Would you say that Nadya Suleman,who already had six children, and just gave birth to eight more, is living a "take-charge" life? She's done exactly what she set out to do,and that's pretty take-charge, isn't it? Yet many people are furious at both the mother as well as the unnamed doctor that allowed this to happen.
What is the fury about as you see it?
Is it her ability to provide for fourteen children? Financial worries may be a moot point. Ms Suleman already has a couple of publicists and seems poised to rake in millions through movie and book rights to her story, not to mention well-paying ads featuring her eight adorable babies. There is even the question of whether this was planned for that purpose.
Perhaps she's hit a national nerve just by defying conventional norms and daring to be different. Or is the worry that even if she has enough food and clothing, what does it mean to spread love and attention to so many offspring?
Naturally I have thoughts about all of this. But, I'm writing this post because I really want to know what others think. Is this living a take-charge life, however unusual, or is it being out of control and not take-charge at all? Please let me hear from you!
Best,
Marion Jacobs, Ph.D.
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2 comments:
Two people have e-mailed me because they didn't feel like going through the steps to log into the blog.
One said:"Of all of the public monies she used for her "endeavor", will she pay us back after the millions she makes on the backs of her little kids?"
-Andy
The other said:
Re: Fury Over the Octuplets
Hi Marion
Frankly I have no opinion about that situation......glad it is not mine....and it is none of my business.
Like a friend of mine said " I have my own rat killin to do"
Here are four comments I received by e-mail.
1. Yes, the octuplets mother was "take charge" in that she accomplished
> something she set out to do.
>
> But her kind of goal is rather mechanical, rather easy to accomplish in
> that it doesn't require a significant re-training of one's habits of
> thought and behavior. I mean, all this woman really had to do was undergo
> the medical procedure and have sex (or find a sperm donor, whatever the
> case may have been).
>
> On the other hand, she's taken quite a risk with her life and that of her
> (now) 14 children. However, she probably did bet on getting a lot of
> publicity - and she has - and pursuant to that all the assistance she
> might need, including help nurturing her children. - I think she and her
> kids would be still better off if she belonged to an established
> wisdom-tradition or faith-based community - like the "large family" (going
> on 18 kids) featured on the Learning Channel (TLC). They seem to be
> thriving!
>
> As for the doctors who assisted in her unusual project, they either felt
> the outcome was none of their business, they were only doing the work they
> were trained to do and earned excellent livings doing; or they were
> excited by the potential for personal professional accomplishment.
>
> But who am I or any of us to make a moral judgment in this case?
>
> We are citizens after all of a society that is experiencing the escalating
> effects of MONUMENTAL greed and lack of responsibility - to the larger
> community. This is causing a TSUNAMI of fear and irrevocable harm to
> millions of our children.
>
> And even when circumstances are "normal," we tend to tolerate conditions
> that cause irrevocable harm to millions of our children - e.g. the failed
> public school system; the fact that there are 42,000,000 children without
> health insurance; the widespread poverty in so rich a land as this.
>
> In the larger scheme of things then, the decidedly eccentric octuplet
> mom - cum couldn't-care-less- about-the-larger-picture scientists and
> doctors - situation is no big deal.
> 2. One said:"Of all of the public monies she used for her "endeavor", will she pay us back after the millions she makes on the backs of her little kids?"
-Andy
3. Hi Marion
Frankly I have no opinion about that situation......glad it is not mine....and it is none of my business.
Like a friend of mine said " I have my own rat killin to do"
4. Anyway, what I wanted to say was that I doubt that this girl/mother is capable of considering what the life of each of her children will be like. They most likely will have little or no time with her to nurse, to bond, to receive parenting. She is imposing on them the very conditions which she has complained about in her own childhood (which her mother denies). Information that came to light today suggests that this girl is totally dependent on her parents for care for herself and her children. Where she got the funds for the implantations is worth investigating. I do not believe she is in charge of her life. I believe she is amoral, possibly sociopathic, and in any case, quite ill.
Lee
Posted by marion to Take-Charge Living at February 8,
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