Who's in control?

We live in a society that doesn't like limits of any kind. "Just do it," goes the ad slogan, and this is considered pretty much holy writ for life in general. Anyone who hesitates or feels misgivings about something they want to do, is considered Repressed. Such people, the theory goes, are mere victims of an upbringing that was far too strict...perhaps even puritanical. After all, if it feels good or seems likely to, what's the harm?

I'm no psychologist, so I'll just conceed some people may have difficulty enjoying life because they have a damaged psyche. It's a stretch, however, for society to automatically assume indications of self-restraint equal a mental issue. I'd offer the reverse -- a lack of self-restraint indicates imbalances.

Self-restraint, while not popular, is a vital necessity. Impulsive, short-term focused behavior is the highway to ruin. And yet that's exactly the mentality being bred into much of today's generation.

The irony is this: those who will not control themselves will eventually be controlled by others: either those who enable their lifestyle, or the authorities who end up picking up the pieces. After two generations of letting kids set the terms for their upbringing, we should not be surprised at the increasing amounts of external force it requires to keep the self-absorbed from shredding what's left of society. As the saying goes, it's easier to raise boys than it is to fix men.

"Of all the manifestations of power, restraint impresses men most." Thucydides, Athenian historian