"In a day and age when young ladies dress like Bratz dolls, and a high percentage of children are born out of wedlock, there is a certain amount of concern about our children that is both natural and legitimate. In that situation, it is very attractive to see rows of neatly dressed, polite teenagers, and hear promises of a better way. As demagogues throughout history have known, in times of cultural upheaval, it is comforting to believe that someone foresaw the problems, knows the cause, and has the solution -- so much more so if the 'problem' stems from the 'bad' influence of people different than you. Thus good folks get sucked into a vision they do not share by the promise of one they do share."

Read more: Tim Swanson, Diary of an Autodidact

(H/T Karen Allen Campbell, thatmom.com)