Thursday, October 13, 2005

Quote of the Day - On Raising Children

Quote of the day:

Men have always shared in the responsibilities of raising
children, unless one redefines the activity as excluding the provision of food,
shelter and protection.


-Vox Day



Now, this doesn't mean all men, but it means men in general, and it's absolutely correct. The marginalization of fatherhood and its role as the provider and protector is idiotic and counter productive to keeping men around as fathers.

*sigh*

Bartleby

Friday, October 07, 2005

Liberals And Their Eat The Rich Mindset

I started thinking about liberals and their 'eat the rich' mindset today and decided to do some checking on one or two of them. several houses in a different area, and let others live there rent free. I mean, charity is the way of the day, right?

I find this to be a common theme among celebrities where they will complain about wealthy people not doing enough...until it comes to their OWN personal sacrifice. Suddenly when personal sacrifice becomes the word of the day, mum's the word. How is it that I have this gut feeling that every single celebrity that talks about people paying their fair share still itemizes their deductions on their taxes? How is it that I know that every one of them squeezes that lemon until they get every legal deduction they (or their tax advisors) can find?


Jello Biafra lives in a house worth 1.8 MILLION dollars (approximate - based on comparable sales). OK - no matter how you slice it, he's in a nice neighborhood and has a lot of money. This same man complains about the rich people trying to screw the poor people. He complains about financial abuses of corporations. Interestingly, his own company, Alternative Tentacles, recently lost a lawsuit over allegations of unfair dealings and doing what I consider to be...ta-daaaaa...screwing the poor people.

So - do the wealthy owe the poor anything? Are the wealthy evil? Do they prey on the needy? Do they cheat people left and right.

I guess if you look in the backyard of liberalism, yes...that is precisely what the wealthy do.

Liberals need to get a clue. I don't owe strangers anything. A fair share doesn't increase in size when you make more money. Taxes do NOT need to be increased. Spending needs to be cut. I will give to the needy when I choose.

Bartleby

Monday, October 03, 2005

Feminism

I had a discussion with a friend this weekend about feminism and have reached a conclusion that startled me. Feminism is strangling marriage and America. Prior to the advent of feminism, many things were wrong and hurtful to women. Those things needed to be corrected. The problem is that the feminist movement is what became the dominant force in addressing those wrongs. The feminist movement doesn't understand that equality doesn't have to reflect sameness...that two things can be different, but of the same value and desireability. In the past, women did not often work outside of the home. Unfortunately, a part of the reason for this was sexism, and that same sexism prevented women from getting jobs for which they were well qualified.

With all that aside, women gave up considerable authority and power by embracing what is called feminism. In the past, women held a position of great influence in the family - when the man came home from a hard day's work, who was first there to talk to him? Who was the greatest influence on making sure he could get up the next day and continue? Who molded the minds of young America? Who made sure that kids got what they needed on a day by day basis? Who made sure homework was done, and done properly? Who made sure that meals were nourishing? Who made sure that the children's entire day wasn't spent in front of the television? Who made sure kids had manners? Who made sure their kids learned things?

Women.

What have they exchanged all of that for?

Money.

One can argue whether or not the money was worth it (I do not think it's anywhere NEAR worth it). That said; I'd like to submit that the amount of money gained is neglibile if at all present. Earning power remained stagnant or dropped over the period after women entered the workforce, housing prices increased dramatically, and the costs involved in having both parents work (daycare, etc) are enormous. I cannot help but find the minor financial benefit of having both parents work to be nigh on worthless compared to the value of having someone stay home with the kids.

The sexual revolution gave women the ability to be...unwed mothers. The 'Murphy Brown' syndrome where men are called virtually useless and unnecessary in the rearing of a child is foolishness, but that foolishness is believed by many people. As a result, many women are left in the lurch by irresponsible and otherwise terrible men who do not want to take the time and energy to properly take care of their children.

So...women sacrificed a job of honor and worthiness for...money. While I agree that they have the right to work as they see fit, having the right to do something and it being right to do something are sometimes entirely different.

This is one of those cases.


Bartleby

*Note that I do not think that only women should stay home (though I think women are generally better suited by temperment for the rearing of children)...I say whomever makes less money should quit their job when children come along.