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Ethical Parenting
by Petrichor Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:09 am
http://nymag.com/news/features/ethical-parenting-2013-10/
"Parenthood, like war, is a state in which it’s impossible to be moral. Worse, the moral weakness of parents is always on display, for children bear witness to their incessant ethical hairsplitting. It may be delicious fun to tut-tut over the corrupt child-rearing customs (and to pity the progeny) of the aggressively rising class: the mother who, according to Urban Baby legend, slept with the admissions officer (with her husband’s consent!) to get her child into the Ivy League, or the one who sued an Upper East Side preschool for insufficiently preparing her 4-year-old for a private-school test. But such Schadenfreude elides a more difficult existential truth, which is that ever since Noah installed his own three sons upon the ark and left the rest of the world to drown, protecting and privileging one’s own kids at the expense of other people has been the name of the game. It’s what parents do."
"Parenthood, like war, is a state in which it’s impossible to be moral. Worse, the moral weakness of parents is always on display, for children bear witness to their incessant ethical hairsplitting. It may be delicious fun to tut-tut over the corrupt child-rearing customs (and to pity the progeny) of the aggressively rising class: the mother who, according to Urban Baby legend, slept with the admissions officer (with her husband’s consent!) to get her child into the Ivy League, or the one who sued an Upper East Side preschool for insufficiently preparing her 4-year-old for a private-school test. But such Schadenfreude elides a more difficult existential truth, which is that ever since Noah installed his own three sons upon the ark and left the rest of the world to drown, protecting and privileging one’s own kids at the expense of other people has been the name of the game. It’s what parents do."
Petrichor- Posts : 1725
Join date : 2012-04-10
Re: Ethical Parenting
by Seva Lamberdar Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:16 am
It's the natural law and most of the parents in the animal kingdom (species) follow it -- they even kill the other young (babies) to feed to their own to keep them alive.Petrichor wrote:http://nymag.com/news/features/ethical-parenting-2013-10/
"But such Schadenfreude elides a more difficult existential truth, which is that ever since Noah installed his own three sons upon the ark and left the rest of the world to drown, protecting and privileging one’s own kids at the expense of other people has been the name of the game. It’s what parents do."
Seva Lamberdar- Posts : 6575
Join date : 2012-11-29 -
Re: Ethical Parenting
by Petrichor Wed Oct 09, 2013 10:21 am
"The urge to ferociously protect kids in an environment of scarce resources is not a modern impulse but an animal one. Bonobos are some of the most openhearted creatures on Earth. They care for one another’s children; they have sex all the time. But chimpanzees, to whom bonobos are closely related, are venal: They’re hierarchical, aggressive, and mean. A chimp mother will, when it suits her, kill another mother’s child. The difference is scarcity. Bonobos live in a region of the Congo where there’s always enough to eat. Chimps live in regions where food is seasonal, and competition for it is fierce. Humans are primates, too."
Petrichor- Posts : 1725
Join date : 2012-04-10
FluteHolder- Posts : 2355
Join date : 2011-06-03
Re: Ethical Parenting
by Petrichor Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:05 pm
Sadhguru sounds exactly like me when I run out of specific answers and try 'insightful' bromides. Use a bit of Khalil Gibran, come up with a theory of "infecting" children, fall in love with that idea and repeat it, and 'call it in' when it comes to providing experiential parental advice. But good to hear it through him.
Petrichor- Posts : 1725
Join date : 2012-04-10
Re: Ethical Parenting
by FluteHolder Wed Oct 09, 2013 2:16 pm
So if no nobel, you can become a Guru? Not a bad choice:)Petrichor wrote:Sadhguru sounds exactly like me when I run out of specific answers and try 'insightful' bromides. Use a bit of Khalil Gibran, come up with a theory of "infecting" children, fall in love with that idea and repeat it, and 'call it in' when it comes to providing experiential parental advice. But good to hear it through him.
FluteHolder- Posts : 2355
Join date : 2011-06-03
Similar topics» American Parenting
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