Born 1930-1970, how did you survive?

Those of You Born
1930 - 1979

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!


First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were
Pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs
covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no
brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon..
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.

We were
Always outside playing...

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.

No one was able
To reach us all day. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones, No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good .

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?


My two cents --- our life expectancy has gone up or down since then? We learned what NOT to do early with less dangerous activities, maybe?

Four Ways in Which we Spend Money

"There are four ways in which you can spend money. You can spend your own money on yourself. When you do that, why then you really watch out what you’re doing, and you try to get the most for your money. Then you can spend your own money on somebody else. For example, I buy a birthday present for someone. Well, then I’m not so careful about the content of the present, but I’m very careful about the cost. Then, I can spend somebody else’s money on myself. And if I spend somebody else’s money on myself, then I’m sure going to have a good lunch! Finally, I can spend somebody else’s money on somebody else. And if I spend somebody else’s money on somebody else, I’m not concerned about how much it is, and I’m not concerned about what I get. And that’s government. And that’s close to 40% of our national income."

Nobel prize winning economist Milton Friedman.

Political football

Had Planned Parenthood executives read Homer, they might have avoided the sirens' song which has corrupted them. They may never have accepted the 'golden handcuffs' associated with taxpayer funding. Every new administration can declare services illegal only because taxpayer funds pay the piper and politicians call the tune.

Most charities, Catholic Charities, Lutheran Family Services, and others vie for taxpayer funds and find they, too, must play the government's tune regardless of their stated missions.

When my daughters were young, I wrote checks to Planned Parenthood because I believed strongly in birth control and I advised teenage girls about free or very reasonable services at Planned Parenthood. It was win-win.. no one was forced to pay for Planned Parenthood services (thru taxes) and those who didn't agree with those services were not forced to use them. No one was coerced and all transactions were voluntary--close to a libertarian's Utopia.

But then the government wheedled their way into the process by making 'gifts' using taxpayer dollars (the only resources available to government.) Eventually Planned Parenthood hired lobbyists instead of those effective fundraisers who once tapped into the social conscience of women and like minded men (the Buffetts of the world/and Nebraska Furniture Mart's Mrs. B.) 'Society' lost an independent source for women's health and informed choices to government control for a handful of golden coin.

Society is not government and government is not society. No law can be written, regardless of ideology, that is caring or thoughtful and without unintended results, some catastrophic for our society.

Following WWII, 75% of black children were born into 2 parent families, and most of the rest lived in extended families and caring communities. Then our federal government created AFDC, only for women with children instead of a millenniums-tested family dole. Young dads found their meager paycheck competing with a check from Uncle Sam and public housing for their families. Young women 'in trouble' were whisked off to high rises or projects to raise their children in a female dominated environment. If an unemployed dad attempted to stay with their families and be a father to their children, they were driven out as 'cheaters' and their family might be tossed into the street. After many generations of this kind of nonsense, the 'sperm donor' was born.

Margaret Mead stated, and I paraphrase, that women's role in parenting is largely biological while men's role is largely social. And if we deny men that social role, we will play hell bringing the dads back. Senator Patrick Moynihan [D,NY] understood and worked on Welfare reform with President Clinton trying to reverse social decay.

Some see me as uncaring because I don't support taxpayer funded programs over private charity but why is hard to understand that our social planners good intentions created scores of millions of fatherless children who have suffered the consequences. Moms are like the Lioness. We protect our kids from what we perceive as danger or extreme excitement. Dads roughhouse (studies now showing the importance to children's development,) or start pillow fights at bedtime and then say 'Okay, time to settle down' or 'You are not going out dressed like that. Go change.' Dads parent differently. Is it better parenting or worse to toss a child in the air when you greet them? How many moms do that versus dads?

I will be scorned by many on both sides for my views. I will be scorned by many for thinking, had Planned Parenthood not played footsie with the government in the first place, they could still be providing the services Sanger hoped they would. But I feel compelled to speak.