We should also consider parents’ morbid dread of kidnappers and pedophiles, instilled by decades of MSM sensationalism. It motivates them to keep their children on a very short leash, preventing free exploration and the concomitant development of an independent spirit. Halloween, a shadow of its former self, is an obvious casualty of this paranoia. By the 1980s I saw parents motoring their trick-or-treaters from house to house in buttoned up vehicles, like Soviet convoys threading their way through mujahedin territory in Afghanistan.

I believe Joseph Weir is right on about the 20 somethings who see the emperor without his clothes. I’ve run into several outside of any freedom centric events, and have had discussions with them about politics. On more than one occasion, they’ve brought up the message of liberty before I could. They realize there will be nothing left for them after the boomers suck the well dry, and are looking at alternatives. So there is a ray of hope.

One site you might want to check out is Free Range Kids. Lenore Skenazy rejects the notion of “Helicopter Parenting” that has been so prevalent over the last twenty years, and perhaps contributes to some of your angst at the direction today’s youth are being driven in. The site is http://freerangekids.wordpress.com

Don’t worry, Karen, there are plenty of parents out there who don’t cater to their kids every whim, and certainly don’t do it as some sort of sick competition to try and show everyone how great their kids are compared to everybody else’s runts. My wife and I tell our children that we aren’t the entertainment committee. We’ll do things as a family to have fun, or find other activities provided it is in the budget, but we also tell them that sometimes they need to entertain themselves, so go read a book, play outside… That’s the type of thing that instilled a sense of self-reliance in me, my wife, and many others of my generation who are parents as well. My wife and I are passing the same thing onto our children. I just hope it is enough to counter some of the concerns you laid out in your post.

Just the other day, a woman pointed out to me she never sees kids playing in the rain anymore. She said she did it all the time as a kid, standing in a stream of water rushing by, soaking wet. Me too, I replied. Is it just the attraction of the video games and the cable proving too tough to pull away from? I don’t think so.
When I drive by the fixed up expensive parks they always seem to be empty. I can’t remember the last time I saw a group playing football on a muddy grassy area in the rain. That is one of the best times ever.