I have introduced my daughter to "The Forgotten Man"

Last month I mentioned that my daughter had started reading The Law by Frederic Bastiat. It is now a month later and we have only gotten about half way through it. She found the writing difficult to understand, and she really is not interested in politics. At some point I expect she'll start to have more interest in politics. There is a saying that even if you don't pay attention to politicians, politicians will be paying attention to you. One of our goals is to raise our daughters so they understand politics and can be effective in influencing politics.

I try to have a monthly "daddy-daughter date" with each of my daughters. There are several things I am trying to accomplish. One is to strengthen my relationship with each child. Another goal is to give them a chance to talk about what is on their mind.

The very first reason I had for starting these dates was to have a regular forum for praising our daughters. I think it is easy and normal to be critical of children. On our dates I'll review some of the specific things I've noticed. I also gather input from my wife and ask each daughter for things they are aware they are doing well.

Here are the items I had for my youngest daughter last month:
From me: You were well behaved when we spent the night at my parents. You are learning to play a new piece of music. You can now play Uno.
From my wife: You are reading new books for school and doing math worksheets. You have progressed on the violin and practice the piano without fussing. You were reverent at church.
From my daughter: I can tell time better. I like playing the violin. I can eat cookies at church and not be messy.

I write all of these down in my planner. My plan is when the girls turn 18 I will give them the complete history of our daddy-daughter dates.

This morning as I was getting ready to take my oldest to Marie Calendars I decided it was time to move on from The Law. One of the points Mortimer J. Adler makes in How to Read a Book is that you don't have to read every book. With books I tend to be a perfectionist. If I start a book I feel a compulsion to finish it. Today I told my oldest that we'd put The Law for a year or two and then pick it up. But I did want to talk a bit about politics.

I had printed off The Forgotten Man by William Graham Sumner written back in 1883, which was recently posted on LewRockwell.com. This is a short essay on politics, government and philanthropy. There are a number of good points and through provoking ideas. The opening paragraph starts with

"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man."

The essay talks about the morality of helping people out. Sumner is strongly opposed to government getting involved with helping out people, and to some extent even individuals helping out the poor. There are a few things I disagree with, for example I do think there are times when it makes sense to help people out, on an individual basis. Sumner seems almost detached and might be willing to let people die from their folly. I thought Nancy Kress made an insightful point in a Science Fiction novel called Beggars in Spain. Often we can spend a little effort to help out a person in need, making a huge difference in their lives. Then later we may be the beggar, and someone else can help us out in our time of need.

One the way to Marie Calendars my daughter read most of the first page of The Forgotten Man. We then ordered breakfast, and we read almost another third. We finished it on up the way home. We had some good discussions. We talked about how most (all?) government programs are designed to help person D, and rarely take into account the impact the new program will have on person C.

Now my daughter has meet "The Forgotten Man."

The next book my daughter is going to read and mark up is John Adams by David McCullough. I am expecting that she'll go through this one a lot faster.

Second daddy-daughter date. Third daddy-daughter date.


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