking areas (smoke all you want, just not near me), parents who feed their kids crap (it's one thing for an adult to make an informed decision to eat crap, but kids should be given at least some nutrition), or drug related crime (and I don't mean possession or use). All are fairly grey areas though and beyond the scope of this topic.

One thing I don't get is WTF "use of her body" has to do with copyrighted works (other than in a sense so broad as to be meaningless)? It's a really weird connection to make, and it seems like you're arguing for something that pretty much already exists. No-one is going to stop you singing a copyrighted song, or reciting a copyrighted poem.

I genuinely don't get what your point is.

I can only speak from my own experience, but I have witnessed most of the situations the poem addresses. It's not the case that nobody interacts anymore, but most people I know always seem to be keeping an eye (or two) on their smart phones or computer screens, fearing they might miss something 'important' on the Internet (like a new meme or a comment by some stranger who disagrees with their views who they might have to argue with, which suddenly becomes more important than the person they are actually talking to). It's hard to make new friends if people are only interested in their social media profiles and making new 'friends' there, but never actually contact each other or spend any time together.
I know people who cannot talk to one another without simultaneously reading articles or looking at funny pictures and videos on the Internet (and thus don't really listen to what the other person has to say); who are unable to do one thing at a time, because it is too boring to talk to someone or do anything at all without further entertainment. They lack the attention span to talk to each other for more than three minutes at a time, or watch a single TV show episode or movie without pausing it in order to watch some videos or post comments online. A friend of mine believes it's too boring to talk to each other without at least playing a video game at the same time. I know people who almost exclusively interact with their real life friends or relatives through social media (who mostly live in the same city).
I like the way the Internet connects people far away from each other, who might not even have met otherwise. I have met several people this way, who I wouldn't want to miss. The problem, which I believe is the main point of this video, is the way it seems to disconnect the people sitting next to each other, which I have experienced myself several times. The problems pointed out in this video might not apply to everyone and every region, but it seems to apply to the people around me.

Not really. @Xaielao is saying that the author of the poem is vastly overstating the extent of the problem.

Honestly, I've seen more videos complaining about this behaviour than I have actual evidence of this behaviour. I dunno, maybe it's a generational thing. My friends and I will occasionally use our phones while socialising, but generally it's along the lines of "what time is the movie we're going to see" or "what's the weather looking like for our road trip tomorrow", and very occasionally "did you see <friend who lives overseas> just had a baby?". I don't think we've ever sat around separately browsing.

Can people be rude and obnoxious with their phones or with social media? Of course, but the problem is not phones or social media, the problem is assholes. Take away phones and social media, and they will just find another way to be assholes.

Like right now, I'm going to be an asshole and explain to @Xaielao that when you're posting your opinions, you should use correct fucking grammar!

You have no idea where the word Luddite comes from, and no you didn't write better poems in the 5th grade.

How about this, check out my poem.

Don't impose your fucking ideals on other people and fuck off?

Fin.

We rhyme like adolescent wankers // and our acting skills are worse than FUCK YOU YOU IMBECILIC LUDDITE SOPHOMORIC SHITS swear to god I wrote better poems in fifth grade.

Your video, "Look Up" a poem about Social Media, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Man with OCD Recites Poem About his One True Love has been added as a related post - related requested by ChaosEngine.

I thought this was another 4chan mass-troll when i first heard of it. Perhaps it will be this year's "Kony 2012." I've never heard anyone called bossy that wasn't striding around demanding things, telling people what they should be doing without consideration for the situation, etc. I've never heard anyone called a leader that wasn't a problem-solver with a good ability to express themselves. Part of me wants to believe this is some sort of inter-Atlantic difference because i've been so isolated from any evidence of it being a problem.

I've got three points and i'll try to make them succinct. If anyone wants to pull me up on them, i'll go further.

1. The word bossy is not inherently sexist. Sometimes people are bossy. Calling a girl bossy doesn't make you sexist. This campaign can make villains out of people in the same way that a girl getting called bossy can unfairly stereotype a strong willed woman. At best it trades one form of unfairness for another.

2. Human beings come in two flavours. One of them is man, another is woman. Man and woman are different. They will never in the foreseeable future be equal in all things, and it is not sexist a) to say that or b) for that to be the norm. This is the way of the animal kingdom - we see it in animals, and we are animals. Because of our different chemical composition, we will have a natural role diversity that is is absolutely unavoidable and has nothing to do with fairness. In lieu of this, any study that says "gender A is less represented in field B because sexism," has a hell of a lot of factors to take into account, some of which i'm not even sure can be accounted for. I am in no way stating that all of one particular gender are better than all of the other gender at any given thing; i am saying that on average, testosterone and oestrogen will soften or harden the heart in different ways (to simplify the argument) which will lead on average to gender weighting. It is going to take a lot more than a few poems and forceful statements to convince me. Where are the sources and the studies, and what authority do they have? Furthermore where are the studies about word-prohibition in the grand scheme of solving problems? i.e. How do we know this is a good idea even if there is a problem?

3. "Banning" a word empowers that word for those who would use it for harm. Or people will find a new way of expressing the same idea. In Britain people thought that UKIP (*spit*) should be kept off TV because giving them political air-time legitimised them. In actual fact, the better idea (and eventual decision) was to put them on TV and allow them to make idiots of themselves with their inherent stupidity. I suggest a similar thing is true of banning the word bossy. Let it be said, and make it abundantly clear how wrong it is when it gets said.

This was a really bad idea that stems from a great intention. And for the record, i love bossy girls - it would benefit me to see more empowered woman in the world. It's not easy finding them.

All slam poetry should be prefaced with http://videosift.com/video/Anything-can-be-a-slam-poem-if-you-say-it-like-this

This is the original acapella poem that Opus III ripped from Jane and Barton "its a fine day"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g9byxXox-I

And Orbital ripped the vocals in the Grammy award winning soundtrack to Hackers "Halcyon on and on"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV-hSgL1R74

I blame Walt Whitman.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'parks and recreation, slam poem, amy poehler' to 'parks and recreation, slam poem, amy poehler, leslie knope' - edited by lucky760