It has been common knowledge for centuries that children need to be reared in solid families or society would suffer catastrophically. It meant that it was dishonorable to steal, cheat, defraud, or lie to someone else-because it is dishonest.Ģ2 percent of white working class children grow up in a home with a single parent but only 3 percent in the upper class do. This does not mean it was wrong to out-negotiate someone, buy something for less than it might have been worth, sell something for more than it might have been worth, or write a contract that gave you favorable terms. To take advantage of another person was considered dishonorable under the Christian Ethic that used to dictate behavior in America. Integrity means doing the right thing-not because you might suffer consequences if you don’t-but because your principles are such that you do the right thing even when there are no negative consequences for doing the wrong thing-such as when you won’t get caught: What you do when no one sees.
This is a far cry from today’s litigious society. That is why deals on a handshake were once so common. bowling alone.Īmerican men used to be known the world over as men who said what they meant, meant what they said, and kept their word. Let us look at a few other statistics that show how Americans have slowly disengaged from civic life since the 1960s: 'Voted in the presidential election' down 22% 'Attended a public meeting in your town' down 35% 'Served as officer in a club or association' down 42% 'Worked for a political party' down 42% 'Served on a local committee' down 39% 'Parents with children are members of the PTA' down 61% 'Membership in 1 of 32 national associations ( Elks Club, Rotary Club, Kiwanis Club, etc.)' down 50% 'Entertained friends in your home recently' down 45% 'Our whole family usually eats dinner together' down 69% 'Membership in bowling leagues' down 73%-but bowling has increased. But 56 percent of American men and women said divorce should be made more difficult to obtain while only 9 percent said it should be made easier.Įven in the 1970s, large majorities of Americans thought it was wrong to engage in sex before marriage, and knew that young children suffer if their mother works. In 1960, the only legal grounds for divorce were cruelty or adultery-and it had to be proven in a court of law. Note that the question was not if it was OK to have sex with someone a woman knows, or someone she is dating, or someone the woman is "in love with" but a man she knows she is going to marry, as in publicly engaged with a date set for the wedding. And then the clincher: “Do you think it is all right for a woman to have sexual relations with a man she knows she is going to marry?” 86 percent said "No." 84 percent said there was no reason that could ever justify adultery. 93 percent of married housewives said they did not regret the choice they had made (instead of pursuing a career). 96 percent said married women with children were happier than single working girls. In 1962, the Saturday Evening Post commissioned the Gallup Organization to conduct a survey of the attitudes of American women. For the first time in history women could separate sex from bearing children and this would cause a revolution in sexual mores. The birth control pill went on the market in the 1960s-for married couples only at first, which is whom it was invented for. Also, an accident of history brought a master liberal legislator to the White House in 1963. Much of the change came from a social activist Supreme Court, which began legislating from the bench in the 1960s. The Protestant Work Ethic has markedly declined.Įverything was about to change. This shows that being industrious is no longer seen as a necessary virtue by millions of Americans. BUT the number of Americans who claim disability benefits-to live off of the labors of other people-has exploded from less than 1 percent of the labor force to over 5 percent today. The number of Americans who are actually physically unable to work has gone down dramatically since 1960 because of advances in health care and medical technology, e.g., prosthetics, as well as the fact that the jobs to be done are far less physically demanding today than 50 years ago. Healthy men who did not work were scorned as bums. In 1963, 98 percent of American men aged 30-50 were in the labor force. Rich or poor, it was not socially respectable to be adult, male, and idle until fairly recently. Being industrious has long been associated with a fulfilling human life-which is different from a life in which one is merely kept amused. Working hard, seeking to get ahead, and striving to excel at one’s craft are quintessential features of traditional American culture.
0 kommentar(er)
