This is the house where I grew up in Logansport, Indiana, the less advantageous west side of town. Both of my parents, elementary school teachers, were the first in their respective families to go to college.
My dad was raised on a farm in southern Indiana that had no indoor plumbing or electricity. My grandfather, a farmer and teacher, road a horse to the river and then rowed a boat across to get to the school. During the dust bowl, the impoverished relatives migrated to the farm and lived in the chicken house, the barn, the smoke house and the wash house.
My mother’s father was a plumber with a tendency towards drink.
We lived in a house my parents could afford, wore handmade or hand-me-down clothes, did not go to fast food places or restaurants, had one television, one phone, and played outside with the neighbor kids until Mom rang the old school bell telling us to get home for dinner.
From the age of 14, my siblings and I had jobs. Most of the kids in town had summer jobs. My parents expected us to go to college, graduate in four years, and get jobs so we would move out and become independent. We were expected to work at least part time to pay for our non tuition expenses. I worked waitressing in a diner on the graveyard shift. My brother worked scraping animal carcasses of the road for the highway department. My sister mowed grass at the cemetery and worked at a slaughterhouse.
Our parents scrimped to provide us with piano lessons or drum lessons, ballet lessons, swimming lessons and ensure we could participate in our chosen extracurricular activities. Failure was not an option.
When each of us graduated, we were strongly encouraged to get a job, any job and move out. We did. Even when my sister was working towards her masters degree and PhD, she still worked as the principal breadwinner for her family.
My husband was raised similarly in small town Michigan. We all trend towards conservatism with middle left views on social issues. We were raised to be thoughtful, accepting of people no matter their race, creed, national origin or sexuality. We’ve all worked hard for more than forty years, pay taxes, believe in a safety net for less privileged that is a hand up but not a hand out. We celebrated the call by JFK to ask not what the government could provide us. Instead, we were called to be good citizens and contribute to our society.
We are patriotic, believe in the Constitution and know freedom isn’t free. Our families include veterans, disabled persons, LGBT, religious and non-religious individuals, liberals, moderates, conservatives and libertarians. We watched the Twin Towers fall on 9/11 following heinous attacks by terrorists that hate us.
I can only imagine that those voting for the mayor elect of New York City have not experienced such horror. I can only assume they were taught that they are entitled to an easy life. Other than Bernie Sanders, I doubt any of the new young socialist have spent extensive time in Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, China, or Belarus~ at least not on the everyday economy.
From an historical perspective, interest rates are low. They have been as high as 18% for mortgages. Housing has always been expensive in New York City. It is called supply & demand. Young socialists were apparently not taught about WWI, WWII, the Russian Revolution, world history, and the failed experiments wherever socialism has been practiced. They should watch The Americans for insight into life in the USSR and just how well those Soviet government grocery stores worked out. They also likely missed the bits about the gulags.
In America, we believe that anyone with enough ingenuity, drive and creativity can achieve anything. Our history is filled with examples of individuals with humble backgrounds reaching the pinnacles of success in small businesses, major corporations, and the political sphere.
It will no doubt be fascinating to watch what happens to New York. As the Iron Lady so aptly quipped, eventually the socialists will run out of other people’s money.
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