ot; things i believe in…

[The-Shoveler]

It was not easy making a living in the 60’s.

It was not uncommon for both parents to work.

It was probably about the same percentage as now but that is just what I remembered, but of course I can not be correct.

[CA renter]

[quote=The-Shoveler]My Father worked 6 days a week, My mother a little less, but sometimes she work two job’s.

You must have not been around in the 60’s and early 70’s[/quote]

My mom stayed home with us until we were well into the elementary school years. Even then, she worked in real estate, so had very flexible hours. Among our friends and neighbors (solidly middle and upper-middle class), families often had one parent at home, or one who worked part-time. Sometimes, both parents had more flexible schedules, like in spdrun’s ideal world — which I agree is an ideal arrangement for many people.

Based on what I saw, it was usually the working or lower class families that had two parents working full time or more.

Needless to say, I totally agree with spdrun. We have too much productive capacity, not too little. Our problem is a lack of demand, and this exists because of the globalized labor market. We need to reduce working hours for most people and spread the hours out more so that more people who want to work can, and those who want/need to work less can do so as well.

[The-Shoveler]

I see quite a few soccer moms in SD area.

I think there are almost as many stay at home parents today as there were in the 70’s

Most of my friends I grew up with, their spouse does not work full time or at all in most cases.

[CA renter]

[quote=The-Shoveler]I see quite a few soccer moms in SD area.

I think there are almost as many stay at home parents today as there were in the 70’s

Most of my friends I grew up with, their spouse does not work full time or at all in most cases.[/quote]

Yes, the trend of more and more mothers entering the workforce started to reverse in about 2000. People finally wised up to the fact that they weren’t really gaining any material advantages. Oftentimes, it costs more to work outside the home than it does to stay home — what I call working for negative income.

Also, advantages to the two-income household only exist for as long as you are one of the few families doing this. Once you reach a critical mass, prices start moving up to offset any additional purchasing power earned by the second earner, and wages go down as the supply of workers goes up.

A good read is Elizabeth Warren’s The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Parents are Going Broke.

Here’s one of her lectures about it:

[FlyerInHi]

Car, Spd, our economic system is not designed to maximize happiness, it’s designed to maximize economic output. Some studies link consumption and possessions to happiness.

California generates about the same GDP as Italy but with 33% less population iirc. People in Italy are a fairly happy bunch but there’s a lot of crime there because the thieves want things they cannot afford, such as iPhones, iPads, expensive cameras, fashion items, etc…

If those innovations didn’t exist, we’d be fine but we always want the latest,.. maybe the latest drugs to “save” our loved ones even if a temporary reprieve, and even if quality of life is not improved. We want to spend whatever it takes otherwise we would feel bad. Therefore as a whole, we have no choice to but stay in the rat race.

You can make an individual choice to limit your consumption, but it’s not how our economic structure is designed to work.

[spdrun]

Italy is a really poor example to use — it has a long tradition of bad governance (thus helping to create organized crime to protect ordinary people from the rapacity of the princelings in the 1800s), crime, and poverty. Switzerland is probably a better comparison.

Higher GDP per capita than the US, an economy based heavily on finance, high-value manufacturing, tourism, and innovation. Yet average working hours per annum are about 10% lower than the US figure. The trick is to keep productivity high while increasing free time.

Australia, Denmark, Canada, and Norway also have higher GDP per capita than the US with lower working hours, but I’m discounting them because they’re much more dependent on resource exports than the US.

[sdgrrl]

[quote=moneymaker]I have a dream, but no one I know supports it. That makes me sad when I think about it, so instead of thinking about it, I go about life doing my projects and working for a living. I do think however that just having that dream allows me to live life with a little less stress. Recently found out wife doesn’t believe there is sex in heaven, wow bummer![/quote]

Very curious what the dream is. How about having a bunch of strangers weigh in on your deepest wishes 🙂

[CA renter]

[quote=sdgrrl][quote=moneymaker]I have a dream, but no one I know supports it. That makes me sad when I think about it, so instead of thinking about it, I go about life doing my projects and working for a living. I do think however that just having that dream allows me to live life with a little less stress. Recently found out wife doesn’t believe there is sex in heaven, wow bummer![/quote]

Very curious what the dream is. How about having a bunch of strangers weigh in on your deepest wishes :)[/quote]

Second this. 🙂

[scaredyclassic]

Yeah, what?

[scaredyclassic]

I have a dream I don’t believe in.

[CA renter]

[quote=scaredyclassic]I have a dream I don’t believe in.[/quote]

Expand. 🙂

[svelte]

[CA renter]

[quote=svelte]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKdq249uOGs[/quote]

Singing?

Very pleasant, fun music, BTW. 🙂 Mr. CAR and I have been listening to some remixes (and originals) of the old sing-along classics lately. Fun stuff!

[sdgrrl]

[quote=CA renter][quote=scaredyclassic]I have a dream I don’t believe in.[/quote]

Expand. :)[/quote]

Waiting impatiently- haha

[Aecetia]

[quote=CA renter]Goes with #3, but staying out of debt is a big one, too.

Debt kills dreams. It causes family and social strife. It causes stress which can lead to physical, mental, and emotional problems.

But we are told, every day, that we should go into debt for everything: houses, cars, educations, vacations, healthcare, new business ventures, etc. This is one of my biggest pet peeves with the message being sent to all of the gullible people of the world.[/quote]

Great post. 100% accurate.

[Author]

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