Fewer are married with children

Many demographers peg the rise of a class-based marriage gap to the
erosion since 1970 of the broad-based economic prosperity that
followed World War II.

This is what I've been saying to people for years . People who don't remember the 1960s are blessed in that those of us who do realize the CATASTROPHIC decline in
living standards for the masses of Americans which has occurred. Even
in a relatively rural area such as this one (I wish it were still as
rural as it was then; now it's almost suburban Longview), guys just
out of high school could get 'good jobs at good incomes,' as the
mantra of some past presidential campaign used to go.

I found an old column while cleaning my office the other day from 1993. I wrote about
this phenomenon nearly 14 years ago. It was very mean-spirited toward
single moms. Had I been more merciful, I would not have written that.
Women ARE going to bear children, single or not. I still have to admit
that the presence of other men's children in households DID turn me
off at that time in my life and caused me not to even try to "date"
women I otherwise might have been attracted to. Honestly, the older I
get, the less I care about "relationships" and "relating" period. It is a "game" and I've never been good at gamesmanship. I'd rather get a good night's sleep.

Call me a pessimist, but I don't foresee a nation of particularly
"happy campers" as the rich-poor class-based divide/chasm continues to
increase in its yawning gap. This is one of the definitions of a Third
World country. And, even if I were in the $300K-a-year household, I
would feel very uncomfortable (almost as if I were destined to become
Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution) living in this country.
There are lots of peasants with pitchforks (and guns) and their
patience is rather limited.

This is why the wealthy are segregating behind gated communities. The
"terrorism" excuse also provided a means to impose the police state
through the Patriot Act. This wasn't meant for "terrorists" per se,
unless you count the destitute masses as a potential source of fear
and terror for the gated communities.

All this relates to John Edwards in a way because he has spoken of the
'two different Americas.' I can't find any sign he's coming to Texas
in the next few weeks, though. I'd like to go see him if he were.

Actually, he IS going to be in San Antonio on Wednesday night.