Armed guard at the Social Security Office, middle school students performing sex acts on the school bus, school district hires “Success Coordinators” to monitor the progress of students who are in danger of dropping out, local Superintendent of Schools suggests that “Punishment” has never worked to educate kids.

What do all of these “events” in the past week have in common? I would like to suggest that we, that’s you and me, have given up on the idea that there are any “absolutes” left in our society. Geezers can’t be expected to behave in a Social Security lobby, looking at some who are there I can see why this may be the case; kids are “free of any responsibility for behavior;” schools have to take over the duties of “Parents” to boost their graduation rates isn’t there anyone left who bears any responsibilities for their actions?

The local Superintendent evidently does know me as well as I thought. Let me assure him, and others, that if things were not going well at school they would be going a lot worse at home. What basic education I received was, in many cases, based upon the threats of dire alternatives. As I began to “see the light,” and developed an avoidance reflex to dire consequences of not memorizing Latin verb conjugations became quite apparent, so “learning” seemed like the best option. I suspect that if he were to think a little bit harder, he might have had some similar decision making events in his own life.

The President of Boeing Commercial was quoted recently, concerning what we are doing in Education, as saying “This is ‘Intellectual Disarmament.” I know that many may be “Pacifists” on most issues, but I wonder if this issue might be an exception.

Probably it isn’t. If it were, we would be telling Geezers, and other “Clients” of Social Security, that their behavior in their offices would be linked to the benefits that they might be able to obtain. But wait! This is “Punishment!”

If, in the past, everybody in the community were to know who was doing what in the back of the school bus, there would be enough shame heaped on both the students and the parents to deter this kind of activity for many years. Instead, we will “Protect” the guilty, and not even suggest that the upbringing of these children should reflect badly upon the parents. Instead we will spend taxpayers’ money to take on the responsibility of those parents who have elected to not direct the behaviors of their children.

Where does this stop? On CBC the other evening there was a documentary on how Canada has become a financial success, after being a basket case in the 1990’s and how this same situation now exists in many countries of the world, including the United States.

The then Minister of Finance, Paul Martin, described the sacrifices that Canada had to make to “balance its budget.” We now see in Europe several countries that are going to have to make these kinds of sacrifices and the riots in the streets that they are causing. The causes of this seem to be that these countries “borrowed” to sustain a lifestyle that they could not afford. Anyone seen anything like this around here?

How does this relate to my topic? Aren’t we “borrowing” to sustain the vestiges of a once pretty good lifestyle? Parents, you don’t need to regulate the actions of your children, we taxpayers, will either ignore the behavior of your children or hire someone to “counsel” them towards minimal standards of behavior.

Geezers! The Government owes you a living even if you don’t register to vote or behave in an acceptable manner in Government offices! Hire the police if you have to, but don’t throw any of us in jail! Aren’t we threatening Geezers?

In our local paper this week it was announced that there was a “Citizens” committee formed to “Stand up to gang activity.” I wonder if any of the gangs are making plans to leave Federal Way based on this? I believe that unless there is a dire consequence to them staying, they won’t be packing their drugs, prostitution and violence and heading off for Fife. We seem to lack the fortitude to “Punish” bad behavior. One only has to look at the crime blotter to determine that many haven’t learned many lessons from their interactions with our police. Instead of taking any action that might get the attention of the Gang members, they will “gather and study” information on the topic. No one seems to be willing to get their hands dirty. I think Gangs, if they even take notice of this, will discard this as a threat to their livelihood. Perhaps a little tutoring from Rudy Giuliani might be a good step? Perhaps we need an agenda of ordinances that would change Federal Way to a “Do not stop here” on the Gang communication network?

This country seems to be in a mode of “Disarmament” on many fronts. Just as some of our “Friends in Europe” have been doing with dollars, lira, marks, and now euros, they have lacked the fortitude needed to make the sacrifices needed to remain a viable society.

We often hear about the draconian measures that Singapore has used to create one of the safest and most productive societies on the globe. While the measures may seem quite unacceptable, I would guess we should take a look at how often these measures need to be employed. I suspect that most laws in Singapore have very few offenders. Singaporeans seem to have come to understand that the laws in Singapore are designed to punish those who have elected to operate outside of the society of the nation.

Here we seem to have magnitudes that have decided our laws and customs are not for them. Illegal immigrants, gang members, school truants, shoplifters, drug addicts, etc. all flood our streets and jails. Most are repeat offenders.

How long does the “Disarmament” continue? After the First World War we “disarmed.” This lead to the Second World War, as some in this world saw that this “Disarmament” as an opportunity to establish some pretty unacceptable programs. Since there wasn’t anybody who cared enough, oh they “Studied it,” things went rather badly.

It would seem that Neville Chamberlain’s “Peace in our times” is happening right in front of us both at home and on a global scale. What consequences could ensue this time?