I met Paul Ehrlich about a decade ago on a nature walk.
I told him I watched him espousing his “Population Bomb” ideas on the Johnny Carson Show in the late 1960s. He liked that.
I also told him that my “favorite Paul Ehrlich” was the German immunologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) who won a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research that led to a practical cure for syphillis. He didn’t like that, and broke off the conversation!
I have a friend—well, haven’t seen him in years now, but I know from social media he hasn’t changed—who worked with Ehrlich in grad school and still worships him. That’s a head-scratcher. He’s a big-time environmentalist, has brought up his two girls as environmentalists, so I’m afraid the nagging will continue.
My wife and I have 3 children which, we discovered, meant that when #3 arrived, we were outnumbered. Happily, this did not turn out to be a problem and all these years later I think having 4 or 5 or 6 would have been even better.
There was never, it seemed, a financial burden until....until college time arrived. I spent all I had so that my children would be graduated without any school-loan debt. But the cost of a 4 year college today is quite criminal, certainly worsened by the intervention of the Federal Gummit into the equation.
It is so bad that I think the trend will eventually show that only 10% go to- and complete- a 4-year college just as it was when I was young.
Fortunately, plumbers and electricians and automobile mechanics cannot be out-sourced or A-I'ed. I think the young today are realizing that, and that the days of a 40 year run with GE or IBM or TI are long-gone.
"Things that can't go on forever don't." to paraphrase a young Law Perfesser...
Wow, you sure I didn't write this? One out of college, twins on third base. No student loan debt - that was my promise to them (so long as they had a marketable degree that taught them how to critically THINK). Also, I told them that even Elon Musk needs a plumber or HVAC person. Thanks Eric for pointing out the light at the end of the tunnel - maybe I can retire in 5 years; at 70! It is a "ride" well-worth it.
I met Harrison Butker at a meeting in Kansas City last summer. He was interviewed by the editor of First Things, (the magazine of religion and public life) about his faith and its impact on his life. His responses were intelligent and clear. He and his wife have three children.
By the way, he outscored the rest of the Chiefs in their Super Bowl win this year.
Catholics, orthodox Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals and plain old folks have been saying what The kicker said for a thousand years. Whoever the white chick is who runs the perpetual outrage machine should cool it and maybe consider settling down with a nice blue haired guy and having a bunch of confused kids. It must be exhausting to be her.
One area where I think society has failed is in the support of stay at home dads. It doesn't have to be mom! But stay at home dads don't have the support networks that stay at home moms do.
In my case it was a partnership. My hubby always had a job not a career and I readjusted my career aspirations to be more available to my family. My kids still tease me about how much more money we would have had if i had stayed on the career track. Not working wasn't an option since I was the primary breadwinner even after dropping from the fast track. But hubby wasn't comfortable quitting work entirely although he did retire early and was a full-time dad during the teen years. Before that hubby and I worked for the same employer and were blessed to negotiate a schedule that had one of us at home every afternoon.
To be honest I don't think I would have been a good stay at home mom. And if hubby had stayed home sooner I probably would have had a more lucrative career. But I'm happy with the way our split worked out. Our kids are productive adults and our family is close. I think the key is making the family the priority.
I wonder where trad women hang out? My post-college sons have been busy getting "established" and are now looking. All I could advise was the religious community, as you noted.
Have them start a supper club devoted to any subject hiking, astronomy, bikes, comedy, movies, ANYTHING. Advertise it on the supermarket and/or church bill board and "Bob's your uncle". My nephew started a MATH (if you can believe it) supper club and met a nice girl. Very little math gets done I'm sure. The brat stole my idea and claims it was his. But whatever it worked.
And yet, as always, many of the leftish persuasion cling to the old Erlich/Malthus “too many people” narrative. Just as they think nonracial progress has been made in 75 years, or that “climate change” is caused by CO2, despite decades of failed projections based on junk models. It’s one of the reasons I call them Regressives: always living in the past: Marxism, railroads, rule by an accountable elite, defining individuals by race. All problems and/or solutions from the past. “Progressives” against progress. Dark anti- human haters always in psychological need of an impending apocalypse caused by someone else’s sins. Capitalists, “breeders,” lovers of life, choice and freedom: sinners all to the brooding Regressives.
I am reminded again of the great Calvin Coolidge speech: All men are created equal is FINAL. Any claim that goes beyond that is regression, not progress.
It could make an immense difference if so many men were not uninvolved jerks when it comes to actually being a FAMILY. We **all** work together to get it done -- meals, nappies, laundry, cleaning, maintenance, cooking, dishes ... you name it. You can't just come home from work, complain about how tired you are.
There were days I'd come in from 8 hours working the fields, before my *lunch*. Doing some laundry, then playing quietly with our preschooler in the basement whilst mother took a nap, was a joy and a privilege to serve those I love. Then harvest 3 tons of cucumbers and 4 tons of zucchini, washed, graded and packed just before darkness fell. Into the house, wash myself off in about 3 minutes, grab a bite and a beer, then bedtime for the little one. Wonderful. Then wash the dishes, by hand, which was relaxing and kept my hands thouroughly clean.
Tumble into bed, wonderfully tired, and profoundly joyful, then to begin anew, 6 hours later. Usually I'd hit 40 hours by Wednesday morning. We farmers hope and pray for rain, not just for the crops, but for a quiet day of office work ... which the jerks somehow find so "tiring" they cannot be real husbands or fathers.
Mine was not, however, a happy outcome. Nothing was ever good enough for my wife. And she could not deal with a growing girl's independence and spunk. She turned violently abusive against both the child and me. I've been a single father for almost 5 years, my daughter is now 13, and the two of us together run a wonderfully collaborative home. I suspect it will be a very important criterion for her eventual choice of a husband. And she already thinks about having many children, like lots of our friends have ... and, yes, all families of faith, christians and jews alike.
IMO Government policies created the problem. Confiscatory taxes and inflation created the situation in which one paycheck simply was not enough. Also, the Republic was founded on Judeo Christian values, not Judeo-Christian Muslim values. Not sure where you find moderate Muslims but if you believe the president of Turkey, there are none, "Islam is Islam."
Thank you for a thoughtful post. Everybody else is freaking out! Interesting response to a speech at a conservative Catholic college, a real Catholic college, by the left. Are they so insecure in their beliefs that a contrary speech can set them off?
I don't even go to church but Biden makes me ill with his phony religious performances. And yes, we need to talk to young women about marriage because their fight for parity in college is over--they won. So get on with your other, private vocation, ladies. Found a family; it's just as worthwhile as founding a company.
You are absolutely correct about the importance of ‘founding’ a family. Unfortunately, society devalues it because it has is common and can be accomplished by parents who are completely unqualified for the job.
This is not new, but it has been accelerated by the factors described by Professor Reynolds.
Shortly after we started regularly reading "Instapundit" my wife and I committed to having children (more specifically, at a lunch date on 9/11/2001). We now have two "children" at University. I do not believe this is just coincidence. Thank you for your continued creativity and generous sharing of your genius.
If the Tik Tok statistics are to be believed, "trad wife" "trad girlfriend" and "soft life" are some of the biggest trends. All of which are about women rediscovering the joys of being full time homemakers and, in the case of trad wives, mothers. So yeah, the pendulum is slowly swinging back.
Tech advancements may blunt the impact of this as low skilled jobs are eliminated. Kiosks at restaurants, for example. Which means countries with meaningful #s of low skilled immigrants will get left behind as those me arrivals cant find jobs and put pressure on social welfare programs.
The problem I see is that those low level jobs were entry points that got young people used to the discipline and effort involved. And the rewards. Too many kids grow up not knowing the satisfaction of earning what they take.
Agree. That is a problem. Though in "diverse" metro areas, I see few young people doing those entry level jobs anymore. It's all illegals and unskilled adult immigrants.
I met Paul Ehrlich about a decade ago on a nature walk.
I told him I watched him espousing his “Population Bomb” ideas on the Johnny Carson Show in the late 1960s. He liked that.
I also told him that my “favorite Paul Ehrlich” was the German immunologist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915) who won a Nobel Prize for his groundbreaking research that led to a practical cure for syphillis. He didn’t like that, and broke off the conversation!
I have a friend—well, haven’t seen him in years now, but I know from social media he hasn’t changed—who worked with Ehrlich in grad school and still worships him. That’s a head-scratcher. He’s a big-time environmentalist, has brought up his two girls as environmentalists, so I’m afraid the nagging will continue.
Another fine piece Perfesser...
My wife and I have 3 children which, we discovered, meant that when #3 arrived, we were outnumbered. Happily, this did not turn out to be a problem and all these years later I think having 4 or 5 or 6 would have been even better.
There was never, it seemed, a financial burden until....until college time arrived. I spent all I had so that my children would be graduated without any school-loan debt. But the cost of a 4 year college today is quite criminal, certainly worsened by the intervention of the Federal Gummit into the equation.
It is so bad that I think the trend will eventually show that only 10% go to- and complete- a 4-year college just as it was when I was young.
Fortunately, plumbers and electricians and automobile mechanics cannot be out-sourced or A-I'ed. I think the young today are realizing that, and that the days of a 40 year run with GE or IBM or TI are long-gone.
"Things that can't go on forever don't." to paraphrase a young Law Perfesser...
Wow, you sure I didn't write this? One out of college, twins on third base. No student loan debt - that was my promise to them (so long as they had a marketable degree that taught them how to critically THINK). Also, I told them that even Elon Musk needs a plumber or HVAC person. Thanks Eric for pointing out the light at the end of the tunnel - maybe I can retire in 5 years; at 70! It is a "ride" well-worth it.
Glenn, Thank you for this well-informed column.
I met Harrison Butker at a meeting in Kansas City last summer. He was interviewed by the editor of First Things, (the magazine of religion and public life) about his faith and its impact on his life. His responses were intelligent and clear. He and his wife have three children.
By the way, he outscored the rest of the Chiefs in their Super Bowl win this year.
Catholics, orthodox Jews, Muslims, Evangelicals and plain old folks have been saying what The kicker said for a thousand years. Whoever the white chick is who runs the perpetual outrage machine should cool it and maybe consider settling down with a nice blue haired guy and having a bunch of confused kids. It must be exhausting to be her.
One area where I think society has failed is in the support of stay at home dads. It doesn't have to be mom! But stay at home dads don't have the support networks that stay at home moms do.
In my case it was a partnership. My hubby always had a job not a career and I readjusted my career aspirations to be more available to my family. My kids still tease me about how much more money we would have had if i had stayed on the career track. Not working wasn't an option since I was the primary breadwinner even after dropping from the fast track. But hubby wasn't comfortable quitting work entirely although he did retire early and was a full-time dad during the teen years. Before that hubby and I worked for the same employer and were blessed to negotiate a schedule that had one of us at home every afternoon.
To be honest I don't think I would have been a good stay at home mom. And if hubby had stayed home sooner I probably would have had a more lucrative career. But I'm happy with the way our split worked out. Our kids are productive adults and our family is close. I think the key is making the family the priority.
I wonder where trad women hang out? My post-college sons have been busy getting "established" and are now looking. All I could advise was the religious community, as you noted.
Have them start a supper club devoted to any subject hiking, astronomy, bikes, comedy, movies, ANYTHING. Advertise it on the supermarket and/or church bill board and "Bob's your uncle". My nephew started a MATH (if you can believe it) supper club and met a nice girl. Very little math gets done I'm sure. The brat stole my idea and claims it was his. But whatever it worked.
I know a couple of young people date online sites. At least you know a little about the person.
And yet, as always, many of the leftish persuasion cling to the old Erlich/Malthus “too many people” narrative. Just as they think nonracial progress has been made in 75 years, or that “climate change” is caused by CO2, despite decades of failed projections based on junk models. It’s one of the reasons I call them Regressives: always living in the past: Marxism, railroads, rule by an accountable elite, defining individuals by race. All problems and/or solutions from the past. “Progressives” against progress. Dark anti- human haters always in psychological need of an impending apocalypse caused by someone else’s sins. Capitalists, “breeders,” lovers of life, choice and freedom: sinners all to the brooding Regressives.
I am reminded again of the great Calvin Coolidge speech: All men are created equal is FINAL. Any claim that goes beyond that is regression, not progress.
It could make an immense difference if so many men were not uninvolved jerks when it comes to actually being a FAMILY. We **all** work together to get it done -- meals, nappies, laundry, cleaning, maintenance, cooking, dishes ... you name it. You can't just come home from work, complain about how tired you are.
There were days I'd come in from 8 hours working the fields, before my *lunch*. Doing some laundry, then playing quietly with our preschooler in the basement whilst mother took a nap, was a joy and a privilege to serve those I love. Then harvest 3 tons of cucumbers and 4 tons of zucchini, washed, graded and packed just before darkness fell. Into the house, wash myself off in about 3 minutes, grab a bite and a beer, then bedtime for the little one. Wonderful. Then wash the dishes, by hand, which was relaxing and kept my hands thouroughly clean.
Tumble into bed, wonderfully tired, and profoundly joyful, then to begin anew, 6 hours later. Usually I'd hit 40 hours by Wednesday morning. We farmers hope and pray for rain, not just for the crops, but for a quiet day of office work ... which the jerks somehow find so "tiring" they cannot be real husbands or fathers.
Mine was not, however, a happy outcome. Nothing was ever good enough for my wife. And she could not deal with a growing girl's independence and spunk. She turned violently abusive against both the child and me. I've been a single father for almost 5 years, my daughter is now 13, and the two of us together run a wonderfully collaborative home. I suspect it will be a very important criterion for her eventual choice of a husband. And she already thinks about having many children, like lots of our friends have ... and, yes, all families of faith, christians and jews alike.
IMO Government policies created the problem. Confiscatory taxes and inflation created the situation in which one paycheck simply was not enough. Also, the Republic was founded on Judeo Christian values, not Judeo-Christian Muslim values. Not sure where you find moderate Muslims but if you believe the president of Turkey, there are none, "Islam is Islam."
Thank you for a thoughtful post. Everybody else is freaking out! Interesting response to a speech at a conservative Catholic college, a real Catholic college, by the left. Are they so insecure in their beliefs that a contrary speech can set them off?
I don't even go to church but Biden makes me ill with his phony religious performances. And yes, we need to talk to young women about marriage because their fight for parity in college is over--they won. So get on with your other, private vocation, ladies. Found a family; it's just as worthwhile as founding a company.
You are absolutely correct about the importance of ‘founding’ a family. Unfortunately, society devalues it because it has is common and can be accomplished by parents who are completely unqualified for the job.
This is not new, but it has been accelerated by the factors described by Professor Reynolds.
In the '50s, ours was a small family since it only included 3 kids.
Shortly after we started regularly reading "Instapundit" my wife and I committed to having children (more specifically, at a lunch date on 9/11/2001). We now have two "children" at University. I do not believe this is just coincidence. Thank you for your continued creativity and generous sharing of your genius.
If the Tik Tok statistics are to be believed, "trad wife" "trad girlfriend" and "soft life" are some of the biggest trends. All of which are about women rediscovering the joys of being full time homemakers and, in the case of trad wives, mothers. So yeah, the pendulum is slowly swinging back.
“The wider world, however, was not so appreciative.”
That would be because the Leftist mind occupies only a very narrow enclave of the “wider world”.
The wider world seems to have decided they have to have a Harrison Butker jersey.
Julian Simon crushed Paul Erlich. Unfortunately, the bureaucracies of almost every Western government incorporate Paul Erlich into policy.
Tech advancements may blunt the impact of this as low skilled jobs are eliminated. Kiosks at restaurants, for example. Which means countries with meaningful #s of low skilled immigrants will get left behind as those me arrivals cant find jobs and put pressure on social welfare programs.
The problem I see is that those low level jobs were entry points that got young people used to the discipline and effort involved. And the rewards. Too many kids grow up not knowing the satisfaction of earning what they take.
Agree. That is a problem. Though in "diverse" metro areas, I see few young people doing those entry level jobs anymore. It's all illegals and unskilled adult immigrants.
Good point. I fortunately live in a rural area so I haven’t seen as much of that.