Tuesday, December 27, 2005

The over-protected child

Oh how we lament the over-protected child. His protective mother locks him indoors, medicates him at the first sniffle, scruitinizes his every playmate, barring any from entry to the house who might expose the secret that the world outside is safe afterall. Dare he wish to go to a friend's to play, the protective mother calls the friend's home, notifying the parent in charge of his penchant for illness, that he is not to watch television, drink soda, candy, cookies or do anything else that might get him excited.

While away at school, she rifles through his personal belongings searching for any clues that he is being blindly lead down some horrible path away from her ideal of righteousness. Is he listening to Rock-n-Roll (or is it Rap?)? Is he doing drugs or does he own any pornographic materials? Is he expressing himself, his personal, private thoughts, someplace, and if so, what is he saying?

Of course we all know of such mothers, and even an occasional father, and scorn them for not allowing their children to experience the reality of life and grow on their own. We fear for these kids when they finally experience the real world outside the protection of their parents. How will they cope? What will they do when confronted with a child of a different color, or they experience racism for the first time? Or, God forbid, they should get hurt, feel pain, the hearbreak of love lost.

While every parent wants what is best for their child, most do not see such overprotectionism as being in their children's best interests. They will let them fall, always under a watchful eye, and allow their children to pick themselves back up. Given in small doses as a child grows, such stumbles and hardships help prepare them for the greater challenges that await them as adults. What is interesting is that many such protected children fail to recognize that they are being set up for a great fall, a serious slap from reality.

Curiously, the same seems to be true of over protected adults.

Overprotected adults? Yes! Today, they are called Americans, and the parents are George W. Bush, Condoleeza Rice, with Uncles Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Carl Rove doing their own parts to contribute. Secretly sneaking into our lives in the name of protecting us from the dangers that lurk outside; keeping out those who think, or speak, differently than we do, lest they give us ideas.

It is about time we opened our eyes and recognized that our over protective government is lying to us under the guise of protecting us from some nebulous threat called terrorism. In doing so, it is restricting our freedoms, sealing our borders, and attacking the very ideals that make this country what it is today, attacking the pursuit of the American Dream.

1 Comments:

Blogger Apuuli said...

I believe there really is an agenda to deceive. The war has three basic purposes: 1. Secure the second largest remaining supply of oil for American use (and prevent the Chinese from getting to it); 2. Provide a massive flow of money to corporations linked to the current administration; and 3. To finish the job the senior Bush began during the Gulf war.

10:13 PM  

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