Zach LarkinsTHE ABYSS
The other day, Michael Coren wrote an interesting piece in the Toronto Sun. He was lamenting the life style we enjoyed some fifty years ago. You remember, the days of ‘Father Knows Best', ‘Leave It To Beaver' and ‘The Donna Reed Show'? He waxed a bit nostalgic and then wrote, "Whether it's politics, economics, culture or morality, the culture, society and various pundits always assume that things are getting better -- that we're making progress and that what we have and what is to come is superior to what was. Problem is, it's mostly nonsense." And he goes on to give proof that he's right. "If any of us point to the past and argue that just half a century ago the world was more civilized, gentle, kind and moral we are dismissed --at best -- as nostalgic cranks," he adds.
But when he gets into it, he does show us what we had then compared to what we have now. The 1950's were oppressive, confining and prudish. Perhaps, but since then the teenage suicide in North America has increased by 5,000%, a figure so extraordinary that you probably think it a misprint. It is not.
In 1958 a cross-section of school principals was asked what were the five most challenging problems they faced in dealing with students. The answers then? Not doing homework; not respecting property, such as throwing books; leaving lights and/or doors and windows open; throwing spitballs in class; running in the halls. In 1988, only 30 years later, the same question was put to a similar group of teachers. The answers now? Children having abortions; young people infected with AIDS; incidents of rape; widespread use of soft and increasingly hard drugs; a fear of murders and guns and knives in class.
In the 1960's the universal availability of the contraceptive pill and condoms would liberate women, increase marital happiness, we were told. "In fact there has been a steady increase in so-called unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, divorce and the use of antidepressants. Rather than empowering women, contraceptives have had the opposite effect and are used by men to have sexual intercourse without responsibility," writes Mr. Coren.
"In schools we spend more money than ever before but genuine literacy levels have declined to such an extent that university teachers now complain that student essays are indecipherable. We abolished uniforms so that children could express their individuality and they dress in identical baggy pants and baseball caps," he notes.
Why has this happened? Liberal policies that say such nonsense as ‘no child left behind' or ‘it takes a village to raise a child'. Don't let your child know the agony of defeat. Your child will never know the heartbreak of failure. Your child will be protected at all costs from the big, bad world. Your child will not be held accountable for his/her actions. There is no such thing as a bad child, just a bad parent. Don't even think about spanking your child. If you can't get it done with a ‘time-out' maybe you're the person in need of one. What nonsense.
Thomas Sowell in his article ‘Left Seen As Against Sanctity Of Marriage' spells out further how we have become so accustomed to what the media feeds us, we automatically take it as gospel.
He writes that the New York Times recently ran an article that stated 51% of women were not living with a husband. They failed to mention that their definition of woman included females as young as 16, or that widows were included, or that wives whose husbands were serving overseas were included, or that women whose husbands were in jail were included. This makes a big difference. The Times article would have you believe this 51% had never married. In truth, even when you include the 16 year old's, only 1/4 of women were never married.
So what is the point of all this? Simply that the left wants to show marriage as a thing of the past. Many sources quote statistics that say half of all marriages end in divorce. How can that be? It can only be true if one considers that one half of divorcees are women and the other half are men. "It is more than misleading to compare all the divorces in one year, from marriages begun years and even decades ago, with the number of marriages begun in that one year," writes Mr. Sowell.
And this liberal thinking has led us to where we are today. In charge of a generation that thinks it has no responsibility for its actions, that believes it will not be allowed to fail, that believes it is ‘entitled to its entitlements', to borrow a former Liberal government appointee's phrase. If you're happy with the way the world is shaping up, more power to you, and stay as liberal as you like.
If not, remember back to better times when the world was more conservative and we didn't have all this steer fertilizer going on.
Sources: Michael Coren -Sliding Into An Abyss -The Toronto Sun
Thomas Sowell -Left Against Marriage -The Windsor Star
In 1958 a cross-section of school principals was asked what were the five most challenging problems they faced in dealing with students. The answers then? Not doing homework; not respecting property, such as throwing books; leaving lights and/or doors and windows open; throwing spitballs in class; running in the halls. In 1988, only 30 years later, the same question was put to a similar group of teachers. The answers now? Children having abortions; young people infected with AIDS; incidents of rape; widespread use of soft and increasingly hard drugs; a fear of murders and guns and knives in class.
In the 1960's the universal availability of the contraceptive pill and condoms would liberate women, increase marital happiness, we were told. "In fact there has been a steady increase in so-called unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, divorce and the use of antidepressants. Rather than empowering women, contraceptives have had the opposite effect and are used by men to have sexual intercourse without responsibility," writes Mr. Coren.
Why has this happened? Liberal policies that say such nonsense as ‘no child left behind' or ‘it takes a village to raise a child'. Don't let your child know the agony of defeat. Your child will never know the heartbreak of failure. Your child will be protected at all costs from the big, bad world. Your child will not be held accountable for his/her actions. There is no such thing as a bad child, just a bad parent. Don't even think about spanking your child. If you can't get it done with a ‘time-out' maybe you're the person in need of one. What nonsense.
Thomas Sowell in his article ‘Left Seen As Against Sanctity Of Marriage' spells out further how we have become so accustomed to what the media feeds us, we automatically take it as gospel.
He writes that the New York Times recently ran an article that stated 51% of women were not living with a husband. They failed to mention that their definition of woman included females as young as 16, or that widows were included, or that wives whose husbands were serving overseas were included, or that women whose husbands were in jail were included. This makes a big difference. The Times article would have you believe this 51% had never married. In truth, even when you include the 16 year old's, only 1/4 of women were never married.
So what is the point of all this? Simply that the left wants to show marriage as a thing of the past. Many sources quote statistics that say half of all marriages end in divorce. How can that be? It can only be true if one considers that one half of divorcees are women and the other half are men. "It is more than misleading to compare all the divorces in one year, from marriages begun years and even decades ago, with the number of marriages begun in that one year," writes Mr. Sowell.
And this liberal thinking has led us to where we are today. In charge of a generation that thinks it has no responsibility for its actions, that believes it will not be allowed to fail, that believes it is ‘entitled to its entitlements', to borrow a former Liberal government appointee's phrase. If you're happy with the way the world is shaping up, more power to you, and stay as liberal as you like.
If not, remember back to better times when the world was more conservative and we didn't have all this steer fertilizer going on.
Sources: Michael Coren -Sliding Into An Abyss -The Toronto Sun
Thomas Sowell -Left Against Marriage -The Windsor Star
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