Alex Rodriguez and the disappearing dad he mourns

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-08-07 00:49

Article here. Excerpt:

'The singular event in the life of Alex Rodriguez is not his imminent suspension, or the career home run record that now will never happen.

The event that makes him so remote, so rudderless, took place when he was 9, when his father disappeared. This is not pop psychology to explain a man who blundered into the airplane propeller of adult reality. This is his own theory.

Back when he was a young major leaguer, Rodriguez would occasionally explain himself in terms of his missing father. His mother was strong and smart, and remains so to this day, but he expressed bewilderment that a father could just take off.'

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Comments

Sure, it's possible to raise well-adjusted, happy, relatively successful kids, even sons, without their father around. The question is: What are the odds of success? Pretty damn small. Just scope out how well parts of cities all over the US and UK are doing where the percentage of households have no dad in them. There's your answer.

Of course, there are factors to consider. Is dad a "good dad"? If either mom or dad is significantly defective as a parent, it is imaginable that the child's better off without that parent in their life. A parent, mom or dad, who utterly abandons their family (not merely divorce-- abandonment is disappearing), especially with no serious, compelling reason that could justify such an extreme move, shows defectiveness by definition. Abandonment is that.

Feminists insist dads aren't really necessary-- maybe when talking about some dads who are defective parents, yes, I agree *those* dads are not. But to suggest the same might be true for moms is of course sacrilege. Rodriguez is, apparently, one of many men who grew up largely without his dad around through no fault of his own, and it has, according to him, deeply and negatively affected him. As an adult, he's responsible for his own actions, of course. But people get to be how they are for a reason. A continued insistence from feminists that dads, especially "good dads", really aren't that important to raising happy kids who are less likely than others to take wrong turns in life is utter hogwash.

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Submitted by Matt on Wed, 2013-08-07 01:44