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Title: Jeb Bush In 1995: Unwed Mothers Should Be Publicly Shamed
Source:
Yahoo News
URL Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/ ... html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592
Published: Jun 9, 2015
Author: Laura Bassett
Post Date: 2015-06-09 11:29:17 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1834
Comments: 12
Public shaming would be an effective way to regulate the “irresponsible behavior” of unwed mothers, misbehaving teenagers and welfare recipients, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) argued in his 1995 book Profiles in Character.
In a chapter called "The Restoration of Shame,” the likely 2016 presidential candidate made the case that restoring the art of public humiliation could help prevent pregnancies “out of wedlock.”
One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame. Many of these young women and young men look around and see their friends engaged in the same irresponsible conduct. Their parents and neighbors have become ineffective at attaching some sense of ridicule to this behavior. There was a time when neighbors and communities would frown on out of wedlock births and when public condemnation was enough of a stimulus for one to be careful.
Bush points to Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, in which the main character is forced to wear a large red "A" for "adulterer" on her clothes to punish her for having an extramarital affair that produced a child, as an early model for his worldview. "Infamous shotgun weddings and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter are reminders that public condemnation of irresponsible sexual behavior has strong historical roots,” Bush wrote.
As governor of Florida in 2001, Bush had the opportunity to test his theory on public shaming. He declined to veto a very controversial bill that required single mothers who did not know the identity of the father to publish their sexual histories in a newspaper before they could legally put their babies up for adoption. He later signed a repeal of the so-called "Scarlet Letter" law in 2003 after it was successfully challenged in court.
Bush's ideas about public shaming extended beyond unwed parents. American schools and the welfare system could use a healthy dose of shame as well. “For many, it is more shameful to work than to take public assistance -- that is how backward shame has become!” he wrote, adding that the juvenile criminal justice system also "seems to be lacking in humiliation," he wrote.
In the context of present-day society we need to make kids feel shame before their friends rather than their family. The Miami Herald columnist Robert Steinback has a good idea. He suggests dressing these juveniles in frilly pink jumpsuits and making them sweep the streets of their own neighborhoods! Would these kids be so cavalier then?
It's worth pointing out that the kind of public shaming Bush described has come under fire recently in response to the growing trend of parents humiliating their children on social media to punish them. A 13-year-old girl committed suicide last month after her father posted a video of himself cutting off her long hair on YouTube because she had disobeyed him.
YouTube and social media, of course, did not exist when Bush wrote his book in 1995. But the former governor makes clear that "society needs to relearn the art of public and private disapproval and how to make those to engage in some undesirable behavior feel some sense of shame."
Bush did not respond to a request for comment.
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"Public shaming would be an effective way to regulate the “irresponsible behavior”
Bring back food coupons. No need to force people off food stamps. I bet that bringing back the coupons would result in a 50% reduction in use.
A 50% reduction is a savings of $37 billion every year.
#2. To: Deckard (#0)
Jeb Bush In 1995: Unwed Mothers Should Be Publicly Shamed
If any woman should be ashamed,it's Babs Bush.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
#3. To: sneakypete (#2) (Edited)
Jeb Bush In 1995: Unwed Mothers Should Be Publicly ShamedIf any woman should be ashamed,it's Babs Bush.
Har!
But birds don't mate with crocodiles. Like marries like species. In the case of the Bushs, it was two effete worthless imbeciles finding mutual attractiveness and comfort in each other and producing decadent worthless offspring like themselves. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
#4. To: rlk (#3)
But birds don't mate with crocodiles. Like marries like species. In the case of the Bushs, it was two effete worthless imbeciles finding mutual attractiveness and comfort in each other and producing decadent worthless offspring like themselves.
I disagree. Babs Bush is IMHO the evil genius that makes the decisions for the Bush Crime Family. IMHO,she is the Bush Crime Family Handler,just like Goober Gore's mother was the mind behind the Gore throne.
Weak men marrying strong women results in two halfs making one whole. The men have no mind or drive to speak of,but have a certain amount of casual charm and the ability to follow orders and give good speeches,while the strong women work in the background pulling the strings.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
#5. To: sneakypete (#4)
I've never heard of, or heard, Babs Bush ever saying anything remotely deep, strong, or intelligent.
#6. To: rlk (#5) (Edited)
I've never heard of, or heard, Babs Bush ever saying anything remotely deep, strong, or intelligent.
Why would you? She's not running for public office. Here job is to remain in the background to direct and organize.
Goober Gore's mother is a perfect example. She was the first woman to ever graduate from Vanderbilt Law School,and she graduated from the top of her class.
We are supposed to believe this very bright and driven woman was content to take that background and marry a shool teacher and part-time auctioneer that was as dumb as a fence post,and just become a housewife and mother?
She was/is also related by blood to Armand Hammer. Her job was to be the Gore family political handler,and to micro-manage what they said and did from the background.
I used to have a quote from him on a computer that is long dead that had her saying in an unguarded moment something very similar to "I trained two idiots,and it's hard to tell which one was the hardest to train" in reference to her husband and her idiot son.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
#7. To: sneakypete (#6)
I've never heard of, or heard, Babs Bush ever saying anything remotely deep, strong, or intelligent.Why would you? She's not running for public office. Here job is to remain in the background to direct and organize.
Goober Gore's mother is a perfect example. She was the first woman to ever graduate from Vanderbilt Law School,and she graduated from the top of her class.
You spend a couple sentences on Mrs. Bush and jump headlong into a dissertation on Gore's mother who finished near the head of her class in law school as if there were a similarity. What has Barbara Bush done in her life other than being an unctious social butterfly that indicates any development? She sure as hell didn't give good business advice. I don't want to hear just speculation.
#8. To: rlk (#7)
What has Barbara Bush done in her life other than being an unctious social butterfly that indicates any development? She sure as hell didn't give good business advice. I don't want to hear just speculation.
If anything,her husband was the social butterfly. Somebody in that family had to have had a brain,and it sure as hell wasn't her husband or children.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
#9. To: sneakypete (#8)
Somebody in that family had to have had a brain,and it sure as hell wasn't her husband or children.
Why dis somebody in that family had to have a brain? There's no indication in that family line of anybody having had one. The only serious indication is that the people who voted for them were more brainless than they were.
#10. To: sneakypete (#2)
If any woman should be ashamed,it's Babs Bush.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.†- Ron Paul
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends.
Paul Craig Roberts#11. To: Deckard (#10)
Her beautiful mind...
A profile on brillince, creativity, and effete country club distance from reality.
#12. To: rlk (#11)
Her beautiful mind...A profile on brillince, creativity, and effete country club distance from reality.
That IS the reality for the ruling class. She just screwed up that one time and said in public what she was thinking.
Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012)
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