VIII
As the emergency generator worked the air-conditioning to strain the smoke out of the air, General Myles looked at Senator Manx, and they both glanced at the President, who looked the professor over with the expression of a man testing one of the new coins by bite and ring to see if it was genuine.
The professor looked back stolidly, and finally the President said, “You understand, we’ve had a certain amount of trouble lately from theories that didn’t work out?”
“I’m aware of it,” said the professor dryly. “Two walls almost fell on me on the way here. The first was accidental, and the second was an ambush.”
“Now, then. Let’s have this theory of yours again.”
“It’s very simple. The world is a setting for a collision between man’s idea of Right on the one hand, and the forces of Nature on the other. The only way a man can hope to contend at all is through discipline—self-discipline in the individual, and often discipline as a member of a group. The foundation of discipline is laid early, when the child has a collision with the parents, the child wanting something the parents can’t allow.”
Senator Manx glanced at his watch. General Myles frowned. The President said, “This is obvious.”
“Certainly. It’s simple. And in a natural state, this collision is all but inevitable. But, it can’t take place if the parent can prevent it simply by setting the child in front of a TV set.”
The general looked around. “Then what happens?”
“You can’t build on quicksand. The child grows up without discipline, can’t understand the adult world, under the complexities, is based on discipline, sees the flaws but not the achievements, and has his collision with authority later.” The professor gestured toward the outside.
The President said, “And what do you suggest?”
“That no entertainment shows for children be permitted. It will then, in the nature of things, be all but impossible to prevent the clash and the assertion of parental authority. There are three possible results. First, the parent may, theoretically, be overwhelmed by the child. Second the parent may overreact and maim the child. Third, the parent may discipline the child properly. The third response is self-strengthening, generation after generation, whereas the first two tend to destroy either the child or the family unit. We can therefore rely on the third response to regenerate the basic discipline of the race.”
The President looked thoughtful, then harassed, and then smiled. “We will give this matter all the careful consideration it deserves.”
The professor beamed, bowed, and went out.
The three men glanced at each other.
The President said, “General, after we get the remains of this mess cleaned up, we will have to plan a campaign against these TV stations and their children’s hours.”
General Myles smiled. “It might not be a bad idea, at that.”
Senator Manx laughed. “But hard to maintain when the Emergency Powers Act runs out.”
“H’m. Yes. Well, now, as I understand it, the situation on the Coast is finally quiet, is that right?”
“Yes, sir,” said the general. “We have to expect a little more trouble—there’s bound to be. But we finally have the upper hand, and—”