Men and Women

Gender roles have been changing steadily over the course of the last 100 years, and I think we may have done a little more harm than good. Women, in their struggle for equal rights, have missed certain essential truths about raising a family, and men, without realizing what harm it would do, decided that with both parents working there would be more money to take care of the family, which in America, is all you need, right? Everything that a family needs can be bought and paid for, house-cleaning services, nannies, day care, schools, and sports coaching. What cannot be replaced is the constant presence of a parent. Part of that comes from our economy. It's barely possible to raise a family when both parents are working, let alone only one. Part of it comes from our refusal to demand he right to spend time with our families. It's done well in nearly every industrialized country but ours. Many of our social problems come from the absence of parents in a child's life. Does this mean women should give back their rights? HELL, NO! They need to demand more equal partnerships, with men actually picking up half of the work, especially now that many women are making at least half of a family's money. And we all need to spend more time with our children, regardless of money or gender.

I'm a Geek, and Proud of It!

America's high school students are starting to realize that life is not about what you wear and what you watch, but what you do. The nerds are starting to realize that they are not alone. Finally, the band geeks, the science nerds, the orchestra dorks, and other academically inclined groups are banding together in recognition of the fact that they like school, they enjoy learning, and they are proud of it! It's a great trend and I hope it continues. I see a lot of Americans placing importance on things that matter little in the general scheme of things. Far too little focus is placed on excellence in academic areas, art, and music. In fact, as we are seeing, children have been ostracized for being interested in those things. If we want to change the way we look at education, we need to change the way we treat the people who are interested in learning.

Maybe We Should Learn Chinese

This article brings up a good point, American schools are lacking in cultural education. It's not just Chinese culture that our students are missing out on. The world has expanded. We can easily have contact with people of all cultures through the use of the Internet, phones, and even airplanes. We are severely behind in language education. A majority of Americans still speak only one language. An embarrassingly low number of Americans have passports and use them to travel often. Our knowledge of our own geography, let alone world geography, is reprehensible. We need to teach our children about the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and South America. We need to expand our idea of the world and how to interact with it. It starts with education.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are interested in boycotting all things Chinese, go to http://chineseboycott.blogspot.com. I should mention that I disagree with American relations with China, and I used China as an example because it was what the article was based on. I do believe that Americans have a limited view of the world, and the only way to remedy that it through study and travel.

Health Care Headaches

I've spent most of today in the University of Pennsylvania hospital waiting for my sister to be called into surgery. It has given me a troubling look at the health care system in our country and the people who rely on it. My sister has had to rely on the health care system since she was born with Tetrollogy of Fallot. When she turned 21, my parents had to petition their insurance company to keep her on because she cannot care for herself. She must rely partially on Social Security for income and health care. They have fought us tooth and nail on her open-heart surgery, and we were delayed hours today because they hadn't cleared her. It is now nearly five, we've been here since early this morning, and they have just taken her into the operating room. It took us all day to make sure the surgery was covered, and now we have to start working on her recovery. I'm tired, frustrated, haven't eaten in two days, and I could really use some help from my government.