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Politics : The Left Wing Porch
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To: Poet who wrote (4913)6/30/2001 10:43:06 AM
From: Lane3Read Replies (1) of 6089
 
I've never thought of the adage that childrearing is the world's most difficult job as "right-wing claptrap". I think Cohen's dead wrong. What's your opinion of his view?

Right wing and claptrap. I'll try claptrap first.

I don't know how qualified I am to opine on whether or not parenting is hard or easy, never having done it. I never did it, in part, because I was not well suited for it. I would have found the job impossibly mind-numbing and suffocating. I think, though, that there are people who are very well suited for it. Whether or not we find our jobs hard or easy is very much a function of how suited we are to them and how good we are at them. I'd bet that Shaq finds his job relatively easy, but I sure wouldn't. It seems to me that the job of parenting should not be taken on by those who aren't suited any more than a right-brained twinkie should become an accountant or an introvert should be a salesman.

Now for right wing. In whose interest is it that parenting be regarded by society as hard? Well, parents, for one. We all want our jobs to be respected. I think that Cohen's right in that it's also in the interests of the right wing. More tax breaks for parents, moms staying home, a pedestal for family living. It might also be in the interest of those on the left who want the government to help support the kids of single mothers and more government and employer services for parents.

I wouldn't call that a draw--I'd give the self-interest edge to the right--but I think Cohen goes too far to attribute the whole thing to the agenda-enhancement of the right wing. He may have overstepped in reaction to the interpretation of that study in the last couple of weeks about how kids who use day care are more violent--the one the right wing has been trumpeting it as a mandate for moms to stay home.

Karen
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