It's Getting Better? 2- 2014
Fractured Fairytales of Liberation:
The Dual Income Household
Now ladies, don't take this the wrong way, what follows is strictly from an economic viewpoint.
Its an economic fact that after "women's liberation" and the mass entrance of the "fairer" sex into the work force, real wage level's were effectively kept in check by dilution of the labor pool.
Prior to the 70's, for the most part, women were mothers & homemakers and men brought home the bacon. In days gone by, Mom had time for shopping, preparing home cooked meals, educating and taking care of junior. Bare that in mind, as we will revisit this later.
Now, it's generally accepted that a family should not spend more than 30% of its income on housing.
As of 2003, 4.2 million working families spent more than 50% of their income on housing, up from 2.4 million in 1997.
Over the period, the number of low and middle income working families paying more than 50% of their income for housing has increased 76%.
As of 2012, 4.1 million working owner households still spent more than 50% of their income on housing costs. The percentage of household debt based on housing/mortgage costs is now 70%.
Now go back to Part I and have a gander at those 60's numbers again, and bare in mind that was with ONE wage earner vs. today's TWO wage earners, because in the end, we will revisit this as well.
The 3H Club - A Case in Social Control
"Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated Just get me to the airport put me on a plane Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain Oh no no no no no" - The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Today's working couples have precious little time for shopping, domesticity, wholesome home cooked meals or educating and tending to their brood's needs.
This has given rise to the service industry, daycare, lower education standards, processed/fast foods, poor dietary habits and higher divorce rates.
In addition, there has been an increased incidence of stress and dietary related health problems such as: obesity, dietary diabetes, stroke, heart attack, various cancers and mental neurosis.
What to do with the 3H (Harassed, Harangued and Harried) club? In the late 80's Starbuck's and Prozac were test marketed in Bagdad by the Bay of the Great Northwest (Seattle).
This grand social experiment was conducted to determine if a weather depressed populace could be emotionally satiated, motivated to higher productivity and kept under control, all at the same time.
The social control test was more successful than anyone could have imagined and National deployment soon followed. Prozac for the adults and Ridelin for the kiddies.
This was the turning point for the medical and pharmacological community and with the myriad of new stress related afflictions, has led to the birth of the boutique pharmacological industry.
Rather than find the root cause in an effort to heal, Doctors began treating symptoms with medications that masked the underlying problems. Don't worry, take a pill, everything will get better.
This has reduced our healthcare industry to nothing more than a pack of whorish pill pushers who live off of corporate controlled HMO stipends and their pimp pharmaceutical companies bonuses.
Sherman: Wow, since the 60's its become real easy to " be sedated".
Mr. Peabody: You could say that mother's "little helpers" have become mainstream.
More to come in It's Getting Better 3? or Back to the Future: A Tough Pill to Swallow?
Overhauled & Updated from 05/09/2005 for 2014.
It's Getting Better? 1 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 2 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 3 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 4 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 5- 2014
The Dual Income Household
Now ladies, don't take this the wrong way, what follows is strictly from an economic viewpoint.
Its an economic fact that after "women's liberation" and the mass entrance of the "fairer" sex into the work force, real wage level's were effectively kept in check by dilution of the labor pool.
Prior to the 70's, for the most part, women were mothers & homemakers and men brought home the bacon. In days gone by, Mom had time for shopping, preparing home cooked meals, educating and taking care of junior. Bare that in mind, as we will revisit this later.
Now, it's generally accepted that a family should not spend more than 30% of its income on housing.
As of 2003, 4.2 million working families spent more than 50% of their income on housing, up from 2.4 million in 1997.
Over the period, the number of low and middle income working families paying more than 50% of their income for housing has increased 76%.
As of 2012, 4.1 million working owner households still spent more than 50% of their income on housing costs. The percentage of household debt based on housing/mortgage costs is now 70%.
Now go back to Part I and have a gander at those 60's numbers again, and bare in mind that was with ONE wage earner vs. today's TWO wage earners, because in the end, we will revisit this as well.
The 3H Club - A Case in Social Control
"Twenty-twenty-twenty four hours to go I wanna be sedated Nothin' to do and no where to go-o-oh I wanna be sedated Just get me to the airport put me on a plane Hurry hurry hurry before I go insane I can't control my fingers I can't control my brain Oh no no no no no" - The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Today's working couples have precious little time for shopping, domesticity, wholesome home cooked meals or educating and tending to their brood's needs.
This has given rise to the service industry, daycare, lower education standards, processed/fast foods, poor dietary habits and higher divorce rates.
In addition, there has been an increased incidence of stress and dietary related health problems such as: obesity, dietary diabetes, stroke, heart attack, various cancers and mental neurosis.
What to do with the 3H (Harassed, Harangued and Harried) club? In the late 80's Starbuck's and Prozac were test marketed in Bagdad by the Bay of the Great Northwest (Seattle).
This grand social experiment was conducted to determine if a weather depressed populace could be emotionally satiated, motivated to higher productivity and kept under control, all at the same time.
The social control test was more successful than anyone could have imagined and National deployment soon followed. Prozac for the adults and Ridelin for the kiddies.
This was the turning point for the medical and pharmacological community and with the myriad of new stress related afflictions, has led to the birth of the boutique pharmacological industry.
Rather than find the root cause in an effort to heal, Doctors began treating symptoms with medications that masked the underlying problems. Don't worry, take a pill, everything will get better.
This has reduced our healthcare industry to nothing more than a pack of whorish pill pushers who live off of corporate controlled HMO stipends and their pimp pharmaceutical companies bonuses.
Sherman: Wow, since the 60's its become real easy to " be sedated".
Mr. Peabody: You could say that mother's "little helpers" have become mainstream.
More to come in It's Getting Better 3? or Back to the Future: A Tough Pill to Swallow?
Overhauled & Updated from 05/09/2005 for 2014.
It's Getting Better? 1 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 2 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 3 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 4 - 2014
It's Getting Better? 5- 2014
Comments
"...This has reduced our healthcare industry to nothing more than a pack of whorish pill pushers who live off of corporate controlled HMO stipends and their pimp pharmaceutical companies bonuses..."
I am MD myself but I comletely agree with this comment.That's why a lot of us (MDs I mean)who have more awaken conscience or scruples are going into a complementary, alternative medicine. Great blog Naybob! Keep up the good work.