Hey World, Look at (Little) Me!

Based solely on the out-of-control myspace-like confabulance of painful color and graphic contrasts making up his website  maybe George Mason economics professor Bryan Caplan shouldn't even have been allowed to have twins. But there isn't (and shouldn't be) any law that the graphically-challenged can't be great fathers.

So, if at least in theory and practice Caplan could be a great father, exactly why is he creating such a great storm with the to-date hypothetical musing that he wants to clone himself and, truly literally, raise himself up by his bootstraps?

The Philosophy of Karpa

The tv show "My Name is Earl" revolves on an idiosyncratic view of karma — most broadly, what goes around comes around. Given that idiosyncrasy, perhaps it is possible that it its cancellation is due title character Earl not taking such good care of his sons — neither, biologically is his, but that doesn't seem to excuse him — and years ago his father stopped cleaning up the messes he made.

Maybe if father and son could have solved a lifetime of troubles between them their seasons together would have been greater than four:

A Moderate Bit of Violence

Aristotle, father of Pythias, is famous for (among other things) the idea that we should enjoy "all things in moderation." And that, boys and girls, includes violence.

MODERATION YES. So, it is a wonderful and all-praiseworthy idea that a father and son should take a 50-day, 50-state fishing trip as planned by the Turners of Warennton, Va. With the son headed off to college and life soon they decided to do a bit of male bonding over the occassional dead fish before beginning the separation that comes with adulthood.

MODERATION NO. Not so marvelous are the bonding ideas of two gentlemen of Derry, N.H. Father Primeau and father Dearborn believed that the way to get close to their boys was to encourage them to clobber other kids. Encouraging their sons in their hobbies, one drove the young master to where he could, hopefully, "knock him out" and the other was content to reside on the sidelines, having sent instructions to "smash" and "step on his head."

Briefly, then. Bonding involving moderate violence against fish: usually good. Bonding involving immoderate violence against others: usually bad.

Lesson learned?

Down by the Riverside

You can't step twice into the same river, because other waters keep flowing is the "weeping philospher" Heraclitus wisdom that has wended its way through the ages. (H is also sire of the saying that "War is the father of all things..." so you can tell he was a fun guy to chill with.)

And what is true for one is also true for two: father and child. Still, there is a natural interest in following in one's father's sandalprints. So, we note today that Amber Martin — after being clear that dad wouldn't compete — is running for the city council spot once held by her dad Harry. In an intriguing bit of campaign rhetoric, she does note her low income as possibly appealing to voters at the same time her campaign bio mentions that she works for her dad. Something about the river seems a bit murky but it's not so easy to pinpoint it exactly.

Nor is it clear whether young Myco Coker thought he was honoring or disgracing papa C when he took the latter's wheels out for a bit of a gambol. MC claimed to be helping out with local traffic in his fancy ride — by pretending to be a deputy sheriff &mash; but the fact that he was pretending to be his dad, an actual deputy sheriff seems to have had little positive affect on the the judge who has grounded him for the foreseeable future.

Honor, disgrace and anger are also ingredients the recipe Sheryll Cashin proffers in The Agitator's Daughter, her look at the river in which her dad fished: "As a teenager, I seethed with anger about [my father's] priorities. As I approached middle age and Dad approached his 80s, I simply wanted to understand the origins of his altruism and share my journey in a book that might motivate others."

As she describes it, she inherited his passion, but as with every child, it did not come to her in the exact same "blind" form and has taken her to a different river.