This past Tuesday morning, leaving central NH about 3:30am, I took the Youngest back to Logan to fly back to his base in GA. TMEW and I both gave him the obligatory (and heartfelt) kiss and hug goodbye and the usual admonition to "stay safe" (this to a guy who is excited, if he passes AIT, who will be going to Air Assault school to learn to rappel out of helicopters – the Australian technique is to go head first).
And of course, we asked "have everything". Normal response – "yes, Dad" in that ever so special "I’m not a moron, Dad" way. Good attention to detail, Son.
Got home in time to go to work and cleaned out the car – and there was his green knit cap. Part of his uniform. So, I called him – and his response was, in that "Dad, I’m a moron!" fashion, to PLEASE Next Day the hat. And no, as a recruit just having passed Basic, he would not have time to go to the PX to replace it. And if he didn’t have it, no one else in his platoon would be allowed to wear one either. And while it is warmer there than here in NH, it’s still chilly – his lapse will not go over well at all.
For the sin of the one, the many will suffer. And suffer they will (according to the panic in his voice). Which means, he may suffer later and more and not just from the Drill Sgts. Oh, he will have learned his lesson; never again will he forget that hat. He has also learned that "attention to detail" actually means something and that HE is responsible for his decisions.
That’s the thing about the military that I think is right. No, not the emphasis on the extremely petty, but on learning attention to detail, as that detail may later save his and his mates later on when it really counts. Small things teach him to THINK, to REASON – WHY is this important? And that you have to be responsible for himself and the well being (especially in combat, where he is headed).
And that has been one of the hallmarks of the American military fighting man – the ability to observe, evaluate, adjust, and carry on and not (a la Soviet style) merely take orders.
And yes, shame is used as a tool. And rightfully so.
Lessons that traditionally have been the hallmark of society – grow up, be responsible, and know that decisions have consequences….
Unfortunately, it seems that Liberals, by pumping up Big Government, have lost sight of that important insight even as it depends on those that protect them to internalize it. Instead, we see in almost all areas of life that Liberals want to paper that fact of life over.
Example – have a kid out of wedlock? It used to be that if a child had a baby out of wedlock, there were consequences (and sometimes, a shotgun). Family members bore the consequences of housing, feeding, and supporting both the new mom and her baby; not the taxpayers. Families bore the brunt of the consequences – and so did the mother. And why not as that’s what families are for. The morale of the story is that individual decisions impacted the person and the immediate/extended family.
Now, government has pushed family responsibilities aside – schools provide health clinics, government provides food, healthcare, transportation, housing (and in some cases now, cell phones!). No longer is there a stigma attached to out-of-wedlock births. Government has taken away the social risk of a bad decision, denigrating the need for self-responsibility, and fostering a dependence government rather than family. After all, with government providing all of life’s basics, what importance is there to family to provide needs? Instead of relying on family, it enforces "I can rely on government" mentality. And at what cost (both monetary and social)?
One only has to see what it has done to the urban black family for a quick answer.
The morale is that by growing Government to meet all perceived needs of all of society’s "victims", Liberals are in the process of divorcing society of the traditions that have proven to work all in the guise of "helping".
After all, it only costs money, right?
