EPIDEMIC OF FATHERLESS HOMES – The Savage Nation
Will there be a Father in your home to celebrate Father’s Day this year? Either in person, or in loving memory? For many American homes there will be no father figure. We’re suffering from an epidemic of fatherless homes, and it is getting worse every year.
THE HISTORY OF FATHERLESSNESS
The fatherless home is defined as one in which there is no male father figure. Generally an “involved” stepfather is just as good as a biological father, but most researchers agree that living in the household is key. A father with visiting rights is not the same as a father living in the home. Warfare and death have always caused loss of fathers. However, the 20th century saw a huge uptick, first from two devastating world wars and more recently due to shifts in cultural values.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY
Lyndon Johnson’s “great society” created welfare programs that were intended to help disadvantaged women and children. These programs encouraged men to leave the household because benefits were more generous when no male was present. A prime example of “unintended consequences.”
The percentage of African-American children living in fatherless households in 1960 was 19%, but jumped to 29% by 1970. By 2005, the number was up to 56%, and now it is a whopping 66%! Most of us know that the consequences for the black community have been terrible. “Father absence in the African American communities, across America, has hit those communities with the force of 100 hurricane Katrinas,” said Phillip Jackson, executive director of the Chicago-based Black Star Project. “It is literally decimating our communities and we have no adequate response to it.”
NOW IT’S A WHITE PROBLEM TOO
Over this same time period, the stigma associated with unwed pregnancy began to disappear. And while black communities have a problem partly caused by the welfare state, a whole new cohort of fatherless children has been created for another reason. That is, the increasing numbers of single WHITE women voluntarily choosing to raise children without a male partner. This is partly due to divorce, but increasingly it is a choice made from the outset.
The percentage of white children in single-mother families was 6% in 1960, rose to 18% in 2005, and now is 25%. Consider the “millennial” generation. They were born in the 1990s, graduated from high school starting in 2007, and reached adulthood starting in 2011. This cohort of Americans is now 18-28 years old. In this generation, one quarter of the young white men were raised without fathers! That’s a big number. Let it sink in.
CONSEQUENCES OF FATHERLESSNESS
This is where things become very disturbing. Scientific research has shown that, compared to children living in two-parent homes, children raised in fatherless homes:
* Have lower grade-point averages & score lower on standardized tests. Scores of the SAT college entrance exam have been dropping over the same time period that white single-mother families have been increasing.
* Are 3 times more likely to commit crime. Violent teen behavior is correlated with number of single-mother families in a community.
* Are at higher risk for depression, drug & alcohol abuse.
* Are twice as likely to commit suicide. Teen suicide rates have been increasing over the same period that white single-mother families have been increasing.
* As adults have higher divorce & domestic violence rates.
* Are more damaged by these problems if they are boys, than if they are girls.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT SINGLE-MOTHER HOUSEHOLDS?
FATHERS & MOTHERS PARENT DIFFERENTLY
All children need and want to be associated with loving adults of both sexes. The two sexes have different parenting styles & expectations. Taken together, they complement one another. Boys in particular feel abandoned by missing fathers, and there’s this from Freudian psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim:
“What male patients without fathers are truly missing [is] a protective shield to modify their own aggressive and violent emotions. The ones who suffer most are those living only with females, especially boys who live alone with the mother. It is much harder for a boy to work out aggressive feelings with people of the opposite sex, and more dangerous too.”
HORMONE DISRUPTION
It’s known that the primary sex hormones, testosterone & estrogen, are absorbed through the skin. Recent studies have shown that increasingly younger people (i.e., millennials) are having less sex AND they are testing with lower sperm counts. Could there be a connection? Boys sharing a household with an adult female may be getting less testosterone exposure than they need. This should be explored further!
HUBRIS OF SINGLE MOTHERS
Why do white women believe that THEY can raise children without a father figure, when it is known to be a terrible blight on African American families? Below are some aspects of single motherhood that are celebrated in online forums. We list them without comment. Draw your own conclusions about the lessons being learned by children of these mothers.
* You get to set the schedule & the parenting style. You don’t have to consult with a partner.
* You get ALL the love and good moments. The hugs kisses laughs & I love you’s are yours alone.
* You have a super-tight bond with your kids. They depend on you for every emotional and physical need.
* They are YOUR rock too. “My kids pulled me out of a dark place when my relationship ended.”
* You get to be a shining example that women can do anything.
* Having a “no bullshit” approach to men.
* Dating and having fun!
* Learning how to fix things.
* You are more motivated. Like a fire has been lit under you. A primal urge to succeed.
* A more peaceful household. No arguments or fights in front of the children.
* Your kids are more independent because they can’t depend on you for everything.
CONNECTION TO ANTIFA
What is it about antifa’s obsession with Donald Trump? As Savage discussed on his show last week, a missing or weak father may be one cause of Trump Derangement Syndrome! It’s difficult to find demographic data on antifa members (mainstream media treat them with kid gloves and don’t ask questions about their backgrounds and motivations), but the Science Desk found one report on the European equivalent of antifa. It shows that 92% of the violent protesters at anti-fascist rallies still live at home. Additionally, 84% are male, 72% are 18-29, 90% are single, and 34% are unemployed. Are they also fatherless?
Single-mothers are liberal. In 2012 election (Obama v. Romney), Romney took white voters overall 59%-39% but Obama beat Romney 56%-43% percent among white single mothers. Not surprising when one considers that single-motherhood is associated with liberal values such as having no ties to organized religion, wanting to break out of conventional norms, celebrating “non-traditional” families, devaluing the role of men generally.
Put these factors together with the factors discussed above (difficulties in school, aggressive impulses), and an interesting pattern starts to form. Someone should do a demographic study of antifa members!
FINAL WORD
In “Fatherless America”, David Blankenhorn calls the crisis of fatherless children “the most destructive trend of our generation.” And a recent British report from the University of Birmingham concluded that father deficit should be treated as a public health issue.
REFERENCES
The History of Fatherlessness
https://www.reuters.com/
https://datacenter.kidscount.
Consequences of Fatherlessness
http://www.fathers.com/
https://owlcation.com/social-
What is it About Single-Mother Households?
https://www.
“The Importance of Fathers: A Psychoanalytic Re-evaluation”, by Judith Trowell & Alicia Etchegoyan
Connection to Antifa
https://www.dailywire.com/
“Fatherless America”
https://www.amazon.com/
