And they wonder why folks want to "take a dump" on Washington, DC.
mitch
http://www.newnation.com/ New Nation News
Word. When my wallet was stolen and I had to go to the SS office to
get a
new card, I was absolutely dumbstruck by what I saw in the waiting
room. I
was the only person speaking English and the only woman there with no
children. My Spanish is a bit rusty (haven't lived abroad since the
1980s),
but I was able to figure out that most of the people waiting were
never
employed, possibly undocumented, but were receiving all sorts of
bennies.
It was apparent that most of them spoke no English at all. Note that I
live
in rural upstate NY, not a city. Outside of the SS office I have never
heard
anyone speaking anything other than English. That includes people
working at
local gas station quik e marts, stores, and the Thruway rest stop. Of
course, that includes only people who work, not those who stay home
and pump
out babies as their chosen "profession". Once again, "your tax dollars
at
work".
In a sense, yes. Americans are not reproducing enough to maintain the
population demographics that our economy has always relied on (though
they are unsustainable in the long run - the population can't grow
forever). Increasingly, we want to have careers instead of kids and
spend all the income on ourselves. But that doesn't work. We need a
next generation to mow our lawns, harvest our crops, flip hamburgers,
and support us in old age. Social security reduced the personal
incentive to have kids as a retirement investment, for better or worse.
So here we are, outsourcing childbearing and childrearing to people who
will do it cheaper, just like picking fruit or laying tile. From an
evolutionary perspective it's surprising.