Hedging

Your parents (mostly) want the best for you (probably). So listen to them.

One of the nice things about the moral messages found at the end of each episode is the room for hedging allowed. I mean, not everybody is bound to have good parents, right? Some of them might be downright nasty. Mean even. Some might secretly wear masks with skulls painted on them, when they’re alone and they think nobody is watching. They might plan on taking over the world using talismans like ancient masks of power or astronomical phenomena like white holes. For parents like these, the best thing to do is get away.

That is the magic of the word “mostly.” And “probably.” True, these words can have their own pitfalls – let Skeletor start using them and pretty soon you will “probably” give him the benefit of the doubt because he is “mostly” good inside. We all know what comes from that – enslavement and destruction. And listening to old bony laugh like a maniac. Forever.

Used honestly, however, these hedging words allow some important facts of reality to plant themselves into our minds. Yes, there can be exceptions. Some parents may be bad. Some good parents may be bad some of the time. But that doesn’t mean certain general guidelines don’t hold true. Knowledge is rarely complete. You still have to work with what you have. Unless, of course, you have good reason to believe otherwise.