July 29, 1998

As something of an idealistic crusader on educational issues, I've taken some stances that tromp on some toes. A lot of my stances ain't that popular with mainstream John and Jane Doe and family, because I urge them do defy the mainstream — especially when it comes to the phrase: "... to protect children."

One sharp critique I get a lot is that I "ought to have my own kids, then see how easy it is to be a parent these days."

I genuinely wish I could. Can't say I didn't try, when I was younger. For a while, I explored the possibility of a single-parent adoption as well.

Now that I'm married to a woman with two grown daughters, my chances of becoming a daddy are remote, unless we decide to adopt. Hopefully, somewhere down the line I'll be a grandparent — geez, why does that word scare me? — but for now, my "parenting experience" is limited to a trio of chihuahuas.

I refuse to let that lack of parenting experience disqualify me from encouraging other parents to take a risk, to take a stand and to fight wrong when you can see it's wrong.

A lot of folks have told me: "You know, I really appreciate what you're doing. I think you're right. I wish I could do what you're doing, but I can't because I'm afraid 'they' would retaliate against my kids ('they' being whichever governmental entity they're dealing with)."

I sympathize with folks in that position: certainly, if I had kids, I'd want to do everything in my power to protect them. Fighting city hall (or any other governmental entity) ain't easy to do when it's you against 'them.'

And, given the number of first-person horror stories I've heard, I have little doubt that 'they' do retaliate against parents by retaliating against kids: it's an effective tactic, used by every totalitarian regime since the dawn of time.

Yet that's the very reason I am so vocal: if you don't stop 'them' here and now, what are you going to do when 'they' take more and more of your basic rights away? What are you going to do when 'they' tell you that 'they' have chosen a career for your child, or when 'they' tell you that you must "by law" do something which runs counter to your basic personal or religious beliefs?

We keep hearing the "...to protect children" mantra from the fascists who are taking over our government — as one example, the Deadbeat Dads laws being passed in state after state, giving the government the power to compile a massive national database on every single worker.

Without getting into details, as the son of a so-called deadbeat dad, I recognize the good intent of such a law. As someone who's seen government bureaucracies at every level consistently exceed their authorized powers, the concept of the formation of such a database scares me to death.