Reviewing Men On Strike and The Lessons of History

Men On Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream—and Why It Matters by Helen Smith, New York, Encounter Books, 2013. The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant, New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1968, 1996)Will Durant 1968

Page 73 tells Smith’s tale and suggests more clues to the 2016 election. On page 73 she reproduced a graph of Median Earnings of men 25 to 64. Whether they were working full time or not, their wages rose from 1965 to 1975, then dropped dramatically and were still dropping in 2010. (U.S. Census data and the Bookings Institute Hamilton Project).

This and other observations suggest why our productivity has risen but all its profits have gone to the wealthy. The solutions to the frustrations and rage this engenders become obvious as you read Will and Ariel Durant’s observations in their book The Lessons of History (New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1968, 1996). Note those dates.

Here’s a quote from page 92: “Taxes may be moved to the point of discouraging capital investment and production stimulus…[However,] The concentration of wealth may disrupt the nation in class or race war.”

The answer is clear—a reasoned balance between what is called “progressive” or “conservative.” We can’t let those labels keep us from finding workable compromises. Integrity, not identity, should be a personal goal so that minds and hearts can find a way to a secure future.

The Durants end their little book with this: “If our economy of freedom fails to distribute wealth as ably as it has credited it, the road to dictatorship will be open to any man who can persuasively promise security to all; and a martial government will engulf the democratic world.