Victor Milne
Sun, 24 Oct 1999 11:57:52 -0700
Thomas Lunde wrote: > > Well, it is the difference between two ways of thought - isn't it. One is > the thought of socialism and the other is the thought of capitialism. Take > for a point of interest housing. We often see two middle aged people living > in suburban splendor - 20,000 sq ft of tastefully decorated, heated and > convienced comfort while we look at people raising kids who find themselves > in limited space, restricted furniture, living one on top of the other. How > do we rationalize that? Well, we do it through the capitalistic model, > which says as you gain experience, get older and have more responsibility in > the work world, you get paid more - in other words, by the job. Perhaps in > a socialistic society, the family of children would be alloted the big house > on the basis of their needs and as the children grew, the living quarters > might be reduced as the needs grow less. > Right on, Thomas. I have often reflected on this irony. The parents of my best friend lived in a tiny two-bedroom house with two big football-player-sized sons. After the boys were finished their education--a long time as my friend got a Ph.D. in chemistry and his brother became an obstetrician--the parents were able to buy a huge house on a quarter-acre lot. They were in their mid-fifties then. Only about two years later the mother began to manifest signs of Parkinson's disease, and soon after her husband had to change to a much smaller house, as he couldn't keep up with the house work and look after his wife. Victor Milne