Do It For The Children

Is there anybody that doesn't understand that the future of any country lies in its younger generation? You don't have to like kids to recognize that when you get older and retire someone has to pay to support you. You don't have to have kids to accept that other people's children are vulnerable and should be protected to a greater degree than that of an adult who is capable of taking care of themselves. None of this comes as a surprise. You were a kid once, after all.

None of that justifies the long-standing trend of someone proposing something and claiming they are doing it "for the children". Everything that comes down the pike these days is for the care and protection of our most precious resource, meaningless tripe that is intended to pull at our heartstrings in order to obtain our consent. Your failure to consent therefore demonstrates what a monster you are, how you don't have any feelings within you, how callous you are in the face of the poor, suffering kids.

Let's face it, folks: you're being used.

Is there really a need to pass laws that provide more funding "for the future of our children"? School funding has vastly outpaced inflation for decades now. Even with the recession-driven cuts in school funding the inflation-adjusted dollars per student still far exceed the dollars spent on education for previous generations. Is it really so monstrous to say that we are throwing money at schools in a vain hope for improvement? It's abundantly clear that it doesn't work, but to say so is the epitome of cruelty.

Is there really a need to increase penalties on child molesters, kidnappers, and other violent crimes committed against children? "Getting tough on crime" is all well and good, and there's no doubt that it plays well in Peoria, but in the end it deters nothing. People still kill other people even when they know that if they are caught they will have a date with the needle. But to oppose such measures for pragmatic reasons simply shows everybody how little you care about the beautiful, innocent little angels.

E-cigarettes could conceivably be the salvation for millions of smokers, a way to stop inhaling burning plant matter that causes cancer, but because of the possibility that a child might one day pick up an e-cigarette they should be banned. Gun bans are pushed by people who parade their dead children in front of us. Every single day a politician gets in front of the camera and tells us we should support their pet proposal "for the children".

Few among us wish to hurt children. If you do, if that's your thing, if you have an overwhelming desire to hurt a child, you're a psychopath. It's that simple. The people who use this tactic know it, yet imply in the most cynical manner that you will be counted among them if you dare to reject their maudlin appeals.

The irony of this is that for all of our appeals, for all of our solicitousness toward children, we don't really care about them. We prove it every day with our failure to raise taxes, cut spending and fund infrastructure, when we overfund and stuff people into prison for the pettiest of crimes, when we turn police forces into paramilitary units, when we make arbitrary determinations that fetuses are nothing but clumps of cells, when we turn children into prizes to be won by squabbling parents in courtrooms. Where is our concern for the welfare of our children then? If they are of such paramount importance, none of those things should be in question.

I despise being manipulated. Most people do. So fight back. Reject these appeals to emotion. Tell these hucksters that they can't use you anymore by tugging at your heartstrings. Examine their proposals with calm, clear rationality and judge them accordingly. If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for the children.