Jeb Bush: "Unwed mothers should be publicly shamed."

[Dazey]

Public shaming would be an effective way to regulate the “irresponsible behavior” of unwed mothers, misbehaving teenagers and welfare recipients, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) argued in his 1995 book Profiles in Character.

In a chapter called "The Restoration of Shame,” the likely 2016 presidential candidate made the case that restoring the art of public humiliation could help prevent pregnancies “out of wedlock.”

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Bush points to Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, in which the main character is forced to wear a large red "A" for "adulterer" on her clothes to punish her for having an extramarital affair that produced a child, as an early model for his worldview. "Infamous shotgun weddings and Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter are reminders that public condemnation of irresponsible sexual behavior has strong historical roots,” Bush wrote.

As governor of Florida in 2001, Bush had the opportunity to test his theory on public shaming. He declined to veto a very controversial bill that required single mothers who did not know the identity of the father to publish their sexual histories in a newspaper before they could legally put their babies up for adoption. He later signed a repeal of the so-called "Scarlet Letter" law in 2003 after it was successfully challenged in court.

Bush's ideas about public shaming extended beyond unwed parents. He said American schools and the welfare system could use a healthy dose of shame as well. “For many, it is more shameful to work than to take public assistance -- that is how backward shame has become!” he wrote, adding that the juvenile criminal justice system also "seems to be lacking in humiliation."

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It's worth pointing out that the kind of public shaming Bush described has come under fire recently in response to the growing trend of parents humiliating their children on social media to punish them. A 13-year-old girl committed suicide last month after her father posted a video of himself cutting off her long hair on YouTube because she had disobeyed him.

YouTube and social media, of course, did not exist when Bush wrote his book in 1995. But the former governor makes clear that "society needs to relearn the art of public and private disapproval and how to make those to engage in some undesirable behavior feel some sense of shame."

Bush did not respond to a request for comment.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/09/jeb-bush-1995-book_n_7542964.html

[xavier110]

Well, we've basically shamed him into disavowing his family and family name. And Iraq. What else?

[Donerail]

I liked the part of his book where he attributed school shootings to a lack of corporal punishment in schools.

[Torie]

The Scarlet Letter aspect of this is just outrageous, and bothers me, as to Bush's values and judgment. He will have to respond to this in due course. He cannot duck it forever.

[retromike22]

But the former governor makes clear that "society needs to relearn the art of public and private disapproval and how to make those to engage in some undesirable behavior feel some sense of shame."

I actually completely agree with that.

[CountryClassSF]

Good on Jeb.

[SteveRogers]

Good on Jeb.

Now you're just being contrarian for no reason.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Is this a joke? Because it sure as hell doesn't sound like a man who's seriously hoping to be elected president in 2016.

[Likely Voter]

It is hard to guess which of the two leading GOPers is set up for the biggest general election gender gap. Scott "forced ultrasounds are fun" Walker or Jeb "public shaming women is fun" Bush.

[Cory]

Yeah, this guy is done.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Wasn't the Scarlet Letter supposed to be a condemnation of these types of traditional practices, anyway?

You don't expect Jeb to understand the difference, do you?

[RI]

Once again, a title with a quote that's not actually a quote.

[JonathanSwift]

He's not wrong.

[SteveRogers]

Once again, a title with a quote that's not actually a quote.

Yeah, but the truth in this instance is so much worse then the quote in the thread title.

[Indy Texas]

I liked the part of his book where he attributed school shootings to a lack of corporal punishment in schools.

The only thing that could make it more '90s is a call for school uniforms and regulations on violent video games.

[Nichlemn]

Is this a joke? Because it sure as hell doesn't sound like a man who's seriously hoping to be elected president in 2016.

Well, it is a 20 year old book.

[Orthogonian Society Treasurer]

He's not wrong.

[The Mikado]

Is...this a parody?

Is this a joke? Because it sure as hell doesn't sound like a man who's seriously hoping to be elected president in 2016.

Well, it is a 20 year old book.

Oh, that explains a lot. Even so...holy s**t, Jeb.

Once again, I am confident that even a nine digit campaign budget will get him the GOP nomination. I am confidently bucking common sense and taking the quixotic stance that even the Republican Party, the party of plutocracy, will reject a candidate they don't actually want even with huge amounts of wealth at his back. Jeb Bush losing the primary would be the most refreshing thing in the 2016 election cycle.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Jeb's not advocating implementing the Scarlet Letter treatment for single mothers.  But he's not wrong in pointing out that the stigma of single motherhood kept people from engaging in sex outside of marriage due to the consequences.  And the decision to have a child out of wedlock is, most of the time, a decision that is sentencing a child to a life of poverty.  Not always, but frequently.  And that's assuming that not having a father in the household is a good thing.  Yes, it's a good thing to get a father out of a house who's a violent bum who uses drugs, but it also begs the question of why a woman would not flee such a male, much less have a child with such a male.  Then, too, there's the issue of control of children.  We hear lots of stories about lion-hearted single moms raising their children alone, keeping them out of trouble, etc., and they are admirable people.  But we are dishonest with ourselves in not acknowledging that far more single parents have serious problems controlling their adolescent children, and that many single mothers are unable to control their adolescent children for one reason or another.

The proliferation of single parent families, many of which are headed by women who never intended to have a male partner in the home, is a destabilizing influence on our society.  Liberal democracy can only be built on a foundation of strong, viable families.  It cannot be built on a foundation of single-parent families unable to support themselves.  I'm not a Jeb partisan, but a safety net that encourages fatherlessness and a society that does not strongly discourage its young people from engaging in sex outside of marriage or produce children outside the concept of the nuclear family is a society whose foundation is built on a developing sinkhole.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The true shame is to be a crazy right-winger who stole the election for his brother, who is the worst President ever, and together with their father are the two worst Presidents for job growth since their great-grandfather was an economic adviser to President Hoover.

[© tweed]

a good part of the GOP base more or less agrees with this type of thinking.  ie, hatred of the sexually active unmarried female and sadism as a driving force in social policy.

[Donerail]

Jeb's not advocating implementing the Scarlet Letter treatment for single mothers.

The problem with this statement is that, when he was governor, the Legislature actually did implement the Scarlet Letter treatment for single mothers.

[Türkisblau]

I don't get it. Shouldn't we be shaming the fathers? They seem to be the ones that walk out on a child more often than not...

Actually, just shame everyone! Our society needs more people being unhappy about themselves

[Mr. Illini]

Bring back the red "A"!

[retromike22]

The only thing that could make it more '90s is a call for school uniforms and regulations on violent video games.

I agree with those too!

Go Bush!