David Cameron has, reportedly, penned an article in today's 'Sunday Telegraph' in which he condemns those he tersm 'runaway dads'. He believes that such individuals should be stigmatised by Society as it is simply not acceptable for single mothers to be left to bring up children on their own.
On one level, Cameron is certainly correct but there can be little doubt that he has also shown himself, yet again, to be horribly divorced from the Society that most of us live in. Of course, there are men who fail to act responsibly and desert their children, but there are also women whose behaviour is such as to leave them uncertain who the father of their child might be; it is not uncommon, in the real world, for some such women to accumulate several children by several different men without even being sure who the men are. Some women (not just men) are unfaithful to their partners and the resultant children may not even be aware of their true parentage; when the sinned-against partner discovers the true, the true father may have disappeared from the scene without knowing that he has a child. In a Society in which marriage is no longer the universal bond it once was, when relationships break down the parties inevitably go their separate ways, often with great acrimony; some mothers may no longer wish their former partners to have any part in their childrens' lives. Indeed, some families may now have such a confused mixture of children and relationships that trying to determe who should bear ultimate responsibility for them may be not just be difficult but might also be highly damaging to the family group.
Men have already become the downtrodden element in our modern world. They are vilified at every turn; they are discriminated against as 'positive discrimination' is brought to bear for women. Many men are frightened of being seen with small children and they are viewed with suspicion whenever they undertake activities with children of any age. Even the laws have been amended to make it easier for women to cry 'Rape' and gain a conviction, notwithstanding their drunkeness and debauched behaviour. Now Cameron wants to introduce yet another stick with which to beat us.
Cameron and his like live in a world of tradition in which marriage and 2.4 children is not just the norm but is almost mandatory. While these types look to condemn those who are not "PLU" (People Like Us), they have also overseen changes to our Society which have seen marriage downgraded and aligned with 'civil partnerships' for homosexuals; they approve the spending of substantial sums on free fertility treatments for all and sundry, rather than point out that having babies is not a right, it's a responsibility. They've introduced ludicrous benefits and advantages for unmarried mothers and, in particular, for teenage single mothers that have surely encouraged some young girls to see pregnancy as a means to gain independence from their parents. They have done little to really track down errant fathers and, in this respect, are far less effective than were the Parish officials of 200 years ago.
Another aspect that Cameron seems to have forgotten is that in some cultures, mens' attitude to fatherhood is very different to that of our indigenous western population; given the propensity of the courts to interpret human rights and anti-discrimination legislation in some very odd ways, Cameron's position could easily be seen as discriminatory towards such communities, rightly or wrongly.
Before he condemns 'runaway fathers' Cameron needs to look again at the Society in which we now live. He needs to acknowledge the mess that it is and take steps to turn the clock back to a more ordered and responsible time. In short, he needs to go back to the drawing board.
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