Mindless Obedience

Well, here we go again. According to an article is USA Today, fully 36% of 112,003 US high school students say that newspapers should get government approval for their articles before puplishing them. Of course, the first reaction is "what the hell are they teaching these kids?" In fact, I DO know what they are teaching our kids and it is not a pretty sight. I have two kids in public school, one in a middle school and one in high school. We had to leave the private educational system available here because my oldest had difficulties in learning that the privates simply could not accomodate, so kudos to the local school system for helping. But oh, what a price to pay in return.

Last year my eldest helped matters along by letting fly with unacceptable language in the school halls that was overheard by a teacher. Oops. That was reason for punishment in "the good old days" and it still is in my book. Instead of punishing him within the school system, however, they called in the local cop that is ALWAYS on campus now, and promptly wrote him a misdemeanor ticket to the tune of about $250. He had to go to court because it was a civil offense, and he ended up serving a number of community hours in return for a reduced fine. The lesson learned? Do not worry about the teachers, they have no real authority. Worry about Big Brother lurking in the halls and behind every door. Now, again, I have no problem with punishment for an infraction, but why should the civil authorities even be involved? The only time I ever saw a cop in high school was at the football games and when they came to pick up a notorious member of our esteemed class that had committed more serious misdeeds outside of class time. That was a big deal. My kids deal with cops walking the halls every single day. It is normal for them. They expect it. In other words, They expect the government to be involved in their daily lives playing the role that our teachers and parents used to play.

Is it a surprise to us now that the kids in high school simply accept and even expect the government to play that same role when they are adults? Everything that they hear in the news, practically, reflects this same attitude. The current administration has used language that tells the entire world that those who are not with us are against us, and WE HAVE THE RIGHT to determine who is against us in a legal sense. We are locking up people in prison camps (do I hear a similarity to 'concentration camp' here?) without recourse to trial or anything resembling due process. We are prosecuting kids that so much as have a metal spoon in their possesion at school, and at the same time telling them that any mention of a christian ethic is forbidden. The Supreme Court recently ruled in Illinois vs. Caballes that it is fine for the civil authorities to stop your car and search it with drug-sniffing dogs without suspicion because it does not represent a violation fo the fourth amendment. So, if you are stopped for a traffic violation, it is perfectly acceptable to make you wait until the drug unit shows up to sniff you vehicle just in case you are in violation of other laws. I could go into how the fourth amandment is a mere shadow of its former self here, but the point is the expectation that the government has the right to govern and question every part of your life at any time. According to the poll mentioned above, our high school kids are beginning to believe it and accept it.

Thank God there was still a 51% majority that did NOT ascribe to that belief, but it scares the bejeesus out of me.