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Excessive Liberalism (Being Friends) has Subverted American Parenting?

Domenick J. Maglio, Ph.D. Neo-Traditionalist

"An excessive desire for liberty at the expense of everything else is what undermines democracy and leads to the demand of tyranny…it will permeate private live…it becomes the thing for father and son to change places, the father standing in awe of his son, and the son neither respecting not fearing his parents, in order to assert his independence…The teacher fears and panders to his pupils, who in turn despise their teachers and attendants; and the young as a whole imitate their elders, argue with them and set themselves up against them, while their elders try to avoid the reputation of being disagreeable or strict by aping the young and mixing with them on terms of easy good fellowship." - Plato

This scenario of children attempting to act as "know it all" authority figures and adults attempting to remain as irresponsible adolescents is sadly all to evident in contemporary America. At home, school and out in public children openly and fearlessly display disrespectful behaviors that were inconceivable to most adults a generation ago. Many children disobey, debate, ignore, rebel against, and even mock authority figures. At home, at work and in public adults are shirking their duties by ridiculously attempting to dismiss the knowledge gained through life experiences and by attempting to disguise themselves as young souls with pony tails, hats on backwards, earrings and clothing of a 17 year old. Indeed the roles have reversed. Parents and teachers dread, imitate, and fraternize with their dependents while the youth ridicule, lead, and loathe their elders.

History does repeat itself. Amazingly the above quote powerfully and accurately describes our present culture, even though it was written 400 years before Christ by Plato in The Republic, pg. 335-336. Plato placed the cause of the chaos of the golden age of Greece at the altar of excessive freedoms.

America today like Ancient Greece has taken the admirable ideals of liberalism to a detrimental level. The subversion and over indulgence of the concept of liberty cannot be more evident than in the area of spoiling our youth. The cry for greater individual freedom has led parents and teachers to allow the children "to do their own thing". This has resulted in children who are selfish, under-socialized, without sufficient limits and common sense. Freedom of expression has been incorporated into our culture accepting obnoxious tantrums and rages by children as just another stage as indicated by "terrible twos", "horrible threes", "tweeners" and rebellious adolescents. Cultural and moral relativism was derived from the vacuum created by the liberal concept of not being bound by traditional values. Parents without traditional values to guide them have been easily persuaded to believe in the obsolescence of fathers and even the family for raising a healthy child.

The liberal belief of equality has morphed into being non-judgmental and dumbing down standards. Since everyone is equal there is no need for discrimination nor demanding excellence. Grade inflation has infected our education. Parental generosity has been misinterpreted by children as entitlement. Children demand more and appreciate less, increasing the new childhood disease, "affluenza". The liberal notion of the inherent goodness of man has morphed into unconditional love of children eliminating the need for punishment in child rearing. Irresponsibility, sexual promiscuity, addiction, perversion, socio-pathic behavior, and so-called mentally disorders are more numerous because children are not being held accountable for their actions by lavish and casual parents.

As Plato keenly observed in antiquity too much of good thing, including freedom, has a corrosive effect on society. Excessively liberal ideals have subverted parenting in the United States. Parents need to return to being parents, not friends.