The children now love luxury...

The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

- Socrates

Was this quote written 2500 years ago, or 25 minutes ago. I know I use a lot of quotes to talk about quotes, but there is something to be said here for the famous quote of 20th Century Philosopher George Santayana, "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it". This quote is typical Socrates. His main contribution to philosophy was in the field of ethics. He would have found it unethical for children to act in this way, as well as unethical for parents to allow this type of behavior.

I like this quote, because I am always trying to relate what has happened in the past, with what is going on in the world today. When we look back every great empire or civilization has fallen. The Greeks, The Romans, The Persians, and the list goes on and on. The world has become a much smaller place in the last 30 years. We have information at our fingertips, we truly live in an information age. Everything happens quickly.

I believe the tyranny of children, perverted immoral living, and a selfish, me me me mentality along with a long list of other things led to the destruction of all of the great civilizations.

What does that say about America today? Take a look around. His description of children could have been taken right out of todays newspapers. And parents continue to allow it. And it all falls back to the me me me mentality. Everyone thinks their kids should be first, have the best, the most. We are raising a group of children that will be greedier than we are as their parents. I understand, I am a parent. I want the best for my kids. But they know, that we don't get things, just because we want them. We have to work for them, or earn them. Unfortunately, someone has to be first and someone has to be last. My kids know that, that is not what is important to us. We expect their best. Thats it! If they give their best and that makes them last then so be it.

I hope parents can see the damage we are doing to our kids, our nation and our world. We don't want America to become the next great failure. Learn history, so we aren't condemned to repeat it.