The Involuntary Parent

I’m not sure how it happened, there I was, a single guy with no responsibilities living a carefree life. Oh sure, I had a job and the responsibilities that go with that as well as the standard upkeep we all have. Phone bill, cable bill, groceries, rent, vehicle maintenance, personal hygiene, cooking, cleaning and all that goes with a life.

What I’m saying is that I have no children. Those of you who have children know about those responsibilities. Wow, those crumb crunchers come along and your life no longer belongs to you. I have a dog, plenty much for me for the time being.

Then I made a mistake, no I’m not talking about an unintended pregnancy, I’m thinking about when I started to become interested in politics. I had a desire to take my part in the election process every four years after my first vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980 but that was about it. I was a republican back when that meant something but I really didn’t understand what it meant at the time.

“CONSERVATISM” That’s my principle belief though I consider it to be a bit of a misnomer. The word implies a desire to keep things unchanging and whereas there are many characteristics of our society that are worth keeping there are some things that should be changed. I think that we conservatives want not so much the world that was as the world that should be. Case in point, whereas I am a firm advocate of discrimination on a personal scale, to discriminate against any group based on an inherited trait is wrong. In my life I have had friends who were Hispanic, Asian, black and Indian, both American and east and people I disliked of the same races. That was discrimination both in favor of and against individuals but it had nothing to do with race.

But I digress. As it turns out I am father to millions. Yes you read it right. I buy their food, their clothing, their medical care, dental, schooling, college, retirement. I pay for their legal expenses and their incarceration should they be found guilty. I have always thought that it took a DNA test to determine paternity and consequent responsibility. But, turns out, that isn’t it.

I HAVE A JOB, that’s it; I have an income so I have a parental responsibility to anyone who doesn’t. If and when I have a child my responsibility to him is clear. I will have chosen to bring a life to this world, a life that at first will not be able to care for itself and must be protected and cared for and that is both an obligation and a honor that I will gladly accept. As that child grows however the obligation will change in that I must teach that child self sufficiency for there will be a time when I will be no more. He must have the knowledge and drive to be able to produce not only what he needs but also abundance so that he may become a contributing part of his world. A world populated with such people as this will flourish.

But that is not the world we live in is it. There are parents who teach their children that they have a right to consume where they have not produced and the government will provide.

The government provides NOTHING except the force to make involuntary parents of all those who choose a productive life.

Advertisement