PassedOut, on 2014-August-08, 11:04, said:
I admit that my reflexive reaction is to agree with this: However, some reflections give me pause. My maternal grandmother never held a paying job and Constance's mother never held one after World War II. It always seemed to me -- and still does -- that both of them were adult in every sense of the word and made valuable contributions to society in many ways.
All of my grandparents considered themselves very fortunate to have avoided taking the brunt of the depression, but were much influenced by it. They were keenly aware that the economy did not always provide jobs for everyone. That's not to say that the US is in depression now, but today's economy does not provide jobs for everyone either.
This aspect occurred to me as I was writing but time was short. My mother did not work (she had worked at an earlier time). And of course that was the common arrangement. The father worked, the mother stayed at home. I did not mean that either parent is/was not an adult in this. And it is not necessary to take the romantic view that marriage makes two people one. Yes, there are many arrangements that work. My mother and my father, together, were self-supporting. This is what I meant.
There are many caveats to my simple formulation. We all depend on society. We do not hire our own security (most of us don't), we depend on the police. We depend on schools. We drive on roads that society has provided. So it's at least partly a matter of degree. Still.
I know two young men who are showing no signs of ever leaving home. They have parents that can support them, while the parents are alive anyway, but jeez. One of them has, I think real psychological problems and he has had some issues with drugs. So I have no idea what to do. The other, as near as I can tell, just sees no reason to work if his parents will house him and support him. This is the sort of prolonged adolescence I have in mind. In these two cases, the parents are taking care of the problem. For now, anyway.
Growing up, I not only accepted that I must grow up to support myself, I was chomping at the bit. So was everyone else, and I expect it is not that much different for most young people today. But there seems to be exceptions. I don't think we should encourage these exceptions. It is not healthy for the person himself.
I know I have mentioned this before: I rgew up in a modest sized, but perfectly fine, house. When a woman left her abusive husband and took her two girls with her she moved in upstairs. Small does not begin to describe their living quarters. Illegal by today's standards I am sure. She got a job at Wards (Monkey Wards as it was then known), paid my parents what I suspect was very modest rent, and raised her kids. Helping people is good. Expecting nothing of them is not good.
PassedOut, on 2014-August-08, 11:04, said:
I do agree with this, and replacing the decaying infrastructure of the US would go a long way toward addressing the job shortage problem for the time being. The economy under President Kennedy certainly gained because of President Eisenhower's massive federal highway program.
One wouldn't think that there would be much opposition to projects like that, but times are different. Two of my sisters live in Wisconsin, north of Madison. Wisconsin had gone through all the hoops to work with the federal government to build a high-speed rail line that would ultimately complete a connection between Chicago and Minneapolis with stops in Milwaukee and Madison. The project was approved by the US government, the funds had been allocated, and my sisters were enthusiastic about the eventual prospect of taking the train to the cities. Then a new governor, Scott Walker, took office and canceled the project.
This stirs memories! I grew up not far from train tracks leading out of St. Paul and to Chicago. Every night around ten there was a train chugging its way up the hill, heading South. I won't comment on the specifics here, I know too little. But the general idea of this is what I am advocating, absolutely.
A few weeks back I went on a road trip, up through Sault St. Marie, over to Lac La Belle (or words to that extent) across Wisconsin, visiting a friend in northern Minnesota, down to the Twins, back into Wisconsin for a couple of stops (including the House on the Rock, a truly weird place that plays a role in
American Gods, hence Becky's desire to see it) and then back to Maryland. A fun trip.