Anyone who thinks: The Movement Is More Important Than the Truth
Today many in the public eye demonize their "enemies". Father's Little Helper (FLH) does not. As far as we can tell, the individuals named as "enemies" are excellent citizens and parents. FLH does not attack the motives or personal choices of our "enemies". We challenge ideas. Bad ideas have consequences, and unfortunately psychology and parenting advice is overloaded with influential but misguided individuals.
Baby Einstein (and other products which children "NEED" to develop their brains): If it wasn't available on the savannahs of Africa 10,000 years ago, then a baby's brain doesn't NEED it. This series (and many other products) is an example of consumerism gone awry. These products exploit parents' anxieties and market the impression they will make a child more intelligent. Especially onerous are videos for very young children. Getting children away from the idiot box is a better option.
School Officials who sell contracts to put junk food in schools: Adults and children alike have serious difficulty turning away from fats and sugars. We are MADE to love fats and sugars. To sell out our most vulnerable in the midst of an obesity epidemic is wrong. This money only goes to feed an inefficient school bureaucracy and will not solve any problems. A high fat high sugar diet for our kids has already created many problems.
Mary Pipher Ph.D: author of "Reviving Ophelia: saving the selves of Adolescent Girls". Based on her experience with girls in therapy and junk science she makes the claim that our society is crushing the spirit of our girls. Her premise is anti-male, not substantiated by any credible research, and even harmful to young women. It basically tells them: "Yes, you should be depressed and angry because of the horrible unfair treatment you've received in this patriarchal society". The sad part is she is a therapist and she is a leader with many less sophisticated and/or emotionally disturbed young people believing her premise. You can add Carol Gilligan and other feminist junk scientists. For too long our society has lowered our standard of discourse to give these women a pass. Any criticism will have you labeled sexist, but those cries of sexism are ringing more and more hollow. These ladies work is blown apart by our Hero, Christine Hoff-Summers in her book "The War Against Boys."
William Pollock PhD: author of "Real Boys". He attempts to give the impression of being a scientist and having done research. In fact, he recycles Carol Gilligan's claims and runs with them. His "research" is systematically blown apart by FLH Hero, Christine Hoff-Summers in her book "The War Against Boys". He promotes a misunderstanding of human nature and creates a crisis where none exists.
Sigmund Freud Fanatics: Freud created a theoretical model which included some good ideas (and bad ones). He was attempting to create a unifying framework to understand the mind over 100 years ago! This was a difficult task. A swing and a miss is certainly understandable. The problem is not Mr. Freud himself, but the Freud worshippers. Freud never imagined his followers to take his formulations to such extremes. In adopting Freud worship, much of psychiatry became a rigid cult, pre-occupied with conformity and dogma. This prevented Psychiatry from blossoming into the knowledge based helping profession it should be The Freud Fanatics greatest harm was in focusing the energy of our field away from treating severe mental illness. A second harm was putting forth incoherent theory which makes psychiatrists look like a bunch of idiots. Our reputation still has not recovered.
Biederman, Joseph, MD: I put forth Dr. Biederman as an example of the opposite kind of reductionist within Child Psychiatry. He worships psychopharmacology rather than Sigmund Freud. He is an esteemed leader with many less sophisticated doctors and families buying his premises. He (and many followers) promote the idea of Bipolar Disorder in children. Bipolar Disorder is a disease well characterized in adults and treated with Lithium, Depakote or other mood stabilizers. A slight over-simplification of his idea is: if a child is "BIPOLAR", then the child should be treated with these or another new medication (Pharmaceutical companies fund Dr. Beiderman's studies). Do not read this as a condemnation of medications in children, but as a caution that some of the "leaders" in psychiatry take extreme positions. Psychiatrists enamored with medications prey upon the vulnerabilities of our patients and their families. In this case, Biederman and his followers may exploit some parent's strong desire for a simple and "biological" answer. There may not be any satisfying answer in many of these difficult cases. Psychiatrists and especially Child Psychiatrists need to properly balance family and social solutions with medication management.
Big Media Companies. Sadly, the handful of huge conglomerates that currently control the Television, Music and Film industries are making a power grab over technology. They want to limit technological advance. This is the only way they can keep control of output. Sorry, guys but technology and American entrepreneurial spirit will topple you. Read "Free Culture" by FLH Hero Lawrence Lessig to learn more.
Sonny Bono and Cher: They seemed so harmless in the seventies. Sonny Bono for the legacy he left in onerous copyright laws. Cher: Just Because.
The National Organization of Women: This organization definitely believes "The Movement is More Important than the Truth". They do not speak for most women. If they wanted to accurately portray themselves they would re-named as the National Organization of Angry Fringe Feminists.
Anti Male Government Bureaucracy: Family Courts and Child Protection Services both serve important functions but desperately need reform. They need to find a way to be less adversarial to mothers and fathers alike. I believe social and political pressures from organizations like NOW and junk science promoted by Feminists has distorted public policy. Each organization has enacted some policies which are anti-male and assist mothers who want to drive fathers away from their children. The guiding principle of these agencies should be: First Do No Harm!
Irresponsible Mothers: Let us stop pretending!!!! Women now control 99.99% of reproductive rights. In the vast majority of case they make the final decision when a child is born. There is a minority of women who do use this power responsibly. If we as a society are going to look at child poverty, poor education and chaotic families let us look first at those mothers who decide to have the children. Why not at least restore the idea of shame for women who choose to have multiple children by multiple men (or boys) when they are not financially or emotionally ready?
Irresponsible Fathers: Those who willingly abandon their children are selfish. There is no excuse for it. Children are a gift to us. Shame on them.
