House of Eratosthenes

One aspect of President Obama’s philosophically revealing — and mock-worthy — “Julia” web ad doesn’t seem to have garnered as much attention as one might have expected…When Julia, who never entirely seems to grow out of childhood in her own right, hits the age of 31, we are told that she “decides to have a child.”

This is peculiar phrasing. There’s no mention of Julia having first decided to get married, and no mention of Julia’s husband — or even of her dating anyone — in any of the snippets shown from any of the stages of her life. Perhaps the ad simply doesn’t mention Julia having gotten married because it was one of the few noteworthy events in her life that didn’t involve the active assistance of the federal government.
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Aside from the total lack of romantic spirit on display in this stage of Julia’s life, one wonders what Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the longtime Democratic senator from New York, would have thought of this ad. Moynihan famously highlighted the decline of the American family — particular of black Americans’ families. He highlighted that, as of 1963, the out-of-wedlock birthrate had risen to an alarming 24 percent among black Americans (from 17 percent in 1940), compared to 3 percent among white Americans (from 2 percent in 1940). He noted that this “breakdown” in the family structure “led to a startling increase in welfare dependency.”

Yep. Back in those exciting days when Bill Clinton was finishing up his first term, not that long ago by any means…the conservative/liberal conflict was pretty clear-cut. The conservative position represented in the new Gingrich Congress was, our social-services safety net had become something of a vicious cycle, as the largess of the state had created a dependency class, which in turn reproduced without the mainstream concerns about where the college fund comes from, how does Sugarlump get hold of a car & how does he get insured…and then each new generational wave threw itself upon the over-extended safety net. A caused B and B caused A, with no end in sight, so something had to be done. The liberal response was twofold: 1) Nuh-huh, that doesn’t happen, and 2) Well, it does happen and you tighty-righties need to just get used to it, it’s a necessary evil.

Fast-forward to Anno Julia, and the debate has shifted quite aways without our consciously noticing it. And the direction in which it is shifted is not a good one. The debate has not come closer to being resolved, it’s drifted further away, as we now disagree on what the goals are. As anyone who’s watched “Life of Julia” can recognize right away, when President Obama campaigns for re-election this year, He will be doing so on behalf of a constituency that, from His explanation of it, thinks things are supposed to be this way — and who’s to say they are not.

The verb “decides” is a powerful one that also shows a new direction for the national discourse about these social services. Conservatives used to be rightfully piqued about having to subsidize someone else’s lifestyle choices, and classically, the liberal rejoinder has been that these are not lifestyle choices. Again, with the faceless cartoon-figure of Julia, we see President Obama has subtly — or not so subtly? — given up on that. The message that comes across, which is already familiar to us through the many, many other things Obama has had to tell us, is: Yeah, it’s a choice, and what of it? This is the new “greatness” of America, that everybody does whatever they feel like doing, and because we’re going to fleece those selfish rich people, stupid isn’t gonna hurt.

That does seem to be the goal. Hakuna Matada, means no worries for the rest of your days…we’ll just tax the rich people.

The peculiar thing is, the Obama brand of liberal thinks the country has “grown” into this childlike mindset. They think this is the culmination of stage after stage after stage of our national development…or maturity…or evolution. And this is where their viewpoint sputters out and just stops working entirely. How do you aspire toward the next stage of development, when the next stage of development is analogous to one of a helpless newborn infant suckling at a tit? Well, that’s the situation, isn’t it? Gimme, gimme, gimme, if I want it and have to wait for it, I’m gonna cry.

How can anyone of sane mind evaluate this as a way of living, and not come to the conclusion that it’s a process of regression rather than one of maturity? This is the real sea change with the “Life of Julia” slideshow. I can understand some people are just lazy and ignorant, don’t want to spend any time learning about what’s going on, just wanting their stuff…even maybe excuse it. But something new is happening when the President’s slideshow asks us to pretend up is down and in is out.

Come to think of it, “Julia” was the name of the female lead in 1984, wasn’t it?

I kind of think this one’s worse. Nevermind deciding to have a child, a woman should not have to decide not to have a child. She should be able to do what she wants, and not have to worry about it:

Thanks to Obamacare, her health insurance is required to cover birth control and preventive care, letting Julia focus on her work rather than worry about her health.

Getting pregnant is suddenly something that girls are supposed to not have to worry about anymore. A distraction. Something that the government should provide protection from.
- Andy | 05/10/2012 @ 12:40
I kind of think this one’s worse. Nevermind deciding to have a child, a woman should not have to decide not to have a child. She should be able to do what she wants, and not have to worry about it:

I’m suddenly reminded of Jocelyn Elders, Clinton’s first Surgeon General from about 20 years back. Remember her? Probably the easiest of all of Clinton’s toadies to pick on.

Anyway, I remember her saying, “Every child, should be a planned and wanted child….” I do not know if she meant that it was OK to abort the ones that were unplanned and unwanted, or if this was simply an argument for easy access to birth control.

(She also said we needed to teach masturbation starting in kindergarten, and that the country needed what she termed “safer bullets.” It wasn’t long after that her son was busted for drug possession. Needless to say, she didn’t last long in her post.)
- cylarz | 05/12/2012 @ 01:29
‘He noted that this “breakdown” in the family structure “led to a startling increase in welfare dependency.”

“Playing right in to our hands. Mwahahahahaha!!!!! ” – Cloward and Piven
- philmon | 05/16/2012 @ 13:20
oops. Did I screw up your comment stream with open italics? This comment will tell.
- philmon | 05/16/2012 @ 13:22

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Who Would Use the Phrase, “Julia Decides to Have a Child”?Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

Who Would Use the Phrase, “Julia Decides to Have a Child”?
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012