It’s Your Fault They’re This Way

<p>F. Scott Fitzgerald knew the long term damage of being spoiled rotten. Not only was he a prime and painful example himself—<a href='https://dailydad.com/theyll-hate-you-for-spoiling-them/?utm_source=sendfox&amp;utm_medium=sendfox&amp;utm_campaign=your-fault'>as we’ve written about</a>—but as he observed and studied the rich men and women of the Jazz Age, he saw how indulgent people quickly became the “careless” monsters that he portrayed in <a href='https://geni.us/D6Au'><em>The Great Gatsby</em></a>. </p><p><br/></p><p>In Fitzgerald’s stories, the rich are always expecting life to be easy, expecting their money to exempt them from consequences; they’re selfish, naive, insufferable, and superficial. As the subjects of his stories, this makes them fascinating heroes and anti-heroes, but Fitzgerald also wanted us to know who the real villains were: the parents and the families that raised them. As he depicts in one memorable exchange in <a href='https://geni.us/pjm74W'><em>The Offshore Pirate</em></a>, a story about a young, beautiful girl who refused to listen to her guardians:</p><p><em>“You’ve grown unbearable! Your disposition—”</em></p><p><em>“You’ve made me that way! No child ever had a bad disposition unless it’s her family’s fault! Whatever I am, you did it.”</em></p><p>This truth applies to all of us, not just fathers and families whose incomes put them in the 1%.  <a href='https://dailydad.com/blame-yourself-or-no-one/?utm_source=sendfox&amp;utm_medium=sendfox&amp;utm_campaign=your-fault'>We must blame ourselves or no one, remember?</a> If our kid’s not a hard worker, that’s on us. If our kid’s a bully <a href='https://dailydad.com/where-will-they-get-their-degree/?utm_source=sendfox&amp;utm_medium=sendfox&amp;utm_campaign=your-fault'>or acts like they have an advanced degree from “dick school,”</a> that’s on us. If our kid has an attitude or gets into trouble, that’s on us. <em>They’re kids.</em> It’s our fault for not teaching them better… and it’s even less excusable if we throw up our hands