I don't know if many of you are familiar with the writings of John Locke, but those writings are the basis of this blog.
John Locke was born in England in the early 1600's and died just after the turn of the 1700 century. His writings had a lot to do with the thinking of those who formed the USA and who wrote the Constitution. Like many thinkers, there was more to him than just politics. I think that some of his most interesting writings were about "education" and how children should be raised. Remember that this was all written in the mid 1600's. I am not going to repeat what he had to say, but to point out that he was clearly a proponent of "tuff love". He did not think that it was in the interests of the child to make life easy or to spoil the child. For the record, I agree with that position. This brings me to my main point about human nature. Human nature has not changed. Remember that!! You may think that it has changed, but per John Locke in the mid 1600's, it is clear to me that it has not.
There is a great advantage of being older in that you have the opportunity to see events play out over a long period of time. What one finds is that many things do not play out as one might have expected and that is the big lesson that comes from age. I was born into a very poor family and was raised during some very difficult times. I had my share of "love", but life was still difficult. What my parents gave me was, what we might call it today was "tuff love". I was not spoiled, I had to work and go without. Looking back now, I think that it made me the person that I am today. Now to some human nature.
A common thread in human nature is that we all want to be liked. We also want to help others in need. These are the traits that make us "human". With me so far? These are good, right? What if you are a parent who is practicing the principles of John Locke and strengthening your children so they can deal with the world with "tuff love", how does this all play out? Years ago when most of us were poor, it worked OK, but times have changed. Now, when you try to use "tuff love" there are all kinds of people who come to the aid of your child and cancel out your efforts. A child who is being asked to do more or go without is an easy target for a person who wants to "do good" and gain the friendship of your child. When I was a kid, all the kids that I knew were poor and thus there was not any of these "do gooders" getting in the way like we have now. Starting to see the problem?
Years a go, most parents followed the principles of John Locke in raising their children with out even know it, but as we have become more affluent things have changed. How many times have you heard a parent say, "I don't want my kids to have to work as hard as I had too"? My guess is about 98% and what has been the affect? What we have is a generation of kids who don't want to work or be without any comfort. Our kids are soft and are being pushed around by poor kids from around the world. Our kids take the easy classes in school while poor kids from around the world take the hard classes and end up kicking our butts.
Look at our school teachers? Do you think that we have any of those "hard ass" type teachers like in the old days? No way! We have teachers who want to be loved and who cancel out the efforts of parents who want their kids raised on "tuff love". I think that I have made my point and it is up to you and others to try to turn this thing around. Knowing and admitting that we have a problem is the first step in solving the problem. That was my objective.
PS--Look at it this way. Conservatives tend toward "tuff love" while liberals tend toward "spoiling". In the short term liberals appear to be best, but in the long term conservatives appear best. The problem with the USA is that we tend more and more to only consider the short term. Other wise, we would not be looking at a 20 trillion dollar national debit. We have eaten a lot of T-Bone steaks that we did not pay for. Whos is going to have to pick up the tab for us?
John Locke was born in England in the early 1600's and died just after the turn of the 1700 century. His writings had a lot to do with the thinking of those who formed the USA and who wrote the Constitution. Like many thinkers, there was more to him than just politics. I think that some of his most interesting writings were about "education" and how children should be raised. Remember that this was all written in the mid 1600's. I am not going to repeat what he had to say, but to point out that he was clearly a proponent of "tuff love". He did not think that it was in the interests of the child to make life easy or to spoil the child. For the record, I agree with that position. This brings me to my main point about human nature. Human nature has not changed. Remember that!! You may think that it has changed, but per John Locke in the mid 1600's, it is clear to me that it has not.
There is a great advantage of being older in that you have the opportunity to see events play out over a long period of time. What one finds is that many things do not play out as one might have expected and that is the big lesson that comes from age. I was born into a very poor family and was raised during some very difficult times. I had my share of "love", but life was still difficult. What my parents gave me was, what we might call it today was "tuff love". I was not spoiled, I had to work and go without. Looking back now, I think that it made me the person that I am today. Now to some human nature.
A common thread in human nature is that we all want to be liked. We also want to help others in need. These are the traits that make us "human". With me so far? These are good, right? What if you are a parent who is practicing the principles of John Locke and strengthening your children so they can deal with the world with "tuff love", how does this all play out? Years ago when most of us were poor, it worked OK, but times have changed. Now, when you try to use "tuff love" there are all kinds of people who come to the aid of your child and cancel out your efforts. A child who is being asked to do more or go without is an easy target for a person who wants to "do good" and gain the friendship of your child. When I was a kid, all the kids that I knew were poor and thus there was not any of these "do gooders" getting in the way like we have now. Starting to see the problem?
Years a go, most parents followed the principles of John Locke in raising their children with out even know it, but as we have become more affluent things have changed. How many times have you heard a parent say, "I don't want my kids to have to work as hard as I had too"? My guess is about 98% and what has been the affect? What we have is a generation of kids who don't want to work or be without any comfort. Our kids are soft and are being pushed around by poor kids from around the world. Our kids take the easy classes in school while poor kids from around the world take the hard classes and end up kicking our butts.
Look at our school teachers? Do you think that we have any of those "hard ass" type teachers like in the old days? No way! We have teachers who want to be loved and who cancel out the efforts of parents who want their kids raised on "tuff love". I think that I have made my point and it is up to you and others to try to turn this thing around. Knowing and admitting that we have a problem is the first step in solving the problem. That was my objective.
PS--Look at it this way. Conservatives tend toward "tuff love" while liberals tend toward "spoiling". In the short term liberals appear to be best, but in the long term conservatives appear best. The problem with the USA is that we tend more and more to only consider the short term. Other wise, we would not be looking at a 20 trillion dollar national debit. We have eaten a lot of T-Bone steaks that we did not pay for. Whos is going to have to pick up the tab for us?
