Death of society

A lot has been said about the reasons for the decline of American society. Crime is up, divorce is way up, drug use is super way up, and violence is up - compared to say 50 or 60 years ago.

Now why is this the case? People have blamed many things for all this, from television to pot smoking hippies in the 60s, from not going to church to rap music, and even on more recent issues such as gay marriage. My opinion is that all of the above are not causes, they are symptoms.

Before WWII, people really did not have a whole lot of stuff. There were manufactured goods and automobiles and stuff, but not on the scale we have today. Not even close. American business was using companies like Ford as a model. This is important because Henry Ford had a simple and brilliant idea. Pay people enough so that they could all afford to buy the things they were making. Workers were valued for their experience and skill, and the company tried to hold onto them. Life was mostly stable.

Then came WWII. America was looking at two REAL threats to national security, Imperial Japan in the Pacific, and the Nazis in Europe. So the industrial might of America went into high gear. The government ordered as much war material as it possibly could. Entire factories were built just to make guns and tanks. Other factories were re-tooled. IBM, who at the time made mechanical typewriters, made guns (I know this because I want to get one – it will go with my International Harvester M1 Garand rifle). The US wartime production that was untouchable by enemy bombs won the war on both fronts.

When the war was over, a whole new problem was discovered. What should be done with all those factories? With every single American soldier wanting to get back to normal life, and with Europe still in ruins, the answer was clear. Re-tool all the factories in America to make stuff.

So now we are in the late 40s early 50s. American factories are cranking out all sorts of gizmos that people did not have access to before the war. Electric can openers, automatic dish washers, an explosion in the automobile industry, television - you name it. Also came the rise of the Soviet Union and "the bomb". We had it, and the Russians had it. But the Russians did not have electric can openers - so therefore we were better than them.

Television ads from this time clearly show the ideal home. The husband works, the wife stays at home and takes are of the house. The family lives in the suburbs, with only one car which the man uses to get to work. But it is not all work for the wife! Not with a house full of time saving gadgets and gizmos! Why, housework had never been easier!

The only problem was that 5 years before, that same woman WAS the factory worker while the men were off killing each other in some awful bloody war. Many of the veterans had to be suffering in silence from some kind of post war stress disorder, and the women were not exactly all that willing to be the housewife anymore. But you would not know that from the television ads of the time!

It is also important to point out that American business was at the time using the General Motors business model, which was the same as Ford's. Pay your employees enough so that they could afford to buy the crap you are selling. General Motors took that one step further, by having a very good benefits package including a wonderful pension plan. People could expect to work for only one company for their entire career. Company loyalty and pride in workmanship was common place among employees.

At some point, all this fell apart. Companies still tried to sell you the idea that products make your life better and bring you happiness, but top level managers wanted to get more milk from the cow. So companies began to shun the General Motors business model, and form something else. Why hire full time employees when you can hire part time people and not have to give them benefits? Automate your factory, so that human skill is not as important. Pay people less, or pay the same and raise your prices. And so on.

At the same time, other aspects of society were changing. Civil Rights and the Women's Liberation movement were here. Black people, who had been long oppressed in America, suddenly decided to get pissed off about it. Women demanded access to the workplace. The traditional "white man in charge of everything" model was under attack.

After all that dust settled (if you can call it settled, there is still a disparity between what black people earn VS what white people earn, but that is a whole other issue), we found ourselves in the late 70s early 80s and on to today. Success is measured in how much crap you have. It is measured by what car you drive. It is measured by the clothes you wear.

The problem is that the car that says "I am not a total loser" is not the Ford Escort, it is something that is in the $30,000 class. And that is only an entry level not-a-looser car! To really be cool, look at spending at least $40,000 or more. The clothes that say "I have made it" are designer threads that you can only buy at an overpriced hip store at the mall. The cool shoes will cost you at least $200 per pair, maybe more.

Affording all this stuff on one salary became almost impossible. How could one middle class income buy two BMWs? It can't, but two might! More and more families became dual income houses, just so that people could afford all the things that "success" brings. The single income families that never bought new cars and did not dress in designer clothes were losers.

With two jobs, other problems became apparent. For one, it brought a lot of stress. Who would take care of the kids? Who was going to fix dinner? Who was going to clean all the crap in the house? Not the man - that’s not men’s work! And not the woman, she worked the same 40 hours a week as the man.

Another problem was when was family time? It was possible for the husband and wife to have different days off, and even different shifts. In many cases, it was hard to have a vacation because time off could not be coordinated. Also, who can afford a vacation when you have the luxury car payments, mortgage for the big house, leather furniture bill, and kid expenses to pay off?

People found that no matter what crap they owned, they were still unhappy. So they would get a divorce, thinking it was the other person that made them miserable. Families were torn apart. Television raised children. Parents would make up for not being there by buying stuff for their kids. Kids were at home with no adults around, so they could smoke pot in the backyard. And so on.

I believe that CONSUMERISM killed America. Our lust for crap is the death of us all. The quest for lowering cost has forced many companies offshore. No longer do people think that they will work for the same company for 30 years. Life is more uncertain, which causes more stress. And all this so we can have 50 choices of what car to drive, and electric can openers for $10 at Wal-Mart.