It Takes a Village to Raise a Child--Or Does It?

“Collectivism hides in a forest of reassuring bromides. ‘It takes a whole village to raise a child,’ the secular intone. ‘Every child is my child,’ the pious drowsily respond. Of all these deceptions the language of ‘children’s rights’ is the most brilliant—and also the most daring, for in no imaginable world would children be competent to exercise their ‘rights’ themselves. The primary decision maker in the life of a child must always be, and always is, someone else; if not the parents, then the state. So, although most rights limit the reach of the government, so-called children’s rights increase it. They do nothing to empower children; they only empower mandarins. I am reminded of an election-year scuffle between a father, who was also a candidate, and a social service functionary. ‘No government bureaucrat could love my children as I do,’ the father said. ‘That’s not true,’ protested the functionary, ‘I love them just as much.’ ‘What are their names?’ asked the father.”

--J. Budziszewski, The Revenge of Conscience

http://www.amazon.com/The-Revenge-Conscience-Politics-Fall/dp/1608997529/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334969319&sr=1-1