When your children turn out to be as interesting, creative, talented, charming, handsome, friendly, intelligent, and generous as you hoped they would be, you start to wonder what you did wrong.

Both of my children are musicians. They are extraordinarily good at what they do; both have recordings, both have fans, both have bread-and-butter jobs, both have abilities that amaze and delight me, and neither has a retirement plan. They can’t. Music doesn’t pay.

I sent in, electronically, my objections to SOPA and my concerns about C-11, but I think I did my children a disservice. I want a free Internet and I want an arts culture that makes money, but it seems the two are incompatible.

If I have to support the Tea Party in order to have protection for creative arts industries, I think I will shoot myself. On the other hand, if I have to allow child pornography in order to permit an open exploration of ideas online, I think shooting myself would be too easy.

I used to torture myself about whether or not I could or should spank my children. It turns out that was just a warm-up for the real dilemmas.