Trope of the welfare queen.

Yeah.

And every bit of that has only gotten worse in the 35 years since I graduated from high school.

People seem to have either forgotten, or not paid attention the first time around.

We all have stories of shit that went down in school. Shit that was crossing the line of reasonableness, ethics, and morality. And every bit of it directed at kids. Adults and institutions bullying kids. All while gaslighting them about how it's for their own good and 'they care' so much and yet denigrating them as little short criminals and psychopaths at the same time from the other side of their mouths.

And we wonder why kids are so anxious.

Really?

We wonder why they can't and/or won't learn.

Really?

We wonder why they're looking for anything else that doesn't make them feel like shit.

Really?

There is a well documented psychological effect to being incarcerated. Prisoners have a tendency to crack up, and the more extreme the conditions, the more likely they are to crack up.


There's a psychological effect to living under stochastic terrorism. It's very similar to war. People have a tendency to crack up in war and under prolonged duress. PTSD is a recognized mental condition for a reason.

There's a well known psychological effect to living in a police state. It ain't pretty. We've seen it throughout history, around the world. People crack up, they turn violent.

And this is the environment we have chosen to educate our children in, and in some religious authoritarian families, completely raise them in. There is a reason why kids from Fundie families struggle so much and tend to have certain problems. It's not a fluke. It is very predictable from a population or actuarial perspective.

You reap what you sow.

It's going to get worse the more the state and institutuons clamp down.

Very. Predictably.