Saving Capitalism and Women's Work

I've been on a quest to learn more about the economy. It mostly started 20 or so years ago when I wanted to know how to invest money in the stock market when I worked. My dad never trusted the stock market, but our employers were (are) always saying put your retirement money there, so I wanted to understand it better. Finally, I'm starting to get it after listening to Saving Capitalism by Robert Reich. Basically many regulations were dropped making it, well less regulated, and there's a whole bunch of insider trading going on. The stock market used to be more predictable and make more sense, but now it sounds like it's kind of wild territory. So, it really helps to know the right people. But, that's not the point of this post, although I do have a lot more to say about the book.

In chapter 22 of the book, Reich is talking about the mechanization of jobs, and therefore the loss of jobs (lab techs, tax software...) to machines, yet the in-person service "one-to-one" jobs like nursing home aids, home health care aids, child care, etc. cannot and are not being replaced! It struck me that these are the jobs with the "human touch" as he says, and the responsibilities so often fulfilled by women/mothers. So, even economist, Robert Reich might say women/mothers are irreplaceable. It's easy to devalue women's work, but when it comes down to it, it cannot be replicated by a machine.

Raising Helpful Children

 I saw this article on NPR this morning while I was scrolling before getting out of bed.  Are We Raising Unhelpful, Bossy Kids? Here's The Fix

For decades, scientists have documented a surprising phenomenon: In many cultures around the world, parents don't struggle to raise helpful, kind kids. From ages 2 to 18, kids want to help their families. They wake up in the morning and voluntarily do the dishes. They hop off their bikes to help their dad carry groceries into the house. And when somebody hands them a muffin, they share it with a younger sibling before taking a bite themselves.

. . .I realized there are two key practices that parents, all around the world, use to teach children to be helpful and cooperative. And yet many American parents (including the one writing this essay) often do just the opposite. . . .

Basically, the concept is that when kids are little, we need to let them help when they are interested. For example, if we are scrambling eggs, let them try it. If we are cleaning, let them try it---even if they won't do as good a job as we would like.

The second suggestion is to regularly (like three times an hour) ask your kids to help in little ways, even as small as opening the door for you, or handing you a spoon while you are cooking. This helps them learn good cooperation skills.