Do we bring up our children to take seriously the difference between right and wrong?

We think we do. Not much sign that it is working.

One way to catch their attention is to lay out clearly to them that Bad Behaviour has Bad Consequences. That if they do not take responsibility for the results of what they do, they may well be harshly punished.

This alas is not really a lesson for Western life today, as much bad behaviour these days obviously has quite good consequences for the person responsible for it.

In part this is because of Leftist/PoMo deconstruction of the idea of Right and Wrong as some sort of artifice created by Mostly Dead White men to oppress the planet. The ‘root causes’ of obnoxious behaviour are given pride of place in the dominant analysis of most social problems, diminishing the very idea of personal responsibility.

Ditto at the international level. There is a profound reluctance to confront regimes who fail to meet even the most basic standards. We’re not judgemental! 

See the howls of rage against President Bush for having (as Mr Prout might say) the temerity, the affrontery, the audacity, to topple Saddam Hussein. Who does he think he is, imposing his nasty cowboy values on everyone else?

Some parts of the world do not take part in the Western trivialisation of values. Here children learn that if they do something Bad, something Very Bad will happen.

I wonder where the petty theft rate by youngsters is lower?