the reward in wrong

 There is an old saying, it takes a village to raise a child. I'd say that was completely accurate, it does take a village. Listening to the news it seems that idea has changed somewhat. Now, the idea is it takes the federal government to correct what the village failed to do! That came to mind as Nora O'Donnel was doing some expose on sexual assault in the military! The question was why? Why, is this happening in the military were you should feel safe? Hey Nora, it's happening because there are boys and girl in close proximity to each other, away from home, lonely and under stress. Happens in college dormitories too! But you know why it happens Nora? It's because they weren't taught as children about morality, respect, boundaries and in general, how to act! That's the problem. Doesn't take a lot to figure that out. But that is just one issue in regard to this raising of children. That isn't the job of government! It has to begin at home. 

 Another story in the news was about kids ( juveniles) committing crimes, being arrested and, I know it's hard to believe, sent to juvenile detention centers! Yes, the kids are being sent to places where they lock up kids! Well, something needs to be done about that because that isn't right. The problem? The kids are being held accountable for their choices. But they shouldn't be held accountable for their choices because they are just kids. And kids don't have fully developed brains, so it isn't their fault. The brain, as science will tell you, isn't fully developed until the age of 25! Sure kids can join the military, vote, drive cars, operate heavy machinery, get married, take out student loans and all that, but shouldn't be held accountable for breaking the law. Well, it is just not fair. The government needs to provide training, counseling, therapies and professional services for these children, not lock them up. The government should be empowering these children not punishing them.  

 Still another larger issue is people robbing, looting, and generally breaking the law to obtain what they want. Thing is, they are doing so because of income inequality! Yes, they can't afford to buy that car, so they steal it. Well, it's not their fault, it's income inequality that is driving all of that. If only those people had a college education and were CEO's of corporations they wouldn't have to do that. It's a lack of opportunity! Not fair that everyone isn't born into the same socio-economic strata. Not fair that there are different races! And we all know that if you are a certain race you can't succeed on your own, at least that is the mantra I hear every single day. The deck is stacked against you, And you know that because your parents told you so, the neighbors all say so, and the government designs programs specifically to make it "fair" for you. This is so ingrained into society that we can't even mention otherwise, there will be no discussion about personal accountability, no, it's systemic! 

 Now all of this is generalities, and that isn't a good topic for discussion. There are exceptions. Still, in general, the raising of our children requires everyone's cooperation. It does take a village. Thing is the village has to agree on what is right, and what is wrong. And therein lies the problem we are facing today. Everyone believes they are the exception. Sometimes called the victim mentality it is becoming pervasive. Everyone has an excuse, a reason why the law doesn't apply to them. Even when they agree the law is valid, they should be exempted for some reason. I just heard the Governor of Maryland explaining why the bars and restaurants must close at ten. The reason, after ten people get drunk and won't follow the rules. Strange DWI's have been occurring at a fairly regular rate for years, maybe we should have closed the bars at ten all these years, saved all those lives. Nah, that's a stupid idea.

 I guess I'm just old. I still believe that we learn more from punishment than we do reward. At least that is what I feel modifies our attitude. Sure I enjoyed the praise and accolades when I did something good. Thing is I remembered the punishments a lot longer. I did learn that celebrations are brief, but mistakes stay with you a lot longer. Learn from those mistakes! Being rewarded for making a mistake doesn't work very well in my experience because I want that reward again. I don't really care how I get it. That's why children seeking attention will act out the way they do. Just seems to me the village these days just does everything they can to satisfy that one child at the expense of the others. The spoiled brats are getting their way. It's just easier isn't it? 

 You know, when I was a child the church taught more about punishment than they did reward. The reward came afterward. First you had to learn to be obedient. You were taught to follow the law, indeed to respect the law. You didn't get to heaven by praising his name, deeds opened those gates. Yes forgiveness was a possibility but it wasn't a guarantee! You have to learn from your mistakes. When Jesus spoke to the adulterer the instruction was to go and sin no more, it wasn't sin some more and I'll keep on forgiving you. It wasn't I will provide counseling, therapy, and place you in a program! No, the instruction was clear, don't do that again. The "or else" was implied.