Site icon Being Libertarian

The Entitled Breeder Part 4: Tricked Into More Government

Being Libertarian
entitled breeder part 4

In part one of this series, I vented my anger at the death of a precious creature due to the negligence of an inattentive parent. By part two, my consciousness of the problem grew to the point that I had to acknowledge the privileged status many parents feel they have regarding the costs of educating a child. In part three, the obvious nature of those with children to use emotional ploys as a form of social manipulation to benefit their children was fleshed out.

But was there ever a point, a reason to enrage so many who have brought new life into this world? Was I just some douchebag, malcontent writer that wished to fan the flames of a mother or father who simply have love for their progeny? The truth is, no… there was always a plan. A plan to point out how societal acceptance of a supposed shared responsibility to care for the young of others has allowed many parts of our already bloated government (and the governments of other nations) to expand unchecked in the name of progress for the next generation.

This is part four of the entitled breeder series, the story of how the emotional bonds to our children have been used to manipulate us into allowing huge growth in government. (Often to the detriment of the very children people wrongly believe are being helped.)

If you don’t believe me, just look at gun control in the last year. Using the visage of devastated teenagers from Parkland, Florida, ambitious leftist legislators (many of whom identify as conservatives) have enacted more gun control during the Trump administration (often with the Presidents approval) than was ever enacted during President Barack Obama’s presidency.

But it goes far beyond that. Vice businesses (strip clubs, liquor stores, bars, and pornographic movie shops) are often barred from being within a predetermined amount of space from places like schools and other places where children are known to congregate in mass. And while I would certainly not place one of these establishments near such a place (I can’t imagine many of the patrons would be in that area of town), the fact that our already ridiculous zoning laws are being tightened to protect children from the sight of things they will see as soon as they hit high school seems like a wasted effort to this writer.

But back to the emotionalism used to justify this nonsense; I’d like to discuss an article that came across one of my social media accounts recently. I am not going to specifically cite this article because it was complete and utter bullshit, but the comments section from the post was rife with parents that suddenly felt justified in harming those that were not accepting of their child’s bad behavior in a public place. The fake article was about a “newly proposed law” that would allow people to trip a child that was running around a store or restaurant and being a nuisance. While I agreed with them that using such an action would constitute violence against a child, when I suggested that the parents should have to pay for the meal of the couple celebrating their 40 year wedding anniversary (just one of many possible examples), these people became very upset.

I think the most popular line from that entire thread was “look shithead, sometimes kids just act the fuck up. What do you want me to do, pay every time my kid acts up?”

My response of “if it cost someone money or ruined a service that was already paid for… yes!” didn’t earn me any friends.

Back to education, there is a deeper precedent being set under our current model. Most libertarians have heard the line did you go to public school in reference to our stance that taxation is theft. Skipping past the fact that few (if any) kids have any kind of say in where they are sent to receive their education, the bigger problem comes from much earlier in the commenters life… to when they were in school. As school was provided for them, the seeds got planted of an obligatory duty to sharpen the minds of societies most weak and vulnerable. This is also the time when many children from low-income families receive other benefits, courtesy of the taxpayer. We have placed the idea in this child’s head that consent and voluntary interaction are not worthwhile values, favoring the ‘it takes a village’ (shout out to Hillary Clinton) mentality.

And there, in turn, is yet another problem. Those who favor the village model seem to forget one thing. The owner of the aforementioned porn shop… he is part of the village. The owner of the gun store is too. From the richest guy in town to the vagabond tossing off closeted white collar dads for meth money, you incorporate not just the cream of local society with this approach… but also the most twisted and nefarious. (And newsflash people, this writer is also a part of that village… and I doubt any of you want a guy like me raising your children.)

Which brings us back to what I said at the beginning of this article: we now have to regulate other individuals (who are creating no victims) in some overly righteous effort to protect children from bad decisions and hedonism. The man with the startup money to buy the lot two blocks from a school and start a potentially successful gin mill, might have to look at less desirable lots simply because we can’t allow kids to see a glistening bottle of Grey Goose in a store window.

So there it is folks! The horrifying reality that the entitled breeder has helped breed big government, with only a handful of examples of the many that speak to my overall point. From fast-tracked gun control to feeling owed for the security of one’s child to feeling emboldened towards violence simply because a fellow patron tells someone else’s child to shut the fuck up – we have allowed an idea to go unchallenged: that a child’s vulnerability gives their forbearers license to use force (either directly or via the state) in service of protecting said vulnerability.

It has bred the entitled citizen, who will gladly vote away freedom in favor of security for their little one. (I wonder what Ben Franklin would say about that?) It has bred the entitled teenager, who uses crocodile tears and well-written eulogies to sway supposed defenders of liberty to throw away our most basic rights like ashes in the wind. It has bred the entitled politician, who can look at you and promise a defense of things like America’s glorious Second Amendment only to turn around and write and sign legislation that butchers it with a rusty machete. It has bred the entitled parent, who has allowed (and even voted towards) overreaching government such as Child Protective Services, a reactionary investigative wing of government, that can often take a child from those same parents on little to no evidence.

Ladies and gentlemen… this is how the entitled breeder, bred big government. Thanks for reading.

The following two tabs change content below.

Bryce Jackson

Bryce Jackson is a writer and libertarian activist from Chelsea, Vermont. He has written guest submissions for Being Libertarian, The Libertarian Vindicator, The Daily Liberator, and Free Mind Media. He is currently a columnist and staff writer for The Libertarian Vindicator and a staff writer for 71 Republic. He identifies as a Rothbardian.
Exit mobile version