Ivy League credentialed, six-figure experts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered that parenthood is stressful.
Stop the presses! As The Wall Street Journal’s James Freeman is wont to say, “What would we do without experts?”
The NIH could have saved taxpayers gobs of their hard-earned dollars by asking the parents of any 2-year-old if parenting is stressful.
I’ve noticed a disturbing trend among progressives’ efforts to address putative societal problems.
First, these “solutions” pander to the basest instincts of humankind: selfish, self-centered, self-seeking, undisciplined, tribal. Parenthood stressful? Don’t have children.
Second, the sum total of these proposals either harms the purported beneficiaries or make matters worse, which in turn precipitates cries for additional misguided fixes. Concepts like self-discipline, character building, self sacrifice, accountability, perseverance, hard work are rarely mentioned.
President Joe Biden, employing the cover of compassion to forgive billions of student debt in return for the votes of the grateful tens of thousands who squandered their college years pursuing worthless degrees, is but one example of liberals’ pandering to the all-too-human wish to get something for nothing.
Student loan forgiveness is one blatant example. There are other less obvious ploys.
Many in the woke community now proclaim obesity as beautiful. Check-out the many television commercials featuring rotund spokespersons for this product or that. Cheerleader squads now include a requisite DEI quota.
Abandoning science for fashion, the American Medical Association has classified Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure for diagnosing obesity, as racist.
For members of the fat acceptance movement “Fat Pride” is the preferred nomenclature.
Those losing the battle of the bulge no longer overindulge. As Flip Wilson used to say, the devil —- in the guise of the environment, too few recreational facilities, fast food, manipulative marketing by food conglomerates, and increased portion sizes —- makes them do it.
Archaic concepts like self-discipline and free will are passé. If obesity isn’t my fault, I may as well enjoy it. Actress Kate Winslet is proud of her belly rolls. Good for Kate. Unfortunately, her exuberance doesn’t change the inconvenient fact that obesity kills.
The drive to legalize marijuana barely needs mentioning. Ask any drug addict how they wound up on the streets and the majority will pinpoint marijuana as their gateway drug. Legalization removes the criminal guardrails and social stigma associated with drug use.
Consequently, drugs become more available and more attractive. A steppingstone toward full legalization are medical marijuana cards with their disability diagnoses and attendant benefits.
Abortion, of course, is the elephant in the room. Hillary Clinton, aided and abetted by the Supreme Court’s discovery of a right to privacy in the penumbra of the Constitution, rode the bromide “safe, legal, and rare” to legalization.
Rare? Safe?
According to the Pew Research Center, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a yearly national total of 625,978 abortions in the District of Columbia and 46 states in 2021, up from 597,355 in those states and D.C. in 2020. The corresponding figure for 2019 was 607,720.
Readers can ask themselves whether these statistics harmed the fabric of America and its people or made them better.
The common thread in progressives’ agendas is the license to do as we wish, consequences be damned. But the irrefutable fact is that all actions have consequences. The only question is, who pays?
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