WILL NUCLEAR FAMILIES SOON BE AMERICAN ANACHRONISMS?

Recently America observed a 24-hour time period known as Father's Day, an ersatz counterpart to the month-earlier and more meaningful Mother's Day. In an age when more than 40 percent of all children are brought into the world by single mothers, it would seem our society will soon view any day set aside for fathers as being something of an anachronism. After all, America is slowly moving away from what sociologists, and all those other "ologists" who tell us these days what is good and bad for us, call the nuclear family: a father, a mother and their children.

If, during the observance of Father's Day, nuclear family members sat down and decided to enjoy television together, they would certainly be shocked if the channel-tuner brought up MTV or some other musical fantasy station in which songs are only sung with four-letter words and entertainers wear clothing that reveals more than it hides. Since there is no rating system for this form of communication, it is possible at any given time to view something on TV that makes Sodom and Gomorrah look like a Sunday School picnic.

If members decided to pursue an earlier-era pursuit by piling into the old family car to take a Sunday outing, there were other perils awaiting them. Depending on the place of residence, the family could be approached by a corner drug dealer, pursued by a crack-crazed junkie in search of money for his next purchase or be sideswiped by a drunken motorist who just bought another six-pack at the neighborhood convenience store. After all, 80 percent of all alcohol-related accidents in the U.S. are caused by beer drinkers and Missouri just made it legal for them to buy their beverage of choice on the Sabbath. It's not nice to make the brewers and distillers unhappy.

Maybe Dad, Mom and the kids would like a real nuclear family experience so they could all head for the nearest riverboat casino to play blackjack or feed the slots. After all, the family that gambles together can lose money that much faster, so why not make it a collective event? If that gets boring, the family could search out the nearest bingo parlor and spend a few memorable hours together trying to make back the money lost earlier at the casino. Maybe they could even stop by the neighborhood tavern on the way back home, and by this time next year, Joe the Bartender will no doubt be the proud owner of some video gambling machines that will siphon away even more of Dad's paycheck.

Shucks, Joe would have had those machines this year if it hadn't been for a couple of blue noses in the General Assembly, who cautioned against converting the state into another Las Vegas too quickly. With any luck at all, the family will be dead broke by the time members return home. What a Father's Day that was! We must do that more often, and we will as soon as Dad replenishes the family bank account. After all, Missouri's new economic development program is enticing tourists to gambling attractions in the old hometown.

In a society that has made bearing children a full-time occupation, the family unit is just naturally at risk. Fathers who abandon their families so Mother can collect a government check for illegitimate children are only valuable if they remain invisible and out of sight. Believe it or not, there are a few Missourians still alive who can remember when fatherless families were a rarity and the man of the house was viewed as an important component of the family. The lifestyle of the poor and anonymous today is one in which the Father assumes no responsibility for his acts unless it is to vanish after the baby is born so the flow of government checks will not be interrupted. To remain around is now viewed as the height of irresponsibility.

Where society errs in all this is enlightening. Most of us blame the participants, which is like blaming the dead after a lost battle. The participants in all of this didn't write the rules, and most don't comprehend them any better than the rest of us. A society that loosens moral standards in order to save itself is in at least the second stage of dementia.

We permit gambling to save communities from economic ruin? We diminish liquor control laws to encourage alcoholism seven days a week? We only pay for the support of children if fathers are nowhere to be found? We seek the proliferation of handguns to curb crime? We permit the basest of language over the airways owned by everyone under the guise of constitutional entitlement and even empowerment? What kind of insanity is gripping us?

The most vital requirement of a sensible society is a sensible citizenry, one that will view its problems for a period longer than a day or even a month or even a year. Expediency is the worst solution in the world for a decent society that only grows worse as each Father's Day passes.