I have long argued (mostly with my wife) that the women’s movement is primarily responsible for the decline in America.  Women’s rights are great, I wouldn’t change that, but with most women now in the workplace the American quality of life has eroded.  Huh?  Sounds a little sexiest doesn’t it?  It is but let me attempt to illustrate what I am referring to here.  What have we as a society gained by having working mom’s in every business? 

As a nation we have seen the quality of our schools decrease as they have had to take on more of a role in raising the students.  Our children today are not getting the attention from their family they need because the parents are too involved with work.  Divorce rates have soared without the stability of the traditional family roles. We have seen household incomes increase two fold which at first was great but now has driven up costs across the board almost making it mandatory to have two wage earners in the family.  Obesity in America has skyrocket because we have become dependent on fast food to make up for the lack of cooking from the woman in the house.  Our politician’s tell us we need immigrant labor to make up for a shortage in the workplace.  A shortage that wouldn’t exist if women weren’t given the right to murder their own children. 

Anyway, now that I have exposed myself as a chauvinistic pig, here is an interesting and somewhat related article on the budget crisis in middle income families: From MSNBC.com Life is harder now, some experts say:

Shopping malls are packed every weekend. Restaurants can’t open fast enough. Everyone seems to be wearing designer shoes, jackets and jeans and sipping $4 lattes. Credit card commercials constantly advocate splurging and, it seems, U.S. consumers are all too ready to comply.

So what’s the problem? Why do so many middle class Americans with so much stuff say they feel so squeezed? If they are dogged by debt, isn?t it their own fault?

Perhaps, some experts say, things are not as they appear.