Chapter 1: Folk Music Summary

In the United States, there is a huge gap between legality and irresponsibility. It is perfectly legal for people to have kids out of wedlock - although this does a tremendous disservice to the kids. Fathers who abandon their families are rarely punished, nor are considered bad parents. The numbers are staggering. It is estimated that forty percent of American children are born out of wedlock. It is also estimated that "half of all the mothers who have kids in their teens will be poor the rest of their lives." Many social problems are started with a bad family life. Bill O'Reilly says that his own upbringing wasn't ideal by any stretch of the imagination. His father worked a job he hated his whole life and was disappointed with his situation. Bill marvels that his father's strictness taught him...