> I know a number of wonderful American girls as well. Three-quarters of them, for what it's worth, weren't born here or are second-generation immigrants.
You have a point here. What I found (in general) is that if a generation is poor they will generally be hard-working. That generation and their children will generally have good qualities. But if a few generations are fairly well off they will start getting bad qualities – people start to think that they are entitled to everything and do not have to work for it.
In a few years you get the situation that kids drive to school in their cars, watch Paris Hilton programs and start to have sex at 14.
As an example: my father was fairly poor. I doubt that today there are many of couples who will stick together through thick and (mostly) thin like they did.
As for feminism – it is a good idea, but the pendulum swung too far to the one side.
Where's your proof? Counter-examples are easy to find (Look at the Whedon family for example), so you better start shifting your explanation.
And how the hell has the pendulum swung too far? I'll quote OSX's dictionary. Feminism is: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
As far as i'm aware, we still live in an unequal society. Men make more money than women. Women still face discrimination in the work place. Women are not anywhere close to being proportionally represented in government.
> Feminism is: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men
We had more than equal rights for a long time now. Affirmative action helped women for how long?
> As far as i'm aware, we still live in an unequal society. Men make more money than women.
You are confusing equal outcomes with equal opportunities. Let me give you a good example: in engineering there are plenty of bursaries available for women. Support for men in engineering pales into comparison with the support of women in engineering. Yet, a lot more men study engineering than women (and the gender gap is widening).
Can you say that there was not equal opportunity?
> Women are not anywhere close to being proportionally represented in government.
Again – they have equal voting rights. If they feel they have been mistreated they can vote for another party. There are several countries in the world (such as Germany) that have female presidents.
You have a point here. What I found (in general) is that if a generation is poor they will generally be hard-working. That generation and their children will generally have good qualities. But if a few generations are fairly well off they will start getting bad qualities – people start to think that they are entitled to everything and do not have to work for it.
I don't know how strongly it correlates to being wealthy. There are poor people who feel entitled (consider the subprime debacle and the massively inflated house prices in much of the country ca. 2007) and rich people who don't take anything for granted. It has more to do with culture than wealth.
In a few years you get the situation that kids drive to school in their cars, watch Paris Hilton programs and start to have sex at 14.
The car thing is just the status quo in the US; almost everyone has a car, because so many places lack public transportation. I drove to school in a car, but a used one.
As for feminism – it is a good idea, but the pendulum swung too far to the one side.
I think the nasty elements of "feminism" actually have nothing to do with feminism. For example, Sex and the City is not feminist in the least. Women should be allowed to have careers, should make pay equal to that of men, and shouldn't be looked down upon if they decide not to marry. However, glamorizing a rather crass lifestyle that most normal people would find unfulfilling does nothing for the feminist cause.
You have a point here. What I found (in general) is that if a generation is poor they will generally be hard-working. That generation and their children will generally have good qualities. But if a few generations are fairly well off they will start getting bad qualities – people start to think that they are entitled to everything and do not have to work for it.
In a few years you get the situation that kids drive to school in their cars, watch Paris Hilton programs and start to have sex at 14.
As an example: my father was fairly poor. I doubt that today there are many of couples who will stick together through thick and (mostly) thin like they did.
As for feminism – it is a good idea, but the pendulum swung too far to the one side.