A Letter to the Economist

Fifty | Garden | Ninety | Twenty-Five

13 June 2022

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I like to read the Economist magazine because it covers the whole world from a generally positive, liberal perspective. However, a recent article "Like father, like son? Testosterone and family life" shamefully followed that all too common lie of the "deadbeat dad" who abandons his kids because he doesn't care about them. This is reminiscent of articles a century ago about "why are African Americans so lazy" or "why are women less intelligent than men?", that is, based on a false a priori conclusion they search for a reason to explain it. Most men do not willingly abandon their children, but are instead pushed out by women who are incentivized by the government to do so. Whenever the government creates a financial incentive for something there will be more of it. Men are robbed of the right to care for their children and enslaved by governments to protect "poor single mothers". If a man is allowed by a women to see and spend time with his children, then the amount of his income seized by the government for her decreases. Just like in the 19th century we blamed African Americans for being lazy and unable to take care of themselves rather than accept that slavery destroys a man's spirit, today we blame men for having the children they love ripped away from them. The best way to justify violating another human being is to dehumanize them. The amendment to the US constitution abolishing slavery did so "except as punishment for a crime", and so hundreds of thousands of black men now toil away in prison for crimes like "possession of marijuana", "disturbing the peace", and other victimless nonsense. Today we also dehumanize fathers in the media to justify their enslavement to women who keep their children away from them. It's high time that the Economist stop blaming fathers and realize that angry women and government programs are driving men away from their children, depriving children of their fathers rather than protecting the welfare of the children.