Families are the most critical, basic building block of a stable society. We have KNOWN this for a long, long time. But, like EVERYTHING else that is good, Leftists attack this as something restrictive and oppressive – something that should be rejected and replaced.
I grew up in the 1960s and 1970s. I remember hearing older people talking about how hippies and rock music were destroying our society. At the time, I did not appreciate that perspective. Looking back, I can now see what they were talking about.
Rock music is infused with Leftism, wrapped in feelgood words and phrases – a “new” Philosophy of Life, that attempted to shrug off the “box” that The Establishment forced us all to accept and live inside, implying that the restrictions on behavior served no purpose. But, to me, at that time, the progress towards the degeneracy and destruction of society was moving too slowly to see. The destruction was happening at the fringes of society.
Now, 50 years later, the destruction is front and center – and moving ever more rapidly. The fringe revolutionaries have taken over all aspects of our society: Churches, Government, News, Entertainment, Education. Their voices drown out conservative, patriotic voices. But, there are MORE of us . . .
Back on topic . . .
Leftists HAVE to destroy ANYTHING with an objective value system. The “values” of the Left are ever-changing. For members of the society to have an objective guide with which to evaluate new and different ideas, Leftists would be limited in their ability to change social behavior and obtain political/social power. Make no mistake, obtaining and keeping power is the sole objective – at ANY cost.
The destruction of the family was a key component of the re-ordering of society. This destruction was driven on multiple fronts, with multiple actors and actions.
In the 1960s, divorce became acceptable. Before that, “good” and “respectable” people did not get divorced. If you could not keep your vow to your spouse, how could you be trusted by anyone else? Marriage was framed, at least in part, as “confinement” to a woman. Women were encouraged to find themselves, to find a job.
Mothers were encouraged to leave the raising of their children to strangers – daycare from an early age, government (stranger) run schools for 12 years (with before and after childcare by strangers). Women were led to believe that raising their children was oppressive, but working for a stranger was not. Women were led to believe that they should provide value (their time and effort) to a company that showed them little if any loyalty, that neglecting family to serve a stranger was morally superior to nurturing the next generation of citizens that they had helped bring into the world.
Americans have always valued independence, but that value has been stretched – perverted – into parents and children being almost totally independent from each other – eliminating the mutual emotional, financial and structural support that has existed in families for thousands of generations.
Fathers, the traditional [for thousands of generations] defenders and moral leaders of families were excised by law, policy and culture – leaving women and children with limited support and stability. Television fathers changed from being portrayed as wise, stable and necessary to being foolish and useless.
Lawyers and Judges have caused much of the damage to families. Courts typically use an ambiguous standard, “the best interests of the child,” to justify any decision, usually favoring the mother, as a successor to the “tender years” doctrine, which says that small children are best kept with the mother. The effect on society has been to destabilize families on a massive scale.
Of course, there are valid reasons at the root of all of these doctrines and positions, but they have been ruthlessly forced in one direction without regard to any balance or nuance – not every mother is good, not every father is bad. We are all flawed, and every circumstance is unique. The power of the state has been used to blindly and ruthlessly tear families apart, with little or no structure or policy to preserve this critical element of society.
Government subsidies and programs support single mothers, and provide incentives to marginalize the fathers and encourage additional “fatherless” children. Easy-to-obtain abortions, without social stigma, contributes to the problem – supporting necessary human intimacy without the responsibility of nurturing a family.
Keeping fathers in families USED to be a non-partisan issue. Now, it is Leftists (and their followers) who praise fatherless and non-traditional families, and attempt to mock traditional families.
Yet, traditional families ARE the norm. Americans need to stand up and support intact families and prevent divorce and fatherless children, protecting the most fundamental building block of a stable and productive society.
