Got a book for ya. The problem is this: 1) School funding becomes decentralized. Result: money from property taxes matters more than money from the federal government. 2) Neighborhoods balkanize into "good schools" and "bad schools" based on property values. Result: parents who care about their kids are more likely to stretch into a house they can't afford based on the school district it's in. 3) Families erode due to the unavailability of full-time parenting and lack of safety net provided by having a "spare" parent that can work during layoffs, etc. Result: divorces, latchkey kids, credit card debt, etc. Here's another book. Not all of it is about why the Continentals are better. A lot of it is about how the Continentals fucking fund childcare like it's an entitlement. Of course, they do the same with healthcare and all sorts of other Socialist ideas that will undoubtedly lead to the downfall of mankind, but the fact of the matter is, our free market system benefits people of means more than people without. The basic issue is this: You don't want it to be expensive to have kids. Those are your future taxpayers. Those are the people who will take care of you in your dotage. That's the workforce, the takers-of-jobs-you're-too-expensive-to-take. I'll be bald-faced about this: I evaluated that the middle class was doomed about ten years ago and resolved to do everything I can to get pushed up rather than down. Private school? Sign me up. rippin' daycare? Check. Extracurricular bullshit? 100%. I watched my girlfriend back in the '90s - who went to public school - and her little sister - who went to private school - and I watched their friends, their interactions, their hardships. Elitism is real. Massive kudos for you and your large family and your sacrifices. Just know that everything I do is going to be easier than you do, and everything I do for my kid is going to sting less, and that all those incremental advantages I provide are going to subtly tilt the balance in her favor until the advantages my kid reaps over yours will no longer be subtle, they'll be shocking. And I pay my taxes, and I vote for schools, and I firmly believe that every dollar I put into welfare pays itself back tenfold in public good but I'm also taking care of me. Because I have the means. I was a latchkey kid. I turned out okay. But I had a couple friends that got taken away from their parents by DSHS because their parents didn't have as good a system. The whole world benefits when you make it easier for the people who don't run the race as well as you do.
This reminds me of a point made by a Republican aide/operative who left the party in disgust. Maybe childcare-as-an-entitlement would be more palatable if it was pitched differently. “I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.” -Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.Here's another book. Not all of it is about why the Continentals are better. A lot of it is about how the Continentals fucking fund childcare like it's an entitlement. Of course, they do the same with healthcare and all sorts of other Socialist ideas that will undoubtedly lead to the downfall of mankind, but the fact of the matter is, our free market system benefits people of means more than people without.
You know that Social Security and Medicare are in jeopardy when even Democrats refer to them as entitlements. "Entitlement" has a negative sound in colloquial English: somebody who is "entitled" selfishly claims something he doesn't really deserve. Why not call them "earned benefits," which is what they are because we all contribute payroll taxes to fund them? That would never occur to the Democrats. Republicans don't make that mistake; they are relentlessly on message: it is never the "estate tax," it is the "death tax."
Right those people will be changing your diapers when you get old, and they will also be paying the bills and keeping the world running. If they are miserable they will do their best to share the pain and it will get really expensive for you to keep them out. My wife and I had this talk about sending our kid to private school and decided it wasn't worth it. We would be one of the poorer families in the group and that would really put a chip on the kids shoulder. She went to college with a bunch of Prep-School kids and she said too many of them where entitled arrogant snobs with poor work ethic. She didn't feel like that education gave them enough an advantage to be worthwhile and most of the reason they succeeded was that their parents were so well connected that the could have been illiterate and still landed great jobs. I dont really think one can buy the kind of education and environment that you describe having when you grew up. Something like that would be worth paying for your kid to have but I just dont think its for sale (or at least at a price that I can afford).The basic issue is this: You don't want it to be expensive to have kids. Those are your future taxpayers. Those are the people who will take care of you in your dotage. That's the workforce, the takers-of-jobs-you're-too-expensive-to-take.
I'll be bald-faced about this: I evaluated that the middle class was doomed about ten years ago and resolved to do everything I can to get pushed up rather than down. Private school? Sign me up. rippin' daycare? Check. Extracurricular bullshit? 100%. I watched my girlfriend back in the '90s - who went to public school - and her little sister - who went to private school - and I watched their friends, their interactions, their hardships.