tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7899696.post7741960971060736305..comments2023-10-18T02:56:27.711-07:00Comments on Jennifer Roback Morse: It Takes a Family to Raise a VillageJennifer Roback Morsehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08328491226267765655noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7899696.post-62593898470662717382008-02-06T16:55:00.000-08:002008-02-06T16:55:00.000-08:00Anonymous@1:56, you are getting very close:There a...Anonymous@1:56, you are getting very close:<BR/><BR/>There are many intelligent people who would argue that the reason that real wages have declined for both men and women (hence the need for both husband and wife to work to support the same lifestyle their parents had under a single income) is due to the influx of women into the labor pool.<BR/><BR/>It is a self-perpetuating cycle: with more women available to do a job for less than a man, wages for men go down accordingly. As more and more women compete against men for the same jobs, wages go down further, leading still more women who might otherwise stay home to raise their children to enter the workforce instead.<BR/><BR/>Others have explained this idea better than I have, perhaps they will chime in.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps capitalism/consumerism is only half the problem -- perhaps men would earn nearly twice as much as they do now if their wives quit their jobs... and just imagine what we've save as a society in social services and law enforcement!Martyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14777483678013218629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7899696.post-74189056019430561932008-02-06T13:56:00.000-08:002008-02-06T13:56:00.000-08:00I was thinking that the other crucial issue in all...I was thinking that the other crucial issue in all of this – independent of Marxism and feminism – is the fact that the middle and lower classes have seen their real incomes shrink since the early 1970s. A lot of the pressure on women to work is not about getting ahead career-wise, but about keeping up the standard of living of their parents. My immigrant grandfather, an upholsterer, did not go beyond junior high but never had a mortgage and lent money to his kids so they didn’t have to have mortgages. His wife, my grandmother, raised the kids and never worked a day in her life outside the home except for some volunteer work. I have a Ph.D. and my wife a Master’s and we have a monstrous 30-year mortgage to have basically the same kind of house my parents bought in the sixties. Granted, many people are into pure consumerism and therefore want to work more to support such a lifestyle. But the underlying problem is the value of the wage, in my opinion. Regardless, part of the discussion needs to include the question of consumerist values and how they motivate women to enter the job market. This is especially poignant, I think, for families that earn, say, under $50,000 per year. This is where capitalism, as much as I admire it, has exacerbated the weakening of the family. Capitalism needs consumers to keep buying new kinds of products (big-screen TVs, etc.). That’s why I think we have to have a nationally determined consensus on the family that overrides the economic imperatives.<BR/><BR/> <BR/><BR/>The other thought that has occurred to me is that so many highly advantaged and/or highly educated people are extremely individualistic and simply not interested in marrying or having children. “White America” is not reproducing itself, except for the Mormons, and the genes of highly intelligent and successful people are not being passed on. Again, in my opinion, capitalism in the U.S. took people to individualistic extremes. It’s the “Your way, right away, at Burger King today” generation. I would completely agree that a lot of this impulse comes from the sixties revolution. But I think capitalism per se also generates it. The Republicans always talked about family values but never critiqued the fact that capitalism’s innovative fury helped to undermine the family.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7899696.post-50684210164112449762008-02-06T06:10:00.000-08:002008-02-06T06:10:00.000-08:00Good luck with that. As long as the driving force...Good luck with that. As long as the driving force behind feminism appears to be marxist-lesbians with no use for men in general (or husbands in particular), it doesn't seem likely.Martyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14777483678013218629noreply@blogger.com