JOHN MIXON (Me)

I was raised in an era of winning or losing. The Parents were parents. They disciplined but rarely abused. There were a few screaming quarrels connected to my fathers alcoholism.  My mothers anger at seeing the man she wed slowly disintegrate before her. But in all, our family had  a  true moral compass and strength of character.I had, in all, a happy youth.

Parenting is giving…… It is three A.M. in the morning at the counter buying childrens cold medication,  as well as taxi service, cheerleader, doctor, counselor, cook, and maid are among the pro bono services a parent provides. It is a hard, ever-demanding job.

You can love your child, you can be close to your child, but…… You cannot be your child’s friend. Of all relationships the role of parent is special. It is a relationship that requires both the most tender and committed caring and times when you must harden your heart and discipline. When they are young children can be angelic little packages. But when they reach puberty, your sweet little angel  can morph  into an oppositional demon. Both these conditions can be easily fixed by giving in to the demands and bad  behaviors. Your children will love you and be your friend, (until you say no). “Do as I say not as I do” will not make it. Live a life with equal measures of love openly expressed and discipline founded in fairness and your children will grow strong and capable of coping with the vicissitudes of life

You are the manifesto; the mission statement and ten commandments for your offspring. This “I shot an arrow in the air, where it fell I know not where” falderal implies the product of parenthood is random chance. If this is the case why try? If no involvement at all is as good as intense attention to the needs of the child; why not just kick back and party on and let the little bastards take care of themselves!

Since the debacle of Lyndon Johnston’s “Great Society” was installed in the mid-sixties as the seed of the socialist state, the gradual deterioration of our culture, with the best of intensions, has coasted into a morass of subsidized poverty. Cash, and a legion of services are a dead-lock cinch. A cinch, in particular for liberal politicians, who want a solid semi-pro voting block in the poor of all culture, creed or color

As our little monsters leave to greet the world we  install a homunculus in each child.  It could be evil Snidely Whiplash doing bad things or the restraining force, you know, those Better Angels of our nature. Without the inner restraints, society will provide external restraints. In the form of jail time. Without these inner restaints, (guilt, shame, etc)  the spoiled male brat grows to a spoiled brat  who can  do real damage…….like robbing a business or shooting up a grade school. You can bark about gun control all day and confiscate them all. Estimations of the genocidal mass killing binge in Rwanda, range from a half million to a million. The main weapon used was the machete. More to the point the main weapon was the mind of the killer. The person most likely to take a  life will be a the product of defective rearing.   As the old computer geek learned a long time ago, GIGO, (GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT).

Sigmund Freud once stated “Raise one generation right, and the worlds troubles would end”  if you want simple answers, there it is  . It would be nice to confiscate all firearms and thus end the problem. Yet this is a no more than a cardboard stalking horse, all show and no meat. Abe Lincolin was heard to say, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” The walls, stacked one on another and bound with mortar, must hold fast or fall to pieces.