“But it really seems like you do…”

I consider the thoughts, advice, and criticism of those who have earned my trust and in whom I have confidence. They are few, and they are of enormous value to me. I look fine to the people who matter to me. If some stranger wants to judge me based on some abstract concept, like patriarchy it is of no consequence to me. If someone wants to judge men in general as looking bad or good, it is their prerogative to do so. It is of no consequence to me.

Fighting you? Am I winning, or losing?

My understanding is that we are exchanging ideas. What would be the fun of exchanging ideas with someone whose ideas are exactly the same as my own? We have different concepts of how human nature operates. I find it both enlightening and challenging to compare and contrast those concepts. Don’t you?

I do not doubt that people in egalitarian societies value autonomy. I value autonomy in this society. Most everyone with whom I am familiar values autonomy.

Every form of social organization has advantages and disadvantages. The form assumed by a social organization is influenced by the conditions and circumstances the population experiences. It is the vector sum of the individual members’ responses to those conditions and circumstances. Whether something is or is not classified as “patriarchy” is of no consequence to me. Apparently, it is of no great importance to Ms. Eisler or the World Economic Forum either. I do respect the fact that it is important to you.

Some members of society strive to make what they consider to be improvements. Others resist their efforts. Not everyone agrees on what constitutes an improvement.

There is a wide variety of forms of social organization. They exist under a wide variety of conditions and circumstances — environments, levels of development, challenges they face, issues to confront, etc. It would take a great deal of study to even begin to understand why each society is organized the way it is.

I have a particular affinity for “The Sound of Music.”

When I was just short of twelve years old, my mom left one evening to attend an adult family event. Dad had the flu, so he stayed home. The last thing mom said to me was, “If you promise to behave for grandma, you can stay up past your bedtime to watch Gunsmoke.” I was in the middle of watching Gunsmoke when the phone rang. Mom had been killed in a traffic accident.

The idyllic life I had been experiencing for most of the 1950s was over.

A few years later, Dad remarried. Things did not go well at all between my stepmom and me. When I first saw “The Sound of Music” all I could think of was, “Why couldn’t Maria come to be my step-mom? Instead, I got the Baroness Schraeder.”

My impression was that Capt. Von Trapp was acting the way he was because of his grief over losing his wife.

Right now, my wife and I are helping to raise our great-grandson.

He is fifteen months. If I didn’t exercise some authority and correct his behavior, he would be dead by now or would have destroyed our house. He has absolutely no sense of danger. He doesn’t cry very often, mostly when he needs a nap.

I can’t imagine how hunter-gatherer children survived if no one ever corrected their behavior.

I never thought that children are spoiled by kindness. They are spoiled by getting their way any time they demand it and not being given any responsibilities.

I was an independent, willful child. I would get an occasional spanking when I deserved it. I did not go on to become a bully.

“There is no hierarchy between adults in a family. The father is not “the head of the family”

I asked my wife, and she assured me that I am NOT the head of the household.

My vision of the ideal family resembles one of my cousin’s. She married a man who is a master locksmith. The two of them opened a business together. She ran the retail shop while he went on calls. She kept the books. When they had children, they set up a play area in the back. When the children were older, they helped out.

An entire family working as an economic unit is preferable to one where mom pursues one career, dad pursues another, and the children are raised by who knows. It would be even better if an extended family was involved.

That ideal family is only a fantasy. There are too many obstacles in the way of it becoming a reality.

I look forward to reading your story about methods of raising children.