Creator1

What would it be like to be the parents of your most recent dictator?

As a parent, I understand the naive desire to make sure every child becomes a great success, so would you just be happy that the just aren’t in jail or killed (yet)? The scene comes to mind is where Marge envisions Bart being a male stripper instead of a Supreme Court Justice due to a bad report card, Homer stating that Bart could be both like Earl Warren.

Would you be secretly (or probably openly) proud of the kid’s new found talent for authoritarianism? In some instance, are these actually reflective of your own belief’s, you are their parents after all, surely some of this was taught by you. Now you can outwardly espouse them without fear of ostracization. Or the opposite, are you terrified? Do you sit still in silent terror wondering what happened, and where you went wrong? Do you become paralyzed with fear not knowing if your own child will one day see you as the enemy within, so you choose to not reason with them.

Does your child die, metaphorically? Looking at your authoritarian child do you still love them? How can you love something you no longer recognize, and do they even recognize or notice you? In dictatorships, being family is a dangerous business, in North Korea, they are always purging their family, same with Saddam. Do you feel trapped between your natural proclivity to love and defend your child while gripping with the moral atrocities usually caused by authoritarians (in this case your child)?

I don’t know how I’d answer any of these questions, nor do I even want to speculate at what they’d be. For me, these aren’t questions that have a positive outcome, no matter how you answer. Either way, I would feel like a traitor. What happens when your loyalties split you at your core?