Sources to modern problems

In my young life, first of all, I had what I would term a DI Mom.
My mother drove us--myself and two brothers, although, as I was the oldest, mine came first.

We had a dairy and a cattle ranch. I had to be up at 0400 to milk cows, feed them, and clean the milk barn. If I was not up, DI Mom had tricks like-- Turn the bed over, pour ice water in there with you. To this date, if I have to wake up at 0300, I will wake up at 0255.

You learned that an injury did not give you an out . On one occasion, I was running on foot to head off a calf, with my attention on the calf, and ran into barbed wire. I had a gash from my right eye, back on the side of my head for about an inch. I ran in the house. DI Mom rinsed it off, put a bandage on it and said, "Get back out there, your father needs your help".

In fifth grade. I was doing the milking by myself while my parents were both about 40 miles away on the ranch on a roundup . A cow I was driving into the barn was frightened by a dog that ran in front of here. This cow had been poisoned by malathion, and had no feeling. She ran over me, stepped on my head, leaving a contusion about 2 inches long. BUT, I completed milking all the cows before I washed it off.  Calling 911 did not exist.

You learned to depend on you.

Secondly, you learned that you earned what ever you got: Do productive work, and you earned an income or a reward. Do destructive things and you got a penalty.
The penalty was very public, painful, and  shaming,.


We lived for years near the tracks of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad tracks. Hobos that rode the trains free would get off and approach the front door. They would knock and ask, "Do you have any work that a man could do for a meal?"

With earning an income comes SELF RESPECT and a sense that you are as good as the next guy.


When I became a California Highway Patrol Officer,first of all, the Academy, you were taught things you needed to know basics of how to do your job. the other part was to test your endurance, your tenacity, and tolerance for the stress that would come.

BUT--It became clear that YOU were depending on you. Come an ugly situation, there was probably no cavalry riding to your rescue . THEN, you again were alone after the the incident where second guessers abound. Like a training officer told me when I got to my first office: "They give you a gun, a badge, the ability to arrest-but that's it. After that., you are ON YOUR OWN".

To thread the landmines, I read journals, subscribed to law news, went to seminars, and read case decisions.

I DID NOT depend on any superior to "Have my back".

I have two perceptions now:

One, that too many law enforcers have the false belief that,"If something happens, my Department will back me".  Not true. Now, you are a political throw-away.

Two, the Reward-Penalty proposition has become reversed--Thanks to Democrat-Liberal-Progressive pushing of "Compassion".
We are supposed to have compassion for those who sit on their asses, commit crimes- such as illegally entering our United States--and either aborting or giving birth to children while not having resources or income to support them.