Posted by
Roger on Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:02:52 AM
Like most people, I have been on my own since I left home for college. For you, it may have been the military or marriage or your first apartment. It is normal for kids to want to separate from Mom and Dad and find their own way, although it is probably exaggerated in American life.
What is not normal is to exchange the womb or the family for the dubious care of the government, but that seems to be what many Americans are seeking today. It scares the living daylights out of me! David Harsanyi has written a book called
Nanny State: How Food Fascists, Teetotaling Do-Gooders, Priggish Moralists, and other Boneheaded Bureaucrats are Turning America into a Nation of Children, but I have yet to read it. When I think of a nanny, though, it seems to me that government makes one
nasty nanny! I have written just why I think so.
Check it out, and let me know if you agree.
Today, I heard
Lars Larson discussing mandatory dress codes at schools, and it occurred to me that such requirement teach kids to accept government restrictions rather than learn to live responsibly in freedom. I tend to prefer conservative school rules, personally, but I have to admit that somewhere we need to develop in young people the discernment and responsibility that freedom requires. Otherwise, they cannot become citizens who love freedom but enjoy it wisely, a problem I fear we are already experiencing. So, in writing this time, I made myself think...