Since psychiatry is an enforcement arm of the State, I guess we cannot be too surprised that the latest edition of its diagnostic manual  “identifies a new mental illness called ‘oppositional defiant disorder’ or ODD. Defined as an ‘ongoing pattern of disobedient, hostile and defiant behavior,’ symptoms include questioning authority, negativity, defiance, argumentativeness, and being easily annoyed.” (Thanks to Gail Higgins)

UPDATE from a friend:

My wife, who is an expert in childhood behavior disorders and similar fields, is a crusader against all these attempts to define people as insane whenever they behave like human beings. As you know, the war against boys is at its worst with ADD, ADHD, and such, but ODD is just the latest and also defines “good” girls as obedient and compliant.

But it’s not just the seculars who think that obedient people are the best people. The world of child-rearing philosophies these days is filled with stuff from evangelical protestants in which it is the job of the parents to “break the spirit” of the children and  to use corporal punishment even on infants. There are various protestant cults around “discipline” in which obedience  to and respect for authority is the most important thing in the world. Of no importance is the skill of determining if someone actually deserves your respect or obedience.

So who can be surprised when these people grow up to worship governments and their agents?

My wife is a big promoter of the Salesian system of education of St Francis de Sales and St John Bosco. Respect and obedience must be earned, and this is usually best done through “loving kindness.” Bosco demonstrated this can work on even the most criminally-prone boys. Were he not in Heaven, he would surely be spinning in his grave over the way we treat boys today and define them as having a disorder for acting like boys.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.