Won’t Somebody Please Think Of The Children
Every morning I wake up, check my news feed, and read stories of extreme doom and gloom about the “next generation”. Oh the kids these days! Of course, I usually ignore most of these doomsayer ramblings, yet one story from last week struck a chord with me.
It was a Newsweek piece reporting on a recent study that found that the creativity of American under-18’s, steadily rising throughout history until1 1990, has since then “consistently inched downward”, with the decline most prevalent amongst children of primary school age. The commentariat have been quick to blame “video games” and the educational curriculum for this decline, but I am not so sure. Instead, I propose a different thesis. I suspect that it is our modern culture of isolating and protecting our children from every conceivable risk, any possible danger, anything that might possibly cause them any form of momentary unhappiness, that is to blame. That by “protecting” our children, we have inadvertently killed their souls, and are creating a society not of men, but of zombie drones.
Allow me to explain. We now live in a country that is based upon risk-minimisation to the extreme. It is now viewed as legitimate for our government to do everything to minimise any potential negative effects on our lives, even if we enter them of our free volition (just think of the war on obesity, on smoking, on alcohol and so on). The nanny state rules supreme, and it is only natural that such a protective mindset is applied to the youngest of our society – to an even greater degree in fact. Yet I ask – at what cost? Read more »
Anti-war or anti-liberty
Within the libertarian community there is a sharp difference of opinion about involvement in wars in foreign countries. Some regard Jefferson’s statement of “Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations–entangling alliances with none” as holy writ. Others, including myself, take a less absolute line.
There is agreement that wars are too often used as a pretext for high taxes, loss of freedom and distraction from domestic issues, and that libertarians are right to be very sceptical. But does that mean involvement in foreign wars is never justified under any circumstances?
The conflict in Afghanistan is a case in point. Leaving aside issues about how the war is being prosecuted and what victory might look like, some say involvement is unjustified simply because it is a foreign war. I regard that as contrary to libertarian philosophy, which places individual liberty ahead of the collectivism of national sovereignty. Large numbers of individuals in Afghanistan, including virtually all women, are at grave danger of losing what remains of their freedom if the Taliban succeeds.
The following article from the Wall Street Journal describes the situation. The author is most likely a leftie, but I think her concerns should be shared by libertarians. There are many in the world who suffer dreadfully from oppression and military action is rarely the solution, but if the liberty of women in Afghanistan is not worth fighting for, what is?
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