Wednesday, January 16, 2013

"Murder at Morgan House"

Murder at Morgan House is my first novel, and as you can probably deduce from the title, it is a mystery. My inspiration was an event that happened in the small town I live near. Besides being horrifying, (after all it is a murder) it is an expose on Consequence. After careful consideration, I have come to the conclusion that many, if not most of our contemporary societal ills are a result of a lack of consequence for anti-social behavior. It starts early. Kids are not held responsible for their actions. For whatever reason my generation has copped the "not my kid" attitude. Johnny is not made to feel a negative consequence for unruly behavior when his parents cannot accept the fact that he is capable of unruly behavior. Maybe it's a backlash from "old school" parenting, when a kid got in trouble at school for behaving badly, he got it twice as bade when he got home!
   This narcissistic training is reinforced when everyone gets the trophy (no negative consequence for not having worked hard enough to earn one.) It's an even playing field, grading on the curve, affirmative action. No one is required to strive for the best, with the result being a generation of mediocrity. I guess they just go home to live in their parent's basement. It seems to be a trend nowadays.
   But what happens when the narcissism turns to entitlement? Just look around at our society today, and you'll see. Only about half of the country pays taxes, and the rates keep going up to support the ever growing populations of non-payers. food stamps, free medical care, free insurance, subsidized housing...and that includes recipients who are not even Americans. As I delve further into researching the components that result in criminal behavior it is becoming evident that a sense of entitlement is at the root of the problem, and entitlement is the result of lack of consequences.