Many moons ago, when I was in my early 20s and going through a retro flower child phase, the “free love” idea was very appealing. If it feels good and doesn’t hurt anyone else, do it. Consequences be damned. You only live once, this is my body, mind your own business, and don’t preach to me. He who is without sin shouldn’t cast stones in glass houses lest he be judged, or something like that. (I didn’t read the Bible back then.)
Now that we’re older, wiser, and discerning, we know that everything we do affects someone else in one way or another, so we have a responsibility to at least think about what we do. But so many people don’t, and the rest of us pay for their consequences.
I remember reading some book about the negative consequences of the “free love” movement. The upper- and middle-class among us were better able to bounce back from years of irresponsible sexual activity, but the lower classes were not. Some upper-class white chick with a stable home and support system, and parents still together after 20 years could afford to act like a slut in college, but for the black girl from the projects with no father, a mother and grandmother on welfare, no stable home or support system, sexual irresponsibility came with a high price. She likely became an unwed mother and remained poor, perpetuating the welfare cycle.
I will always believe, despite what socialists or Marxists claim, that the lack of self-restraint and decent behavior, and not economics, are huge factors in the cycle of poverty and welfare dependency. And despite our hybrid capitalism-socialism income redistribution system, there will always be class differences, and no amount of money the government steals from working Americans will ever close the gap.
Right conduct, self-restraint, morals — these things play a bigger role in escaping poverty than government checks and economic incentives. Consider this post a brief introduction to What Women Want.
