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Paying the price for breakdown of the country's bourgeois culture
Philadephia Inquirer ^ | 9/8/17 | Amy Wax & Larry Alexander

Posted on 09/24/2017 3:45:02 AM PDT by Eleutheria5

Too few Americans are qualified for the jobs available. Male working-age labor-force participation is at Depression-era lows. Opioid abuse is widespread. Homicidal violence plagues inner cities. Almost half of all children are born out of wedlock, and even more are raised by single mothers. Many college students lack basic skills, and high school students rank below those from two dozen other countries.

The causes of these phenomena are multiple and complex, but implicated in these and other maladies is the breakdown of the country’s bourgeois culture.

That culture laid out the script we all were supposed to follow: Get married before you have children and strive to stay married for their sake. Get the education you need for gainful employment, work hard, and avoid idleness. Go the extra mile for your employer or client. Be a patriot, ready to serve the country. Be neighborly, civic-minded, and charitable. Avoid coarse language in public. Be respectful of authority. Eschew substance abuse and crime.

These basic cultural precepts reigned from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s. They could be followed by people of all backgrounds and abilities, especially when backed up by almost universal endorsement. Adherence was a major contributor to the productivity, educational gains, and social coherence of that period.

Did everyone abide by those precepts? Of course not. There are always rebels — and hypocrites....

Was everything perfect during the period of bourgeois cultural hegemony? Of course not. There was racial discrimination, limited sex roles, and pockets of anti-Semitism. However, steady improvements for women and minorities were underway even when bourgeois norms reigned. Banishing discrimination and expanding opportunity does not require the demise of bourgeois culture. Quite the opposite: The loss of bourgeois habits seriously impeded the progress of disadvantaged groups....

.....

(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Philosophy; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: 1950s; amywax; bourgeois; culture; culturewars; familyvalues; harriet; larryalexander; mores; ozzy; traditionalvalues; trends; values; worldview
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To: Eleutheria5

We’re supposed to believe that post-WW2 America was a scene of soul-crushing uniformity, misogyny, and racism. But I fail to see how today’s “liberated” society is any better.

As someone (Margaret Thatcher?) said, capitalism results in the uneven distribution of wealth. Socialism results in the even distribution of misery.


21 posted on 09/24/2017 6:37:18 AM PDT by IronJack (sh)
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To: ExGeeEye

That’s the British spelling ...


22 posted on 09/24/2017 6:38:17 AM PDT by IronJack (sh)
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To: Eleutheria5
Too few Americans are qualified for the jobs available At the wages being offered.

Wage stagnation and unbridled immigration have destroyed the working/middle class.

23 posted on 09/24/2017 6:42:56 AM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: Blue Jays

That’s hugh


24 posted on 09/24/2017 6:43:22 AM PDT by Karoo
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To: American in Israel

Christianity is being attacked world-wide. None of us should be surprised by the attack. Satan has always been attacking Christianity. It’s just that there are so many of Satan’s soldiers at work, and the instant media keeps us informed of Satan’s progress.


25 posted on 09/24/2017 6:48:03 AM PDT by abclily
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To: IronJack

Rock n Roll, pomo beatnik poetry, and beatniks all came into being in the ‘50s. So did beebop and cool jazz. Even the civil rights movement started in the ‘50s. Today’s “liberated” society is much more uniform, because now there are thugs threatening any dissenters. In the ‘50s you had Joe McCarthy, but he mostly messed with movie stars, government officials, and writers. Now it’s exactly those types that are looking on and smiling while anti-fa assaults even old men and little girls in MAGA hats.


26 posted on 09/24/2017 7:24:10 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: raybbr

cofveve is believed to cause cnacer.


27 posted on 09/24/2017 7:28:40 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (“If you are not prepared to use force to defend civilization, then be prepared to accept barbarism.)
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To: iontheball

“The country is like a drunkard who will not stop abusing himself until he finally crashes, hits bottom, and finally reforms or he takes the weak willed route and allows his addiction to kill him. Yes, this country could reform, but does it have the will to do so?”

Beautifully stated and absolutely true. Applies to the whole Western Hemisphere. A suicide march.


28 posted on 09/24/2017 8:17:35 AM PDT by NYAmerican
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To: IronJack

Perhaps the best tv show to feature this was the original Twilight Zone.


29 posted on 09/24/2017 11:23:39 AM PDT by pabianice (LINE)
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To: Taxman

Self ping.


30 posted on 09/24/2017 9:11:24 PM PDT by Taxman (Replace the income tax with the FAIRtax and abolish the IRS!)
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To: Eleutheria5

bump


31 posted on 09/24/2017 11:38:43 PM PDT by Az Joe (Gloria in excelsis Deo)
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To: Vaquero

What happens right after that scene in the movie, made me laugh again this morning!


32 posted on 09/25/2017 7:42:10 AM PDT by thirst4truth (America, What difference does it make?)
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