When I Die, My Seed Will Be Ill As Me...

As a child are were sold the dream of wife-kids-house-dog, but the older I get the more I run into people who want none of those things. They'd rather go through life being productive citizens with no moral or emotional (or legal) responsibilities to the welfare of another human being. That is totally fine, being that we live on a very very very very very very very very overpopulated planet by the name of Earth. I have absolutely no gripe with those who choose to NOT reproduce or marry, that is their choice. My beef is with those who bring offspring into this world and see no faults with the reasons why you do so, or the practices you use to raise that child or children. I am a new parent myself and I'd be lying if I said my spouse and I weren't freestyling sometimes when it came to the methods we use raising our daughter. We're smart and responsible enough to know which things worked and didn't work on us so we move accordingly when it's time to put our parenting skills to the test. I won't get too specific, but I will speak on something I have noticed in the last several years of my life. The way we on this side of the Earth teach our children responsibility is in layman's terms fucking ridiculous. In fact our children do not often learn the burden of responsibility until the age of 18 years old when they graduate high school and are now given these new freedoms and rights. It is assumed that the average 18 year old will be disciplined or just plain ol' smart enough to handle being an adult. I find that shit absurd and here's why... Let's think about the what the average person goes through as a small child up until an 18 year old. A child and child I mean like a baby has no concerns besides their own self-preservation. We have to teach them to share and care for others. We teach them to love Mommy and Daddy, because Mommy and Daddy loves them. Maybe they don't wanna love their parents, why not let them decide? I'm not advocating tough-love for small children, but I am trying to look at this stage of human life objectively. Their concern with their own well-being doesn't necessarily come from a space which wants them to succeed or accomplish anything they desire while putting another person or human being into a compromising predicament. If they want milk, nap-time, or to be held nobody has to die. If an adult wants lets say something as common as a cellphone, someone in some foreign poor country is being deprived human/civil rights just so that new Iphone 15 can see the light of day. As the children get a little older they show their true selves/personalities, but everything about this society oppresses that notion and we enforce it because it is the norm. Don't color outside the lines, color inside the lines like everyone else yet make sure you're an individual because You are special like everyone else... Wait What? What kind of mixed messages and bullshit are we teaching our kids? I won't dwell, so fast-forward to the preteen stage where most children are by now introduced to sports. We tell them it 'builds character' and helps our children learn teamwork. If that's not the biggest crock of bullshit I've ever heard in my damn life... Yo how the fuck does giving all the kids a trophy, yes even the 12th kid on the fucking bench who saw no playing time unless it was a blowout, establish one's character if they're being rewarded for something they DIDN'T do? How and why does that make sense to anyone? This practice is repeated until teenage/high school years when sports and popularity matter. This is where we groom our children to be WINNERS or just to not be LOSERS in life. Maybe one has a job, maybe not. The ultimate goal I believe here is to constitute one's role in this structure we've built and participated in, which wont rock the boat. Of course we leave a little room for those who recognize this whole bullshit steez, but those voices are drowned out. Let's look at the end product and BOOM a whole generation of people who think they're individuals, but are really just loafers trying to find a way to express themselves but cant because that part of their brain has been held in check since they learned to use a crayon and now want to be rewarded for shit they've never accomplished, walking this Earth entitled as fuck trying to be the coolest person they can possibly be all while trying to handle responsibilities they were never taught to manage. Damn, ain't that some shit... Next time you find yourself practicing widely-accepted methods of parenting, think about what exactly you want to communicate to your child and what kind of person you want them to be when they grow up. Think about yourself and what was helpful/harmful to your character. Be sure to always check your ingredients, especially if you're giving them to someone else... Peace!