The default position of American youth is "No one can tell me what to do." This is stated as an obvious axiom although there is nothing obvious about it.
It is hard to know what it means. Does it mean no one has the right to tell him what to do.
Imagine a recruit in the Army. That thinks he knows best how to take a rifle apart and clean it. He is taking twenty minutes and still has not figured it out.
The instructor comes over and shows him his mistake. The recruit says to the instructor "No one can tell me what to think." How is this defensible?
Or you have a cash register worker with sticky fingers. At the end of the day money is missing. The store owner asks him about it. He answers "No one can tell me what to do."
Even if one is alone, no one is alone. One's parents have something invested in him. Many parents care very deeply about their children. And in any case no one is alone. Everyone one lives in some groups and everything he does or does not do affects others.Imagine a world with no traffic rules. No one would be safe.
You can have someone walking in front of a moving car and he keeps on walking straight at the car and the car keeps coming expecting him to move of the way. They get within about 20 inches of missing. You tell the fellow, "Don't walk in front of a moving car." He answers "No one can tell me what to do." I am not exaggerating. This is how ingrained this attitude is today.
It is hard to know what it means. Does it mean no one has the right to tell him what to do.
Imagine a recruit in the Army. That thinks he knows best how to take a rifle apart and clean it. He is taking twenty minutes and still has not figured it out.
The instructor comes over and shows him his mistake. The recruit says to the instructor "No one can tell me what to think." How is this defensible?
Or you have a cash register worker with sticky fingers. At the end of the day money is missing. The store owner asks him about it. He answers "No one can tell me what to do."
Even if one is alone, no one is alone. One's parents have something invested in him. Many parents care very deeply about their children. And in any case no one is alone. Everyone one lives in some groups and everything he does or does not do affects others.Imagine a world with no traffic rules. No one would be safe.
You can have someone walking in front of a moving car and he keeps on walking straight at the car and the car keeps coming expecting him to move of the way. They get within about 20 inches of missing. You tell the fellow, "Don't walk in front of a moving car." He answers "No one can tell me what to do." I am not exaggerating. This is how ingrained this attitude is today.
