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The reason that shame was not entirely inappropriate was that one didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea, that one was a mere failure or freeloader. It is like the problem of de- stigmatizing out- of- wedlock births: things happen, and you don't want to make things unnecessarily hard on the resultant children, and if you are like me you do not want to enhance the incentive for abortion...but you want people to be more responsible, and since most unintended pregnancies are the result of carelessness about birth- control, the relaxation of vigilance is an especially serious problem. Getting rid of the more ponderous form of stigma for bastardy was a good idea, but people should still feel ashamed that they brought a child into the world under unfavorable conditions, and should be determined to avoid it in the future, and determined to make it up to the original fruit of their folly, In the ghetto, especially, girls get pregnant on purpose, and have multiple out- of- wedlock births.... |
