| MORAL ARMOR'S Irrational Parenting, Part I | | | | when they should be building a solid future, and through |
| Copyright 2005 Ronald E Springer | | | | productive action, learning the true nature of |
| "If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute | | | | consciousness before they commit to another, or try |
| thingto tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why | | | | to raise another. |
| God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is, "Probably | | | | The most laughable life-cowards are the moral |
| because of something you did.""-Jack Handey | | | | missionaries. Everything in their lives, as if a flower |
| My view on parenting holds one key premise in mind: | | | | blooms with their words, is "for the children." In youth I |
| thatevery decent parent should assure that upon | | | | recall overhearing, "If I didn't have kids, there would be |
| leaving thenest, their kids can fly! So herein lies a | | | | a void of time I wouldn't know how to fill." Exactly. |
| critique againstthe attributes which make this crucial | | | | Children, when not a planned occurrence along a |
| moral obligation impossible. | | | | romantic sketch of living desire, are a substitute for the |
| The Wrong Decision. | | | | frustrated need of achievement. Kids are just other |
| Stupid men and stupid women are dysfunctional on | | | | people. Thought and spirit are the exclusive domain of |
| their own. They are dysfunctional together. Their | | | | the individual. There is no social endeavor that trumps |
| answer to fix everything? More people. Babies are the | | | | the moral value of individual action. That action must |
| one gigantic liability people can assume in America | | | | generate more than enough to feed ourselves, whose |
| without credit or common sense. At upwards of | | | | surplus feeds them as well, not by social concern, but |
| four-hundred thousand dollars to raise a child | | | | by purposeful productive ability. One's purpose in life |
| responsibly these days, if you didn't take specific | | | | must be self-defined, whose core is to be pursued and |
| actions to earn and plan for that expense, you cannot | | | | accomplished without assistance. Any living purpose |
| afford it independently. Affording a kid is like affording | | | | requiring people is by its nature, neurotic. It is the |
| a Ferrari. The stature for extravagance takes time to | | | | confession that one does not know what to do with |
| earn, and requires a tenacious discipline to reach that | | | | oneself alone; that one cannot live independently and |
| economic class. Being a responsible parent is no | | | | be happy by the functioning of one's own brain, |
| different. | | | | meaning that for this person, life is not an end in itself. |
| If you can't afford to buy a median priced home with | | | | Worse yet, if a central purpose is not defined, one |
| allthe trimmings, you can't afford a baby, and | | | | cannot convey its importance to another. They can't |
| probablyhaven't accumulated the knowledge | | | | teach happiness and can only pass along their own |
| necessary to raise one. | | | | status-slave, master, predator, host or parasite. Their |
| This however, is a luxury the Fear-driven indulge in. | | | | blissful concern for the children doesn't earn them jack |
| Mosthave kids because they don't know what else to | | | | for respect in anyone past the age of five. |
| do with themselves. They don't know what's next, | | | | Through children, some people generate liabilities for |
| where to take their lives, or where to take their | | | | thefree ride our legislators permit, using a combination |
| relationship. There is no order to their lives, only what | | | | ofthe above excuses. "We can't afford it" becomes |
| they saw their parents do. Life for them amounts to | | | | "We neednot consider the expense. The government |
| adolescence, dating-uh ho!-a baby, marriage and game | | | | will give us $Xfor the production of each baby. The |
| shows. Unable to stop their own biological maturation, | | | | government wants babies-babies can be our |
| they develop an adult mind with adult needs within a | | | | enterprise. If we control costs and push the remaining |
| being already trapped by prior errors-so discontent | | | | burden onto the shoulders of others, we won't have to |
| follows, then fighting, divorce and poverty. Then they | | | | work." There is nothing as heart-wrenching as a |
| do it again. | | | | hungry child? Well, it's nothing compared to the collapse |
| To some, having children is a form of involuntary | | | | of a nation by internal corruption. En masse, they and |
| companionship, an unthreatening presence that | | | | their sympathizers including those responsible for such |
| demands little cognitive action. They claim this route | | | | laws, are responsible for all segments of |
| because kids "keep life simple." Isn't it simple enough? | | | | overpopulation, of rent-control slums, inner-city crime |
| They extol the simple joy of children and spend their | | | | and societal breakdown. The shortest-term thinkers |
| lives looking at the floor. What's so interesting about it? | | | | and those willing to submit to them, always have the |
| Someone has to grow up, take adult action and | | | | longest-term disasters. |
| advance the world. Instead they waste their early | | | | Next time, we'll explore what bad parents hand down |
| productive years stagnating at the level of baby talk | | | | andwhat it does to their children's lives. |