How does it start?

[Fransisco]

How far back do you want to go? I've heard people argue that it goes back to the german philosopher Immanuel Kant. Others have argued that it goes back to Plato.

Unfortunately this attitude has been with us a long, long time.

[AdamSmith]

Great question!

My theory is it starts when someone is young and has a mind full of mush, when mommy and daddy are making all decisions for them. Life consists of nothing but you can do this but not that, and not that and definitely not that. Unfortunately the desire to shelter your kids from the real world when they are young creates young socialist. Those who have trouble being adults later in life remain socialists, those who yearn to chart their own path and yearn for the responsibility of adulthood grow up to be capitalists.

I kid my parents about abandoning me as a youth. They didn’t really abandon me they just enjoyed living their own lives and all too often I was left for a weekend with my sister to look after me. But as soon as the car or the motorhome turned the corner a mile down the road, my sister would jump in her car and be gone. I loved it and never let on my sister would be gone the whole time they were. There was no one around to tell me I couldn’t do all the stupid things I wanted to do, like drive my dirtbike 15 miles to town and hang out with my buddies or take dad’s 4x4 out and pretend I was racing the BAJA 1000. (I was 14 at the time). Cool stuff but along the way I was learning responsibility. I couldn’t escape the realities of dealing with the police confiscating the dirtbike when we got caught ripping through town at midnight or I had to accept my fate when dad sees grass jammed between every tire and wheel on his F-150 4x4. I was learning early in life freedom meant the joy in doing what YOU choose to do, but also accepting responsibility when I chose poorly. I was learning what it was like to be an adult. So when I kid them about abandoning me also thank them for it because it gave me a great head start on learning how to be an adult.