Children – America loves children.
By golly there is nothing we won’t sacrifice for our kids. Our very way of life is dedicated to the proposition that all children are important.
The next generation is what counts in America. We don’t do anything for ourselves, it’s all for the kids.
My parents sacrificed for me, I sacrificed for my progeny; it’s expected that the young will carry this process along. That’s what makes us great. We dedicate charities to help kids fight disease, grant them wishes before they die of diseases we haven’t cured yet, buy them school supplies, give them winter coats, and keep schools going so that they can learn a thing or two along the way. I’ll bet you there is even a group dedicated to making sure its own target group of children never have to eat moldy bread.
Our police departments dedicate time and effort to educate children about the danger of drugs, our churches learn them up on the dangers of liberalism and sin, and all parents warn their children to look both ways before crossing. We even sing songs about how much Jesus loves kids. Mitt Romney even put in a word or two for children. As has the Tea Party, Fox News, and the NRA.
In truth, we do show our love differently at different times, like when we refuse to pay for schools because schools harbor unions and coddle weaklings. Or like extending poverty benefits because such help makes people dependent on the government, robbing them of their ability to fend for themselves.
This, of course, leaves aside the issue of whether kids should be fending for themselves, or whether or not kids are helped or hurt by eating food; or if the food advertised is good for them.
Apparently this is all a bit much, because we also try to shorten the amount of time we have to be nice to them; if they fail to obey our rules after age 12, we can try them as adults. If they are born poor or the wrong color, we mostly shuffle them off to one side.
We love our children so much that we would even like to protect them from fiends with guns. We really would like to help them out here, really, really we would. If we could, we would. But, alas, we cannot. The Constitution won’t let us. That’s because the one thing that is even more damaging to liberty than feeding poor children is preventing adults from “bearing arms” around defenseless kids – they would grow into adults who depended on the government to protect them, and disrespected the 2nd amendment.
This country did not get to be great by being squeamish about shooting people. Same as you cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs, we cannot protect freedom without losing a few kids. If only kids were as wonderful as guns; but kids disappoint – guns do what they are intended to do as long as you keep them clean. Kids, on the other hand, won’t wash unless you take away their liberty and force them to. So, given the choice, we prefer clean guns to slovenly kids. I’m just sayin’.
Len Harding is a retired consultant, technical writer and historian. He lives in Clermont County.