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Laura Perrins: Working class men turn their backs on work
The Conservative Woman ^ | 22nd August 2016 | Laura Perrins

Posted on 08/25/2016 5:04:25 PM PDT by annalex

Laura Perrins: Working class men turn their backs on work

Laura Perrins By  Laura Perrins

Something strange is going on with the working class men of America. Many in this class of men are no longer working, and it is not for the lack of jobs.

As Charles Murray explains in White America – while upper middle class men (and their wives) work more and more, working-class men work less and less to such and extent that we must insert those quotes – the working class man, is now the ‘working’ class man. This phenomenon has caught the attention of the White House and is said to have caused the rise of Donald Trump.

Both Murray and similar accounts confirm that although the collapse in traditional working class jobs is partly to blame, it is the collapse in working class culture that has driven this change.

In fact, an incredible ‘7 million American men between the ages of 25 and 54 are neither working nor looking for work. That amounts to 12 per cent of all men in those prime working ages – and that doesn’t count another 2 million who are looking for work but haven’t found it.’

These numbers are staggering and have commentators from Left to Right in a flap. In fact, “participation among prime-age men peaked in 1954, declined only slightly until the mid-1960s, and then began to decline in earnest in the decade between 1965 and 1975. Since then, participation has fallen persistently, with sharper declines in recessionary periods that were not fully reversed in the subsequent expansions,” according to this official White House report.

So it seems just as women were liberating themselves from the prison of the home, working class men have liberated themselves from work. Perhaps unsurprisingly one liberation – that of women – has been celebrated, but the other is causing panic.

Ah, but my feminist sisters say, these men are just the new modern man. They are taking over childcare and home duties while their partners go to work. That was our grand plan it is all coming to fruition. Not quite.

Instead, these men are having a bit of ‘me’ time. “They’re not spending any more time on child care or chores.” Instead these men spend up to 10.5 hours a day on media in all its form. They are playing Grand Theft Auto is what they are doing.

This commentator views this as an ominous sign, “the time and money these activities rob from relationships, work, and savings can hardly be overestimated.”

What has caused this collapse in work ethic in the ‘working’ class man – it cannot be solely the draw of the gaming experience? What, now remind me again, happened between 1965-1975 in the US? Ah yes that was second wave feminism telling men how they were ‘tying women to the kitchen sink’ while the husbands enjoyed the life of Riley outside it (The Feminine Mystique was published in 1963).

And the husbands were having a great time in the working world, were they are not? Here, Jack Arnold the patriarchal father in the classic Wonder Years, explains the fabulousness of it all to his son. “I get up at five in morning. I fight traffic; I bust my hump all day. I fight traffic again and then I come home. And then I pay my taxes. The end.” And Jack was middle-class - so you can just imagine what it was like for the working class man.

So should we really be surprised that the ‘working’ class man says, you know, thanks – but no thanks. What with welfare, he can just about make it through and no longer needs the often spirit crushing job he had to support his family.

Because this is something the feminists never thought through – men can opt-out and survive. They will not thrive, and I think ultimately it is at great personal loss to themselves and others, but if they don’t like the family and work deal offered, they’ll just opt-out of both. They will not organise, they will not take to Twitter they will just ‘socially withdraw.’

The truth is since the 1960s the working class man has not only seen his economic prospects hit, but more fundamentally his position in society has been trashed. The status he had as ‘head of the family’ no matter how menial and meaningless the job was on its own, had meaning and dignity as it sustained a family.

But this status has been gradually eroded over the decades, first by the feminists, who poured scorn on the husband who provides, then by the welfare state who said we can do this job better than you, and finally by the liberals who said fathers were surplus to requirements.

All of this spells disaster of course for the working class woman who is left scratching a living in low-paid jobs and welfare while holding the baby. This will cause the elite with their married dual career parents to pull further away, while the children of lone mothers fall further behind. And the liberals will continue to decry this ‘inequality’ without ever grasping the fact that they caused it.

 


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: workingclass
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To: UnBubba

Letting Electricians know they messed up is an event I hate.

If they don’t follow code they just cost their company one more time.

I start-up the power for the IT department through my UPS and we don’t play. If it is f-d up. I identify it and leave.

No mechanicals and entire pressure. No games. I check. Better have that roll correct as well.


61 posted on 08/25/2016 9:20:24 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: kearnyirish2

Too bad because feminist lesbians really wanted to replace men. That’s what much of this PC stuff is all about. It’s the reason for gay marriage and diversity. It’s not about fairness. It’s about replacement.


62 posted on 08/25/2016 9:21:33 PM PDT by Crucial
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To: UnBubba

I had one that crossed phase A to ground on the output.

That would have been fun. It was caught.


63 posted on 08/25/2016 9:24:27 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: tbw2

Low skill whites are more at risk than blacks. You can deny government benefits to whites all day and no one will blink an eye. Minorities however, are feared for the negative publicity.

Also, the laws are not designed to uplift whites in any way. There’s no affirmative action for whites. There is a social stigma to being a white male as well, particularly one with any pride or concrete opinions.

Just my objective observations...


64 posted on 08/25/2016 9:27:29 PM PDT by Crucial
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To: The Working Man

I think feminist lesbians meant to replace men all along. If the head lesbian Hillary gets her way, that process will be complete. Sexual harassment laws, discrimination laws, gay marriage are all part of this replacement plan all for status and power.


65 posted on 08/25/2016 9:31:52 PM PDT by Crucial
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To: eyedigress

Phase to ground voltage: 4,800(8304)and 14.4(24,912). Except Delta.


66 posted on 08/25/2016 9:34:08 PM PDT by UnBubba
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To: UnBubba

Mine would have been 208 blowing up a bunch of PDU’s.


67 posted on 08/25/2016 9:36:48 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: Paladin2

“ALL of my time is my own. Free at Last...”

4 more years........


68 posted on 08/25/2016 9:38:00 PM PDT by READINABLUESTATE ("If guns cause crime, there must be something wrong with mine." -Ted Nugent)
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To: UnBubba

Critical UPS’s are One Million Watts.


69 posted on 08/25/2016 9:38:29 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: UnBubba

I service these online. I do not walk into medium voltage.

I deal with the UPS alone. They must rack out the low before I get near it.


70 posted on 08/25/2016 9:45:38 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: annalex

Men are disinclined to work hard if they can’t secure a wife and family. It’s a common way civilizations die.


71 posted on 08/25/2016 9:53:29 PM PDT by RedWulf (Trump:Front Lines. Obama: Back Nine. Hillary:Nap Time.)
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To: RedWulf
Men are disinclined to work hard if they can’t secure a wife and family. It’s a common way civilizations die.



Really? No inclination if the bitches are all drugged up?

72 posted on 08/25/2016 10:01:48 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: UnBubba

I understand TX start-ups. If your the guy in a helicopter just say so.


73 posted on 08/25/2016 10:06:01 PM PDT by eyedigress ((Old storm chaser from the west))
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To: Crucial

I work with women like that, and with each passing year they hate “playing man” more and more. At this point they work the bare minimum, happy to delegate work to men while keeping titles and salaries. I simply imitate them - I’m always the second person out the door each day.


74 posted on 08/26/2016 3:04:46 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: Crucial

At this point even skilled whites are retreating into their own bubbles; they see no point in carrying everyone else. One of these feminist pitches to put women in high positions is called something like “lean in” (meaning get more involved in your workplace/career); it doesn’t work because many aren’t looking to increase their workloads. In the meantime, I’m “leaning back”...


75 posted on 08/26/2016 3:08:06 AM PDT by kearnyirish2 (Affirmative action is economic warfare against white males (and therefore white families).)
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To: annalex

This is what welfare and other handouts cause. It is extremely common to run into these loser, uneducated, welfare bum males. And I fully resent funding their lifestyle of playing games all day, which I would love to do myself if I was immoral enough to leech off others like they do. The welfare state has to be cut off. Or try some simple, common-sense reforms like requiring anyone collecting to do community service time.


76 posted on 08/26/2016 3:09:57 AM PDT by JediJones (Social conservatism is the root of all conservatism.)
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To: JohnnyP

And the “g” stands for......walter


77 posted on 08/26/2016 3:15:42 AM PDT by Palio di Siena
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To: Palio di Siena

I had to look it up:

Maynard’s middle name is Walter, named for his aunt. The “G” is silent, he would explain.


78 posted on 08/26/2016 3:46:44 AM PDT by JohnnyP (A minuscule percent of donations are distributed as aid.)
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To: Paladin2
I got retired. Now I spend ZERO minutes of my of my life working for Hussein. ALL of my time is my own. Free at Last...

Good for you! Coming up on 2 years in retirement this November and it's still highly recommended. Every day is a Saturday unless you have an appointment and then the rest of that day becomes Saturday.

Easy to stay busy enough to wonder where you had time to work.

Enjoy...

79 posted on 08/26/2016 4:24:18 AM PDT by trebb (Where in the the hell has my country gone?)
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To: dsrtsage

So, what is wrong with the term?


80 posted on 08/26/2016 4:39:23 AM PDT by annalex (fear them not)
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