Unfortunately, your pie maker is not yet able to support his pie making with his blogging, and professional obligations delayed a planned post on the greatness of the United States coming from the fact that unlike the rest of the world we do not have a single "culture" portfolio in our government. Instead, we have a very robust and flexible culture that values, or at least tries to ignore, differences while generally focusing on the merits of productivity.
During that delay, the hype over Amy Chua's book (not her interesting one, tho) reached a crescendo. Ms. Chua is doing her best to make hay while the sun shines.
For many reasons, this blog has shied away from the subject of child rearing, but between this and the general calls for more civility, your pie maker can offer a suggestion: Do not let your children agree with you unless they can explain why they do. At one point during his misspent youth, your pie maker was loading manure into a bin and said to his father, "a dumpster full of [disliked policy proposal]." After a deep breath with the far-off look of a parent who wonders what went wrong, the father asked "Why?"
The lesson was profound. It was not acceptable to simply agree with the popular conclusion, and it is always important to examine one's beliefs. This message, constantly reinforced by parents (as both of mine did, hence this blog's moderate tone) and other adults is the best thing we can all do to ensure a vital and sustainable republic.
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