What happened to pragmatism in America?

Here we are in the worst recession since WWII, 3 million jobs have been lost, and people are losing their homes and struggling just to keep food on the table. This is a time when people should be re-thinking their priorities. This is a time when one should be focused on things that are truly important—Personal fitness, family, faith, scholarship, and finances, to name a few. Given the state of the economy, this is a particularly crucial time when responsible people are being mindful of what they can (and cannot) afford, lest they become a burden (at best) to family or (at worst) to the government. At the risk of sounding insensitive, I give you exhibit A: The couple who recently had the octuplets. The voyeuristic tendency to praise that which is clearly impractical financially just doesn’t make sense. The media is gushing over the eight babies, the doctors are smiling and beaming for the cameras, and all is well with the world, right? Not so fast. How is the ability to birth a litter any different from the preposterousness of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s pleas that he did nothing wrong? Dig a little and you discover some facts that are disturbing.


Fact: This couple already had six children between the ages of 7 to 2. Is there some reason they felt the number of children they already had wasn’t enough? I realize we are all free to pursue (and get to define) happiness in our own way, but shouldn’t there be a baby-cap? I’m not suggesting extreme controls like the controls in China, but for the sake of argument let’s put the “U.S. Baby Cap” at twenty-two to allow the happy couple opportunity to complete that second football team. More seriously, has anyone considered the multitude of people who will—out of narcissism or stupidity—attempt to “one up” the octuplets? Has anyone considered the well-being of a family with that many children in this decade?

Fact: The father is a “contract worker” who is due to return to Iraq. So let me get this straight, the Dad is going overseas while the wife gets to tend to fourteen children under the age of seven?—at least nine of whom are still in diapers! No problem for you, right, Ladies? And at what price? Fathers work away from home all the time, but should one consciously be having so many children knowing full well that you’ll be absent from raising them? It’s not been publicized just what sort of contracting Mr. Anonymous is doing, but I’m guessing he’s not exactly rolling in dough. In short, there’s plenty of private (and probably some public) assistance being doled out to this family. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against private or public assistance…when it’s warranted. What disturbs me is that this situation was avoidable in the same way one can avoid being trapped on a mountainside and in need of a helicopter evacuation at the public’s expense. You don’t do such things “because you can,” you just don’t do it.

Fact: 46 physicians, nurses and other staff members prepared for the births. CNN reports that in the seven weeks prior, a team of 46 doctors, nurses and other staff prepared for the births. In preparing for the births of our own children, there may have been 5 or 6 physicians and nurses involved at best. 46 doctors, nurses, and staff seems to be an awfully high number. And who paid for all of those folks’ involvement? Most likely you and I did. Not the hospital. Not the insurance company. Rest assured, you and I will pay for it in higher premiums and taxes.

And so we have the anonymous couple, pleased with their choices that have resulted in abundant blessings—All children are blessings, after all. That said, one cannot ignore the conundrum that has also been created to feed, clothe, house, educate, and support a home of so many minors. A responsible couple would have decided to expand their family in the context of needing nominal assistance, but to do so consciously under these circumstances screams of entitlement and frivolity. Instead of praising such an event, one must ask, “what were they thinking?” And who signed off on implanting the embryos into a woman who already had seven children? Did this make sense to the doctors who supported it? Why? Was adoption considered? And why are there rumblings about them having even more children? Is there some Guinness Book record to exceed that no one cares about they’re trying to break?

Call me a pragmatist…I can live with it. As Americans, we are all free to pursue the happiness we desire however we choose to define it. Just don’t expect me to cheer when someone makes a conscious, irresponsible decision that others indirectly will have to pay for.
‘Nough said
Peace,
+THINKER