In the early 20th century, the industrial revolution profited off of child labor.
Children in the mines and on assembly was were not unusual. This was problematic for a number of reasons. It is unethical to take advantage of children. The rate of injury was terribly high. Adult men who needed work were being pushed aside for children who would work cheaper.
To remedy the problems, child labor laws were enacted and children were sent to school. The schooling, however, was set up to train these kids to go right back into the factories and mills. They were and still are taught to move as a group, obey immediately and without question and simply do as they are told.
Prior to this, people did not primarily go to work for someone else in a job capacity. Families passed down knowledge, skills and trades to their children. Most families were entrepreneurial in nature and the members of those families lived life according to their own personal choices.
And for one hundred years we changed all of that. Conformity was the expectation and there were stiff penalties if rebellion was found.
Are you listening, maggot? Sir! Yes, sir!
Now, the world is changing and we are not preparing our children for it. Our college graduates are moving back home and remain unemployed for years because of an inability to find a job. They are simply waiting to do what they are told because that’s what they’ve been taught to do for seventeen years.
My dad worked for Buick for 32 years and retired with a pension. About fifteen years ago, it was projected that most adults would work an average of five jobs. Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts twelve to fifteen. Start ups and freelancing are more popular than ever.
Here’s the real problem. When someone tries to go outside of the norm, they are criticized and laughed at. They are even maligned as being clueless. The establishment is unwilling to let people do what it is they want to do. If we do what we want anyway, we are accused of any number of foolish reasons why we are doing things differently.
We homeschool our children, therefore, we are religious wackos who will turn out socially awkward hermits.
Donald Trump decides to lay out of the final debate before the Iowa Caucus so he must be afraid of Megyn Kelly. No mention of the fact that Ronald Reagan did the same thing in 1980.
If I decide college is a rip off and it’s stupid to spend fifteen years paying off $80,000 in student loans, then I will be an uneducated fool who will flip burgers the rest of my life.
Newsflash, we do not need permission. Keep marching in lockstep if you wish, but the rest of us are going to color outside of the lines and daydream.
Laugh if you must, but I don’t need to show you any stinking badges.
Joel Stiff's Adventure 