There comes a time

There comes a time, when an individual can no longer merely be a casual observer witnessing events, but is required by circumstances to speak out or bear the blame for the evil outcome, which he supported by his silence  I have witnessed a government intervention, which has succeeded in reengineering the basic unit of society, the traditional nuclear family.  That same government seeks to mandate that we not only acquiesce in its social engineering experiment, but celebrate the destruction this reengineering scheme has wrought.  I can no longer sit silently by and witness the continued destruction of my country’s social and political culture without raising my voice in outrage.

It is time to for all, who believe in traditional American values to voice their disapproval of this social engineering scheme. Begin by educating your children and family members that procreation absent a marital commitment is deviant and unacceptable behavior, which inflicts irreparable harm on the children of these relationships.    Insist that your Priests, Ministers or Rabbis and any other clergy express their support for the traditional family from the pulpit. Show your displeasure with the direction of the political culture through at the ballot box. Contact your Federal Representatives and Senators and insist on a constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage.   Spread the word to anyone, who will listen that you do not support and will not accept this newly engineered social order and that you have traditional values deeply rooted in nature, history and religion, which cannot be compromised for political expediency or personal gratification.

I have witnessed the systemic destruction of the nuclear family by my government and its replacement with the universally accepted and celebrated single parent household.   I have been warned by my government and media that it is inappropriate to judge these newly created family units by my old religious value system.  After all the individuals are merely acting in a manner, which promotes their personal satisfaction.  The sexual revolution has freed men and women from the slavery of traditional marriage.

If this meddling in the natural order was not sufficient, big brother government inserts itself between the biological parents.   It through its policies and programs alienates children from the parents with the promise of financial independence or reproductive freedom.  Government creates vast bureaucracies, which promise to support, feed and act in loco parentis.  

Government is no one’s parent.  It cannot replace a father and mother.  Politicians and bureaucrats do not know you or your family.  They may not even share your core values.  They cannot act be allowed to substitute their programs in place of the parents.

Unelected short sighted public administrators laud the new poverty programs as economic growth vehicles because money is borrowed by the federal government and pumped relentlessly into the community.   Rules are promulgated and social agencies are utilized to secure acceptance of the new order.  These rules are justified as necessary for individual safety and the maintenance of societal order.  

Government Attorneys are dispatched in droves to secure financial support for these new unsustainable societal units.  Insuring financial support for dependents is a noble charge, but the result this government intrusion is all too often a splintered more severely dysfunctional family unit.

All of these actions are well intentioned and justified by proponents as actions necessary for personal freedom and poverty alleviation.  The societal chaos, which ensues, pits parent against parent and child against parent.  Yet in the wake of vast deficit spending, the poverty still persists and families are torn asunder.  Individuals are heard in the midst of all these noble intentions to decry their newly created social position.  The newly anointed heads of household and their minor charges lament the diffusion of responsibility, which gave rise to and perpetuates this unnatural social existence.

I have personally witnessed multiple religious based program graduations, where estranged young adult males vowed to be better fathers for their children in the future.  Almost to a man each recounted that there was no paternal role model in their home, when they were growing up.  They do not know how to be a parent or how to maintain a traditional family relationship.  The cycle is continued with them.

What is the answer?  Surely we cannot simply allow those society encouraged to embark into these new arrangements to do without and become part of a permanent underclass.  We start small.  We begin by no longer celebrating and financially promoting these single parent arrangements.  We educate the youth that the family is the natural basic unit of a society.  We promote personal responsibility starting in the home.  We reward marriage.  We should encourage marriage between parents even when that commitment occurs post child birth.

We reform some laws to conform to the natural social order.  We formulate a tax structure that doesn’t punish lifelong commitment.  We remove the government from family decisions.  WE accept gifts between parent and child as tax free exchanges at any age, where there is no ongoing commerce involved.  We employ a tax structure that allows parents to assist their offspring at an age with no income reporting requirements except in those rare instances where there is intent to defraud a government program with a wealth transfer.  Wealth exchanges of this type are a family matter not a government revenue source.  Let me be clear.  There should be no gift or income tax consequences for traditional family wealth transfers except where the exchange is done to defraud a government entitlement program.

If this tax strategy is employed, government will benefit in the long run because it will have less individuals dependent on its services.  We should also allow wealth to pass from parent to any age child without tax consideration upon the death of a parent.   Children and spouses are the natural recipients of an individual’s wealth upon death. The government doesn’t need to use families to raise revenue and if some excessive revenue is deemed to pass from parent to child, it is the price we pay for upholding the natural order.

We should require grounds for divorce, where children are present.  Except in the case of financial or domestic abuse we must remove the government from familial interactions.  We should encourage parents to first work out their finances without any government involvement.  Where parental cooperation is lacking and intervention is needed we should utilize churches and community organizations wherever available to assist.  Parents frequently will not work together, when there is a government alternative, which is easier and is often seen to favor one side over the other.

Where severe financial deprivation occurs, society must provide immediate necessaries on a short term basis only, but it must also afford the parents the opportunity to resolve the deprivation.  Provision of necessaries by the government should be short term temporary assistance and it should be repaid by both parents, when they become financially solvent. Current law encourages the creation of vagabond children, who stay with various relatives until the government assistance is no longer available to the possessory relative then the children are moved on to a new assistance providing relative.

If financial deprivation persists, more drastic remedies should be employed including criminal sanctions against income producing non providing parents and as a last resort consideration should be given to removing the children from that environment until the parents demonstrate their ability and willingness to support them   All remedies to assist families should be employed by local and state governments exclusively.   Regulation of families is not a power granted to the federal government.  The health and welfare clause of the U.S. Constitution is not an independent grant of power to the federal government.  The Tenth Amendment must mean something!  All inclusive federal regulations and funding have promoted dependency and encouraged the unacceptable culture we own experience.

Speak up at home and in your community!  Promote personal responsibility even when it is uncomfortable.  Sometimes it is imperative that you speak to prevent harm to your family and community.  Educate the young that the nuclear family is the basic building block of nature.  Listen to those, who are running for office, whether it is federal state or local.  Do they share your values?  Do their solutions always involve use of government force first?  If so, consider the long term social engineering consequences of supporting such a candidate.  Families are a naturally occurring phenomenon, not a creature created by government rules and government intervention.  If you encounter a candidate or policy that runs contrary to your traditional values even within a party you ordinarily support, speak out against the individual or policy.  Don’t contribute to the evil.

Author: Walter graff

former Ohio Public service executive. Conservative for life. Life long Ohio resident View all posts by Walter graff