Posted by
Dr. Reason on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 2:03:35 PM
As goes the Family so goes the Nation
Self government is
the goal of every family and dictates the future of the nation.
Freedom is a
frightening thought for those who like everything to be under
control. What is to say, that when someone is given freedom to
choose, that they will make the right choice. The fact of the matter
is, that there is no guarantee. So is freedom a good and safe thing,
or is it dangerous and unpredictable?
If freedom is to
be safe and good, it must be cherished in the hearts of responsible
people. Would you feel safe if you had to give very important
decisions into the hands of irresponsible people, of course not. And
so how do you ensure that there are plenty of good responsible people
to make all the important decisions?
That makes us look
with scrutiny into the way people are shaped and formed, that's right
the family.
There are some
things that must be taught to children in order for them to be able
to make important decisions.
When children are
born, all of their decisions are made for them. When they are grown
and mature they must make their own decisions. Of course if they fail
at that time, to make good ones, then they are sent to jail where all
of the decisions are made for them again, and they can start over.
The first and best
thing you can do for your children is to teach them how to
think for themselves.
Don't be deceived into thinking that
they will be taught in school. School is where children are taught
what to think, rarely how to think. Recently someone
told me to do something, and upon completing the task, I realized
that what I had done was wrong. As I questioned myself I realized
that I had just followed orders without thinking. Now being compliant
is sometimes better than non compliance or rebellion, but it is not
always the best. You don't want your child to be compliant when the
drug dealer or hustler asks them to do something do you? No
you want them to think for themselves.
Children must be
taught how to reason from cause to effect, It will keep many of them
from making unnecessary mistakes. You can help children learn this by
asking them questions, like what would happen if someone spent
everyday playing or partying?
Here I must be
candid, I spent 8-10 of the prime years of my life as an alcoholic. I
have and still am learning difficult lessons about the cause and
effect of my faults. The short of it is, that alcoholism and
addiction itself is something that happens to people who avoid
responsibility. Some people like to call alcoholism a mental illness,
well OK then I'll put it this way. Brian Tracy, one of my favorite
success experts, quoted this saying “there is no such thing as
mental illness, only varying degrees of irresponsibility”, there is
a lot of truth in that.
It's obvious that I
didn't learn responsibility as a child. What I did learn, was how to
get what I wanted by manipulation. For someone to learn and practice
manipulation, it requires someone to practice on; someone who will co
operate. Hmmm. I would like to think that I was just practicing the
art of persuasion, but I could be wrong.
There is another
Issue that goes hand in hand with irresponsibility and addiction. I
was never taught to reason from cause to effect. If I do this what
will be the result or consequence. You can see that it wouldn't take
an addict very long to see a problem if they were able to see cause
and effect clearly. Addicts usually act in response to their feelings
and not by logic or reason. They have learned to gratify their own
selfish feelings instead of following duty and responsibility. These
things are best learned when young. Young little children usually
want to help their parents, train them while they are willing.
I am beginning to
see that many of life's problems are like grapes, they come in
bunches and are closely related. If you have a habit of avoiding
responsibility, then it stands to reason that it will be difficult to
make important decisions, because decisions usually involve
responsibility and carry significant consequences.
I remember a wise
man asking me in my late 20s “what do you plan to do with your
life”? I just stood there blind sided, it was like that thought had
never entered my mind. Children must have a reason to live, besides
fun and excitement. Without a dream or a goal, children learn to give
in to immediate gratification. Immediate gratification, without
considering cause to effect is a prescription for addiction.
The Success or
failure of a free nation depends on the success of the family in
raising responsible children. Young people must know how to think for
themselves, not just be a reflector of other mens thoughts. If they
can't reason from cause to effect then they can't understand with
clarity. Lets take a look at economics with respect to clear
reasoning.
There are two
cities right next to each other. Both are growing at incredible
rates. Roseville does everything it can to keep tax revenues low.
Rocklin has much higher tax rates. If you don't have clear reasoning
you might assume that Rocklin brought in much more revenues. The fact
of the matter is that Roseville brought in 5 million dollars in
retail sales revenue during a given period while Rocklin had only in
the $300,000s.
What the Rocklin
planners failed to consider was the effect of economic policy on
people. All of the big retail stores built right on the border of the
two towns but of course on the Roseville side. Most of the people in
Rocklin shop in Roseville. In fact the Walmart in Rocklin recently
packed up and moved across the line into Roseville and opened a super
Walmart and closed the Rocklin facility. Wouldn't you if you were a
business owner? Don't you take every legal tax deduction available?
If you don't pay any more taxes than is necessary, then you wouldn't
expect a business owner to do any different, would you?
The type of people
who think that raising taxes automatically raises revenue have lost
the ability to reason from cause to effect, and to look at the long
term effect of their policy on the actions of people. They are also
the ones who would see people avoiding their carefully laid plans of
taking money, and try to find a way to force them to pay, by making
new laws.
I was reading the
Wartime memoares of Charles Linbergh. It mentioned a law in France
that forbade people from taking water from the sea for any reason. It
was a law passed to keep people from using sea water to get salt and
thus avoiding the salt tax.
David