Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Praise This!
I’m tired of folks praising people merely for existing. Every person in this politically correct climate must be made to feel special because God forbid anyone should feel that he or she is anything but stellar.
Nowhere is this admiration of the mundane more prevalent than with children. Even rambunctious demons are handled with kid gloves because to tell some little bastard that he’s heading for a knuckle sandwich might hurt his fragile ego. I’m not advocating child abuse, but I am advocating discipline. Children need to be told when they’re misbehaving, and if that makes them feel uncomfortable, then perhaps that will provide the incentive necessary for them to stop pissing everyone off.
Kids are being turned into pussies because parents don't have the balls to smack them when they deserve it, or even tell them when they're being whiny little shits. So we've got a spoiled, soft generation of Gameboy-playing turds. And it's the parents' fault for coddling them and giving them every opportunity and walking on eggshells lest they shatter their progeny's fragile ego. Ooh, little Jacob's self-esteem might be hurt if we tell him that it's not okay to use the living room as a demolition derby arena and not pick up after himself. I say the bastard oughta clean the chimney and go to bed without dinner. Maybe that'll get through his TV-addicted skull.
Discipline is simple conditioning. Any animal can be taught to behave a certain way. For example, if your dog is in the middle of doing something naughty, and you scold/punish him as he’s doing it, he will be less likely to do it again. If he does it again, then the first lesson didn’t stick, but perhaps after the second or third time getting caught and punished, he will cease that behavior. Kids learn the same way. Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that dogs are equal to kids – dogs are much cuter – but if a dog can be taught, so can a child.
If there’s anything worse than overdisciplining, it’s underdisciplining. Some people refuse to keep their kids in line for fear of hurting their feelings, and the result is that their kids end up being a nuisance to everyone else and perhaps becoming adult criminals. A little “uncomfortable” intervention early in life is better than psychiatrists and prisons having to take major corrective actions later.
To praise someone who does not deserve it is to encourage inaction. Anyone can be born and receive gifts. It is also easy to eat, sleep, watch TV and play with toys. No one should be told that they’re wonderful or special merely because they are enjoying things that they did not earn. What does deserve praise is personal accomplishments, such as doing a household chore or getting an A on a report. This is how we encourage work and results – the things that make society function. To praise everyone equally, no matter what they do, is to take away some incentive from the movers and shakers, and encourage the lazy to continue being useless shitbags.
Nowhere is this admiration of the mundane more prevalent than with children. Even rambunctious demons are handled with kid gloves because to tell some little bastard that he’s heading for a knuckle sandwich might hurt his fragile ego. I’m not advocating child abuse, but I am advocating discipline. Children need to be told when they’re misbehaving, and if that makes them feel uncomfortable, then perhaps that will provide the incentive necessary for them to stop pissing everyone off.
Kids are being turned into pussies because parents don't have the balls to smack them when they deserve it, or even tell them when they're being whiny little shits. So we've got a spoiled, soft generation of Gameboy-playing turds. And it's the parents' fault for coddling them and giving them every opportunity and walking on eggshells lest they shatter their progeny's fragile ego. Ooh, little Jacob's self-esteem might be hurt if we tell him that it's not okay to use the living room as a demolition derby arena and not pick up after himself. I say the bastard oughta clean the chimney and go to bed without dinner. Maybe that'll get through his TV-addicted skull.
Discipline is simple conditioning. Any animal can be taught to behave a certain way. For example, if your dog is in the middle of doing something naughty, and you scold/punish him as he’s doing it, he will be less likely to do it again. If he does it again, then the first lesson didn’t stick, but perhaps after the second or third time getting caught and punished, he will cease that behavior. Kids learn the same way. Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that dogs are equal to kids – dogs are much cuter – but if a dog can be taught, so can a child.
If there’s anything worse than overdisciplining, it’s underdisciplining. Some people refuse to keep their kids in line for fear of hurting their feelings, and the result is that their kids end up being a nuisance to everyone else and perhaps becoming adult criminals. A little “uncomfortable” intervention early in life is better than psychiatrists and prisons having to take major corrective actions later.
To praise someone who does not deserve it is to encourage inaction. Anyone can be born and receive gifts. It is also easy to eat, sleep, watch TV and play with toys. No one should be told that they’re wonderful or special merely because they are enjoying things that they did not earn. What does deserve praise is personal accomplishments, such as doing a household chore or getting an A on a report. This is how we encourage work and results – the things that make society function. To praise everyone equally, no matter what they do, is to take away some incentive from the movers and shakers, and encourage the lazy to continue being useless shitbags.
