In Defense of Spanking

When I was a young tyke, I'd occasionally disobey my mom or dad, sometimes in ways that were sufficiently egregious to warrant immediate consequences. In my day, that meant a gentle spanking—sudden, just a tiny bit painful, and short. The parent involved would accompany the spanking (lasting no more that 5 or 6 seconds) with a quick verbal explanation of what I did to warrant it and why what I did was unacceptable. It was over in a flash.

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By modern standards, this was akin to "child abuse," but I beg to differ. Spankings taught me, rather quickly, that bad or unacceptable behavior had consequences, and that I has the agency—even as a small child—to moderate my behavior in order to avoid consequences I didn't like. Over the many decades that followed, I matured but never forgot the lessons learned. BTW, those rare spankings did absolutely no psychic damage—none.

Unfortunately, some coddled young adults today (those in the 18- to 30-year old bracket) have never really learned that actions have consequences. Rather than being punished for poor behavior, far too many have been protected and defended by parents and other authority figures. As a consequence, these 'children' are entitled and fragile, ignorant and aggressive, obnoxious and self-important—all at the same time.

Over the past six months, a small but very vocal subset of coddled, leftist young adults have decided to display their ignorance and aggressiveness in ways that are not only obnoxious, but borderline evil. The referenced subset pretends it is pro-Palestinian, when in fact, it is anti-Israel, implicitly pro-Hamas, and now, overtly anti-Semitic.

Up until this week, the authority figures at institutions that coddle these ignorant, aggressive young leftists have essentially protected them. University administrators allowed them free reign to spew anti-Semitic vitriol, threatening Jewish students—no consequences. Police and politicians in blue cities allowed them to block traffic, close down bridges and otherwise inconvenience thousands. In their abject ignorance, they claimed to be against hallucinogenic claims of genocide by defending the actual genocidal psychopaths who want to rid the world of Jews.

This week was different and oddly satisfying. At Columbia University, 108 anti-Israel students were arrested for trespassing when they refused to leave university property when asked to do so. A few were suspended. Consequences. 

At Google, 28 anti-Israel employees were fired for occupying business offices and demanding that Google cease doing business with Israel. Consequences. 

These are small events and probably don't mean much. But nonetheless, they're an encouraging lesson that actions have consequences for those who are entitled and fragile, ignorant and aggressive, obnoxious and self-important . 

I suppose it's never too late to initiate a spanking, particularly for a group that so richly deserves it.