thetorpedostouch


Responses to Comments	The Problem is the Solution On Wednesday, February 14, a young man entered Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and started shooting. 17 dead. America screamed in protest when it was discovered that someone had sent the FBI a message posted by the alleged killer that implied his intent to kill but the FBI failed to act. I see things a little differently. Why didn’t the FAMILY act? No other people had so much contact and knowledge of this young man than his parents. What about the neighbors? Where were his closest friends or acquaintances? There is evidence that he manifested this kind of behavior for many years? Certainly this was apparent to those close to him. Mass shootings. Children killing children. Disunity. Gangs out of control. There is a dangerous trend in America today. I call it responsibility transference. The result of which has been and continues to be the transfer of responsibility from individuals to government. Over the last couple of decades we have not only invited the federal government into our homes, we are insisting that they become more and more involved in our lives. Instigate gun control, fix our educational system, stop racism, give us more handouts, stop our children from killing each other, the list goes on and on. When we say that the FBI should have known more about this young man’s behavior, what we are saying is they should also know more about OUR behavior. We are giving the government permission to infiltrate our lives; know who we are, where we go, what we think. We seem to want, whether it is consciously or unconsciously, the government to control our lives and the lives of our family. There’s a word for that: socialism, and we are rapidly moving to that end. In mathematics when you want to solve a problem you begin by finding the lowest common denominator. Only then can you solve the problem. So, what is the lowest common denominator in the problems facing America today? Is there one common denominator? I think there is: family. The problems facing America today didn’t just pop up over night. They are part of an evolution that began slowly, community by community until it spread over the entire nation. As families began to disintegrate, the nation began to crumble. As parents we worked harder to get more stuff. In doing so we left behind the most important stuff: our children. They have been left alone to find their own way and that’s not a child’s job. Today, through social media, a stranger miles away knows more about where are children are and what they are doing than we do. If we learn anything from nature, simple observation shows us that a cub needs to be taught by its parents. Otherwise it will not survive. There is no substitute for parenting. The intuitive bond between parent and child is irreplaceable. Children today are alone and angry. They are angry because they have no direction and no support system. They are angry because they are missing the things that all children need: parents, guidance, support. We can blame our government leaders all we want. We can blame the democrats and republicans. We can attempt to shift the blame wherever we want to in order to make ourselves feel better about ourselves but the truth is that WE are the problem. It’s always easier to preach than to practice. It’s always easier to protest for change than to precipitate change. Whether we like it or not, the lowest denominator is us, each individual, the family, the neighborhood. We are the problem and, unfortunately, we are also the solution. Until we accept the responsibility for our children, our own lives and that of our communities things will not improve; problems will not be solved, America will not be united, our country will continue to decay and we will inevitably become a socialists nation where the government makes decisions for us, raises our children for us and, without our consent, establishes the laws under which we must live.
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The Problem is the Solution

On Wednesday, February 14, a young man entered Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and started shooting. 17 dead. America screamed in protest when it was discovered that someone had sent the FBI a message posted by the alleged killer that implied his intent to kill but the FBI failed to act. I see things a little differently. Why didn’t the FAMILY act? No other people had so much contact and knowledge of this young man than his parents. What about the neighbors? Where were his closest friends or acquaintances? There is evidence that he manifested this kind of behavior for many years? Certainly this was apparent to those close to him.

Mass shootings. Children killing children. Disunity. Gangs out of control. There is a dangerous trend in America today. I call it responsibility transference. The result of which has been and continues to be the transfer of responsibility from individuals to government. Over the last couple of decades we have not only invited the federal government into our homes, we are insisting that they become more and more involved in our lives. Instigate gun control, fix our educational system, stop racism, give us more handouts, stop our children from killing each other, the list goes on and on. When we say that the FBI should have known more about this young man’s behavior, what we are saying is they should also know more about OUR behavior. We are giving the government permission to infiltrate our lives; know who we are, where we go, what we think. We seem to want, whether it is consciously or unconsciously, the government to control our lives and the lives of our family. There’s a word for that: socialism, and we are rapidly moving to that end.
In mathematics when you want to solve a problem you begin by finding the lowest common denominator. Only then can you solve the problem. So, what is the lowest common denominator in the problems facing America today? Is there one common denominator? I think there is: family.

The problems facing America today didn’t just pop up over night. They are part of an evolution that began slowly, community by community until it spread over the entire nation. As families began to disintegrate, the nation began to crumble. As parents we worked harder to get more stuff. In doing so we left behind the most important stuff: our children. They have been left alone to find their own way and that’s not a child’s job. Today, through social media, a stranger miles away knows more about where are children are and what they are doing than we do. If we learn anything from nature, simple observation shows us that a cub needs to be taught by its parents. Otherwise it will not survive. There is no substitute for parenting. The intuitive bond between parent and child is irreplaceable. Children today are alone and angry. They are angry because they have no direction and no support system. They are angry because they are missing the things that all children need: parents, guidance, support.
We can blame our government leaders all we want. We can blame the democrats and republicans. We can attempt to shift the blame wherever we want to in order to make ourselves feel better about ourselves but the truth is that WE are the problem. It’s always easier to preach than to practice. It’s always easier to protest for change than to precipitate change. Whether we like it or not, the lowest denominator is us, each individual, the family, the neighborhood. We are the problem and, unfortunately, we are also the solution. Until we accept the responsibility for our children, our own lives and that of our communities things will not improve; problems will not be solved, America will not be united, our country will continue to decay and we will inevitably become a socialists nation where the government makes decisions for us, raises our children for us and, without our consent, establishes the laws under which we must live.