Lost Arts
There are many lost arts in human history. I am told that flint makes excellent scalpels. However, there can't be but a handful of people who know how. Not that flint scalpels are missed all that much, but it's an interesting bit of trivia.
Other lost arts have more serious consequences. For instance ,the lost art of nurturing.
Traditionally, nurturing was the specialty of the female half of the race- not that males don't participate, but many women really have the touch. The problem is that our consumer society has decided that cash is the measure of all things. The person who makes the most money in the least time is the winner. No cash, no life. We are presented with a load of high-cost "necessities" that weren't even invented 40 years ago; carrying this burden is too much for one wage-earner in a family. Besides, as women's libbers have pointed out, the only things worth doing are the things men do (think about it- you'll see what I mean). So, no one is doing the things women used to do.
Here in Japan, young parents have begun to complain that the schools aren't teaching their children to behave. Were you to suggest that is the parent's responsibility, they would probably say they were too busy, and anyway, what are they paying teachers for? We are now well into the second generation of families with very little interaction. These young parents have no model for nurturing, and very little encouragement to be nurturers.
There are disturbing signs of alienation all around us. I think of that every time I go shopping and see the tiny portions and tiny utensils designed for people living alone. The lifelong shortage of human interaction makes it difficult for people to live together.
Nurturing children is a process. It spans 18 or more years, and goes on at a less intense level for a lifetime. It takes up a lot of your time. And, what do you have to show for it? Not cash. No, unless you have a different set of values from society's mainstream, you won't bother. But, as someone has pointed out, no one on their deathbed ever says "I wish I had spent more time at the office."
So, here's your life; you've got one shot at it. Choose your values carefully.
Other lost arts have more serious consequences. For instance ,the lost art of nurturing.
Traditionally, nurturing was the specialty of the female half of the race- not that males don't participate, but many women really have the touch. The problem is that our consumer society has decided that cash is the measure of all things. The person who makes the most money in the least time is the winner. No cash, no life. We are presented with a load of high-cost "necessities" that weren't even invented 40 years ago; carrying this burden is too much for one wage-earner in a family. Besides, as women's libbers have pointed out, the only things worth doing are the things men do (think about it- you'll see what I mean). So, no one is doing the things women used to do.
Here in Japan, young parents have begun to complain that the schools aren't teaching their children to behave. Were you to suggest that is the parent's responsibility, they would probably say they were too busy, and anyway, what are they paying teachers for? We are now well into the second generation of families with very little interaction. These young parents have no model for nurturing, and very little encouragement to be nurturers.
There are disturbing signs of alienation all around us. I think of that every time I go shopping and see the tiny portions and tiny utensils designed for people living alone. The lifelong shortage of human interaction makes it difficult for people to live together.
Nurturing children is a process. It spans 18 or more years, and goes on at a less intense level for a lifetime. It takes up a lot of your time. And, what do you have to show for it? Not cash. No, unless you have a different set of values from society's mainstream, you won't bother. But, as someone has pointed out, no one on their deathbed ever says "I wish I had spent more time at the office."
So, here's your life; you've got one shot at it. Choose your values carefully.
posted by John Elliot | 8:36 PM
2 Comments:
Yes, and I think one of the grossest hypocrisies in the current trend is the farming out of “nurturing” at the pre-school level to under paid and overworked women in the “childcare” industry. The demeaning of Motherhood in consumer, industrial, and third world societies has reinforced the exploitation of lower class women by placing “nurturing” in an impossible context and putting a mortifying price tag on it—not to mention the screwed over kids.
I am always heartened to see funtional families. There ARE some here. But, most people need models if they are going to succeed. They also need a different set of values than that presented in the media.
Post a Comment
<< Home