I think your point is deeper than your example, and I think you put it well. I've had an experience recently that I think speaks to the same point.
All the institutionalized atrocities that have been visited upon me and my daughter have been framed in terms of "the best interests of the child." I am as intellectual as they come, but that rationalization is never going to convince me of anything as it relates to my life and my child's. I've recently been going to a divorced parents' class, and was expecting the usual "you must do/say/think/feel these obviously insane and evil things because they are in the best interests of the child." Instead, at the first meeting the facilitator, much to my surprise, said, "I am going to help you have a better relationship with your child." Direct appeal to self-interest works every time.
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Date: 2006-06-15 06:15 am (UTC)All the institutionalized atrocities that have been visited upon me and my daughter have been framed in terms of "the best interests of the child." I am as intellectual as they come, but that rationalization is never going to convince me of anything as it relates to my life and my child's. I've recently been going to a divorced parents' class, and was expecting the usual "you must do/say/think/feel these obviously insane and evil things because they are in the best interests of the child." Instead, at the first meeting the facilitator, much to my surprise, said, "I am going to help you have a better relationship with your child." Direct appeal to self-interest works every time.