But inspiring kids to be better by making them aware that they will disappoint you if they aren't is exactly what a parent should be doing. Are there no situations where you are helped to do the right thing because you know that if you act wrongly you will disappoint someone you care about -- be that parent, friend, lover or child?

Anyway, if they're a bad person, guilt is the correct reaction. And the idea that people should be happy rather than good is a silly modern notion that can't pass soon enough.

S.