I was just spoofing Blake’s customary exaggerations. The examples of sailors and soldiers are good, though. They fly in the face of his usual argument about two parents and the liberal destruction of all good things.

Huh? Men in the military or who spent their lives at sea were separated from their children for years. A man with an 8-5 job has it easy compared to men who were historically in these essential professions.

Living with the extended family has been less common in Western Europe than in Asia for hundreds of years and this cultural difference was carried across the Atlantic and reinforced by individualism and cheap land. “Liberal programs” had nothing to do with it. Nobody is forced to move out of their parents’ house — it just so happens that most Americans do not want to live with their parents when they become adults.

So you think it’s right that fathers spend so little time with their kids? You seem to watch a lot of movies. Have you noticed how many complain about absent fathers?

Only a liberal could honestly argue that being a wife is degrading compared to being a hired stranger.

You should go see the film “The Help” and see a celebration of how working women enjoy much much better lives, higher status, and more fulfilling sense of “purpose” than poor, oppressed wives.

There has never been, and I daresay never will be a human being on this earth that “has it all, or has had it all! Since the beginning of time the lucky few with choices, have given up some things in order to pursue others. The simple act of making a choice automatically forecloses the possibility of other paths.
The majority of us, without choices, have simply done what is expected. or what we know, or what our ancestors have done through the generations.

The smallest minority of folks our society holds up as beacons to the “having it all” mindset, are actually carrying burdens deep in their souls and have no authentic joy. I do not care what the glossy magazines say, most of them have lives resembling train wrecks!

My point is that having it all is not a part of the human condition, nor should it be. The question needs to be, what promotes authentic happiness and true human flourishing? Worshiping the false god of self absorption-or truly giving of oneself as we form connections with other human beings-whatever our calling turns out to be.

Let’s have a real conversation about what a good life is all about-and stop encouraging the younger generation to even think they should want to have it all. Unless we stop promoting this way of thinking we will continue to set our children up for a lifetime of depression, loneliness and alienation.The unobtainable goal of “having it all” leads to a dead end of bitterness and despair. What kind of legacy is that? We must do better for our kids-all of them-male and female.