General Description (from Amazon.com)
This book is the tool parents of little ones have been waiting for. America’s Parenting Experts® Jim Fay and Charles Fay, Ph.D., help you start your child off on the right foot. The tools in Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood will give you the building blocks you need to create children who grow up to be responsible, successful teens and adults. And as a bonus you will enjoy every stage of your child’s life and look forward to sharing a lifetime of joy with them.
Why the President Should Read This Book
What in the world does a book about parenting small children have to do with being a political leader? Here’s an example:
Do you know anyone who is good at following orders, but struggles when left without any outside instruction? Do you know someone who is good at following orders, any orders, regardless of the source or quality of the orders? Do you know anyone who does what they’re told only to gain rewards or avoid punishment?
These types of people are generally raised by what the authors call “helicopter parents”. These parents “hover” around their parents performing search and rescue missions. They constantly rescue their children from the consequences of bad decisions and poor behavior. They try to make their children happy all the time. These children grow up to believe the world revolves around them, and that whenever something doesn’t go their way, it’s because somebody isn’t “being fair”.
In like fashion, “helicopter” politicians try to do everything they can to make their constituents happy for fear of not being elected again. Unfortunately politicians, like many parents, focus on the superficial and short-term consequences, rather than the long-term. This helps stimulate an electorate that believes that if they aren’t happy, it must be the fault of somebody else. Who else? Of course politicians are all too happy to point out who it may be, and it is almost always their political opponent and his or her supporters.
Helicopter parents do what they do out of ignorance, fear, programming, and love. That is, they generally want to do what’s right, raise good children, and have a happy family. But they lack knowledge, and so they almost always fall back on what was modeled to them when they were children. Call me a pessimist, but the more I learn about politicians, the less I believe they do what they do out of love, a spirit of service, or any other altruistic reason. I believe 90% or more of politicians do what they do out of greed for money and power, and if one party is more guilty than another, it’s not by a large margin.
Unfortunately, even well-intentioned politicians can fall into the trap of creating an electorate that is dependent on that politician funneling pork. Just as it takes conscious effort and self-education to be a good parent rather than winging it, a politician will be steered by others more savvy than themselves if they are not aware of what they are doing. Perhaps more importantly, an electorate that is uneducated will fail to recognize that they are being used to further the politician’s own aims, rather than the other way around.
Tragically, an electorate that is trained to be dependent ends up turning on those who created the dependency. Humans like to be free, independent, and competent. When they are constantly told that their situation is the fault of someone else, when they are rescued from poor decisions and bad behavior, and when nobody holds them responsible, it demeans their self-respect, and in the end they will grow to hate those who fostered this form of modern-day slavery.
This book will most likely not convince nor help those politicians with ill intent as to the error of their ways. It will help those who may “sin” ignorantly. It will certainly help those voters who desire freedom, responsibility, and independence to identify the politicians who believe as they do.