If the “glory days” of the economy are over, so too is the era of individual responsibility.
We heard last month about a woman giving birth to octuplets ““ the second-known instance of such a marvel happening in this country. Nadya Suleman was immediately hailed as a “miracle of science” and became an overnight sensation. It was a refreshing change of tone, one that distracted us from the doom and gloom of the economy. It gave us a reason to smile ”“ that is the effect that children can have. But the story took on a whole new dimension as details came out about the woman’s “obsession” with children, and her dependence on government assistance (food stamps and Social Security disability payments). With six children, all from in-vitro fertilization, it became clear the “Octomom” was in no place to undergo the process for a seventh time, let alone to have eight more children.
Naturally, she did not see it that way. Suleman defended herself in an interview on the TODAY Show: “I’m providing myself to my children,” she said. “I’m loving them unconditionally, accepting them unconditionally.”
As a result of this mom’s overabundance of love and her active womb, the California taxpayer has even more to complain about. According to NBC’s chief medical editor, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, we can expect to pay between $1.5 and $3 million in hospital bills, alone, for the Suleman litter ““ on top of what we’re already doling out for the six other kids. But then again, that’s what the government is for, isn’t it? Unfortunately, the Octomom mentality is not all that uncommon. America is rife with narcissistic women who selfishly use pregnancy as a relief for the desolation of their own lives or as an attention-getting mechanism and who rely on the public to sponsor them.
This behavior is not only permitted by our society and condoned by several women’s rights organizations, it is even glorified. Simply by virtue of their struggle, single mothers are treated like icons of femininity and symbols of bravery ““ sexual Joans of Arc.
This magnification of single mothers is part and parcel of today’s concept of victimhood. Today’s victims are not those who are forced to pay the price for someone else’s bad behavior, such as the babies or the taxpayers. Instead, these new-age victims are the people who ““ either through their own mistakes or the disparities of birth ““ find themselves at the mercy of society and for that reason alone, elicit the public’s sympathy. Turning people like this into victims creates a slippery slope. Eventually you end up sanctioning every type of misbehavior ““ a promise our leaders are well on their way to fulfilling. (I mean, rewarding people for making bad loans?) It also leads to recidivism. When people propagate the notion that irresponsibility does not exist ““ or even more dangerously, that society makes people irresponsible ““ it desensitizes us to bad behavior. In the absence of consequences, people naturally assume they have done nothing wrong.
And when people see other people engaging in reckless behavior (i.e. getting pregnant without means to provide for a child), they have a tendency to repeat it. Thus, you end up with a situation in which the thing you should be trying to prevent gets multiplied (in this case, multiplied by eight). There are endless historical examples supporting this. For instance, it’s no surprise that after the government started subsidizing health insurance, people suddenly started getting “sicker.” The same is true of illegitimacy: The illegitimacy rate has soared since the women’s movement ignited in the 1960s, and women were empowered to “take control of their bodies.” Despite predictions it would reverse this trend, Roe v. Wade only made the problem worse. Of course, this classification of victimhood should also be recognized as inherently anti-American. It involves rewarding mediocrity in place of virtuosity ““ a truly backward concept. The octuplet story demonstrates the dangers of refusing to hold people accountable. In a world where there are no consequences, people’s sense of right and wrong is inevitably obscured. Suleman’s composure amid her public humiliation suggests she genuinely doesn’t know the error of her ways. That is troubling. At some point, America will have to overturn the system that substitutes personal immunity for personal responsibility and accountability. Our future, and the survival of our values, depends on it.
E-mail Pherson at apherson@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.