Tag Archives: traditional family

Saving the Traditional Family

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop,Ph.D.      

Charlie Kirk discussed many issues as he conducted his debates on college campuses during his famous “Prove Me Wrong!” tour. One of the most important issues that I want to address is his effort to save the traditional family. As a husband and father of two children, he was well acquainted with the reality of living within the traditional family. He loved it! Importantly, he realized that resisting a Marxist takeover of this country relies on the strength of the intact traditional family.

The traditional family structure has been the bedrock of Western Civilization for hundreds of years. In fact, no successful country has ever existed without the traditional family. However, Karl Marx and his partner Friedrich Engels realized that they could not destroy the essence of the free market system without first destroying the traditional family. Sadly, there are many signs that Marxism is being successful in its effort to do just that. The family structure that most of us grew up in is no longer what it was. Our parents would be shocked at many of the things that are occurring now that would have been totally unacceptable in their lifetimes. Why does Marxism want to destroy the traditional family? One reason is that they want people to be dependent on the government, not on each other. That is where their power lies. Another reason is their belief that sexual activity should have no restrictions. Marx and Engels wrote that people should be free to engage in sex with anyone and in any way they wanted, including homosexuality. Allowing homosexual marriage in this country during the Obama administration was a Marxist triumph. Further efforts to undermine parents are occurring in some states like California that have attempted to prevent parents from stopping their children from receiving gender altering medications and surgery. The Supreme Court recently heard a case where the state of Colorado passed a law that prevents medical personnel from counseling children and their parents against receiving these horrific treatments.

Charlie Kirk understood this threat to the traditional family and confronted the problem directly as he debated college students. He would clearly tell them that the importance and rewards of marriage with children far exceed any satisfaction and importance of a career, especially for women. He also made the point that marriage between a man and a woman is divinely inspired, as is having children. Here are some of the examples of how the traditional family is being destroyed, and then I will present some ideas about what we can do to reverse this trend.

In 1960, the average age at first marriage was 23 years for men and 20 years for women. Now, it is 32 years for men and 28 years for women; thus resulting in 40% fewer years for having children. The result has been a significant drop in the average number of children in this country from 4.5 per woman in 1960, to 1.6 per woman currently, which is insufficient to maintain the population. Prior to the 1960s, pre-marital sex was frowned upon and waiting till marriage was considered a virtue. Children are now being instructed in sexual practices in so-called sex education classes that encourage them to engage in sexual activity at a young age and before marriage. Living together before marriage used to be strongly discouraged and a mark of shame. Now, cohabiting before marriage appears to be the norm, frequently going on for years before marrying or breaking up. By the way, couples who live together before marriage are more likely to get divorced.

The traditional family was the provider of not only the continuation of American traditions, history,and values, but also importantly, moral conscience development through a religious framework. Children are not born knowing the difference between right and wrong; they must be taught. The failure to socialize children is glaringly obvious when noting that the percentage of children born out of wedlock in 1960 was 3% for white mothers and 24% for black mothers. Now the figures are 21% for whites; and 70% for blacks. We know that children raised without two parents are less likely to complete high school, are more likely to become addicted to drugs, and are significantly more likely to spend time in prison. No surprise here. Parents are the first teachers of their children and should serve as role models of what they should endeavor to be when they grow up. This does not happen except in the intact traditional family. Also, social media is having an extremely negative impact on children. Increased anxiety, depression, suicide and anti-social behavior have all increased with the use of smart phones by children. Australia, and now Denmark, are banning access to social media sites by children under 15. We should do the same. Our children should not be raised by the social media! The increased divorce rate since the advent of no-fault divorce has also harmed the traditional family. Married people not only report being happier, but they also live longer. This is especially true for couples with children.

How do we encourage a return to traditional families? First, we should do what Charlie Kirk did–speak out in support of marriage and having children, especially to our children and grandchildren. For example, I have two grandsons in their 20s both of whom have been dating their girlfriends for several years. I occasionally would ask them when they were getting engaged. Several months ago, one of them asked me what I thought he should get his girlfriend for her birthday. My reply was “an engagement ring.” Let them know where you stand. By the way they are both engaged now and have set marriage dates. Discourage them from living together before getting married. Encourage them to attend church, and do so yourself to model appropriate behavior. Talk about traditional values, don’t be reluctant. We have to counter the leftist indoctrination in our universities.

From an economic perspective, the Trump administration is developing proposals to provide tax incentives and relief for families with children. Do what you can to assist family members with children financially. Why wait to give them an inheritance when you can help them now when they may actually need it more. The NC General Assembly has recently increased funding for school choice. However, they still have not provided vouchers for homeschoolers. This needs to be done, as it has been done in other states.

Let us all make a commitment to follow Charlie Kirk’s example and support the traditional family which is essential to the survival of our country as we have known it. Otherwise, the Marxists win.

Recognizing Marxism

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D 

Since WWII, America has resisted Marxism at home and abroad. The reason for that  resistance is not only that Marxist ideology is contrary to the founding principles of our country, but also because no Marxist country has ever brought economic success and freedom to its people. Unfortunately, some Americans do not recognize the extreme threat that Marxist ideology presents to our freedom. It is essential, that all of us recognize when our politicians, leaders, and the media, are advocating for Marxist principles and leading us on a destructive path.

Here are some Marxist principles that should raise a red flag. First: Central government control. Marxism cannot exist without strong central government control over people’s lives. Expanding the size of the federal government and allowing federal agencies to issue increasing numbers of regulations directly limits our freedom. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that federal agencies are exceeding their authority by issuing increasing numbers of regulations with the force of law, without congressional approval.  There are currently over 3,000 federal rules and regulations spanning 90,000 pages.  Second:  Income equality. Marxism advocates reducing income differences so that everyone earns the same. This would eliminate rewards for effort and creativity essential to economic growth and prosperity. Examples are increasing the minimum wage, guaranteed minimum income, reparations, and many existing and proposed welfare programs. Third: Disarming citizens.  Every Marxist government prevents citizens from owning firearms; for example: China, Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, etc. They obviously want to remove the ability of the people to resist their authoritarian dictates. Some countries, such as Australia, have moved in this direction through mandatory firearm buyback programs. Fourth:  Destroying traditions. Cultural cleansing attempts to remove the history and traditions that are an essential part of a country’s identity. Removing statues, rewriting history books, re-naming military bases and schools, are some examples of cultural cleansing that then allows the central government to impose its own Marxist culture. Open borders allow the influx of diverse people who do not share American principles and beliefs. Fifth:  Destruction of the traditional family, which has always served as the primary mechanism to teach essential cultural values. Homosexual marriage, government funded childcare, Head Start programs, marrying later in life, if at all, have undermined the integrity of the family.  As Hillary Clinton once said “ … it takes a village”  to raise a child, thus putting the government in charge of child rearing. Sixth:  Information control. If the government can control the people’s access to the truth, they can control their decisions and behavior.  Social media and the broadcast news outlets are increasingly relaying government dictated information. A free press is essential for a free people. Marxist governments want the people to rely on so-called  “experts” who are controlled by the government.  Seventh:  Indoctrinating the youth. All Marxist governments control the education of their youth to ensure that they are committed to the correct principles. Public education from kindergarten to the universities are used to ensure this indoctrination.   Homeschools and private schools are threats to this process.

When evaluation any candidate for public office, especially for president, it is critical to examine their prior actions and stated goals to see if they advocate any of the above seven Marxist principles. If you want to preserve this country’s freedom for future generations, you will know what to do.

Population Bomb/Population Fizzle

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D harropcrew1@gmail.com

In the early 1970s, a writer by the name of Paul Ehrlich wrote a doomsday book (typical of the Left) called the Population Bomb, where he essentially claimed that humankind in the near future would experience mass starvation, since we would not be able to provide sufficient food for the rapidly expanding world population. Like most leftist fear mongers, he did not give sufficient credit to man’s creativity which has actually demonstrated that through technology food production has been greatly expanded. Now, thanks to other Leftist ideas, Western Civilization is facing a crisis caused by declining population.

Statistically it takes approximately 2.1 children per woman to just maintain the population. Europe’s declining birthrate is near 1.4, and ours at 1.7 is the lowest in our country’s history. Rome, in part, declined due to low citizen birth rates and having to rely on foreigners for workers and soldiers. The Biden regime is leading us down the same path with open borders, abortion, and their war against the traditional family. According to FOX News, there have been 63 million abortions in the United States since 1973 when Roe vs Wade was decided by the Supreme Court. It has been clearly demonstrated that it is better for any country that wants to preserve its culture and heritage to birth and raise their own children than to rely on immigration. This is common sense. The question is what can America do to increase its declining birth rate?

Since there are many other countries with the same problem, let’s see what they have tried. It is reported that currently, 28% of developed countries are trying to increase their birth rates. Several countries (e.g. Poland, Hungary) have started economic programs to increase the number of children per household. Poland’s program consists of monthly support payments for each child that continue until age 18. Hungary is focused on assisting young families with children, to afford a new home. Not only do they receive grants for each child, but parents are eligible for mortgages at 3% for 25 years. These programs appear to be increasing the birth rates, but the long-term impact is still to be seen. Hungary’s prime minister Orban, demonstrated his commitment by stating “Make families again the core of European politics”. This statement contains the essential problem. Western Civilization has lost its focus on the importance of the intact family to the functioning and success of the culture.

What can we do? President Trump’s tax cuts included a significant increase in the child tax credit deduction as a start. Assistance with childcare, support for homeschooling, and a return to religion and the family would all be helpful. Remember, Marxism is based on destroying the family and replacing it with reliance on the government. This is exactly what the Biden regime is doing with their Woke agenda. Stop this LGBT Pride Month nonsense and replace it with Family Pride Month. All benefits must accrue to all income levels, not just the low-income groups, as the Marxists would have us do. This problem can be solved, but it will take strong leadership that recognizes the problem and is not afraid to deal with it.