Quote:
Originally Posted by peter12
The collapse in marriage being the main thing, but there are lots of other weird socio-economic phenomenons that have slowly been eroding the social networks of the bottom 20% ever since the 1970s.
What is stranger is that these trends have persisted, even through good times. Stagnant wages in unstable industries certainly remain an important aspect of the discussion though. I don't know exactly where I stand on the minimum wage - certainly small and incremental changes in certain industries don't seem to effect niche employment.
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Is it the collapse of marriage, or the collapse of the nuclear family? Also, isn't the destruction of the nuclear family more a result of economics than cultural influences? Women were driven into the workforce because of economic needs, then the lib movement really started with earnest. I appreciate this a chicken or egg type of argument, but economics appeared to be the driver for the disintegration of the nuclear family.
Also, what impact did advancing technology have on the lower class? Many of the jobs they used to fill were eliminated by advancing technology. That caused unemployment in those communities and economic hardship. A lot of those communities couldn't afford to keep up and the communal systems suffered. It is hard to get a good education when you don't have access to good schools, good teachers, etc. I think we have maybe not been good stewards of maintaining access to those means that allow for the pursuit of happiness and Liberty for all citizens?