Althouse: "I was 26 when the war ended... That was considered too old for marriage, in those times."

February 15, 2013

"I was 26 when the war ended... That was considered too old for marriage, in those times."

"I did not want to marry a bad, older man, and no single men came to me.... I was afraid to die alone.... I wanted someone to lean on in my old age. I wanted a child of my own."

19 comments:

mccullough said...: And what effect has this had on the kids raised by single mothers?

NY Times doesn't say. In the U.S., this hasn't worked out well.

Having a child is often a selfish decision.; 2/15/13, 3:35 PM
Sam L. said...: Certainly understandable.; 2/15/13, 3:44 PM
traditionalguy said...: That one makes you cry. The human desire for a child and a family is wired into our emotional DNA.

Human courage always gets my attention.; 2/15/13, 3:46 PM
Sorun said...: "And what effect has this had on the kids raised by single mothers?"

They have life.; 2/15/13, 3:46 PM
Nomennovum said...: Only in the NY Times. Next up gay parents in Peshawar Province trying to build a family.; 2/15/13, 3:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Good for them! It worked in part because some in the village helped them out and in part because of the very strong desire for a child.; 2/15/13, 3:53 PM
Nomennovum said...: It takes a village to raise a little bastard.; 2/15/13, 3:57 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: More bonehead propaganda from the Times!; 2/15/13, 3:57 PM
Nomennovum said...: Propaganda that works. Look. The sheep are aroused!; 2/15/13, 4:00 PM
edutcher said...: So we're talking the soul sisters of Bernadine Dohrn.; 2/15/13, 4:02 PM
Michael K said...: Another great success for communism. The Vietnamese immigrants here are high achievers and successful in business and professions. The NY Times has no concept what they went through to escape.; 2/15/13, 4:03 PM
Hagar said...: The NY Times does not like my being linked to their pages.; 2/15/13, 4:24 PM
ricpic said...: An old man is a bad man
But a young man is good
Has something to do with not settling
And something to do with wood.; 2/15/13, 5:19 PM
Anonymous said...: This just in: tiny Pacific island found full of happily gay-married Polynesians due to global warming induced super hurricanes and nuclear testing.

The Times' own intrepid Maureen Dowd travels to the island, mingles with the natives, and miraculously uncovers the oldest known document declaring universal human rights buried in the sand.

Film at 11; 2/15/13, 6:03 PM
VanderDouchen said...: Old White men made this happen, no doubt.

:/; 2/15/13, 6:09 PM
Anonymous said...: This isn't much different than the reasons anyone over age 25 becomes a single mother. Example, black community, there aren't enough eligible men. It's exactly the same situation except there was no formal war and instead of politely asking each man they just go for it.

I saw something on TV recently dealing with highly-qualified, beautiful, professional black women who were getting older and single because of this issue. The suggestion? Go for older guys - like the interviewer. Just like this woman they didn't want the "bad, older man." They demurred.; 2/15/13, 8:11 PM
Gene said...: SOJO: This isn't much different than the reasons anyone over age 25 becomes a single mother. Example, black community, there aren't enough eligible men.

There isn't that big a shortage of black men. Otherwise young black women wouldn't get pregnant in the first place. The problem is the War-On-Poverty reforms which made it possible for the first time for large numbers of young women to have children out of wedlock. The more you subsidize something the more you get of it.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan told us 40 years ago, when the black illegitimacy rate was only about 25%, that any society that encourages large numbers of young people to grow up without fathers is "asking for chaos" and will get it. Nowadays the black illegitimacy rate is around 75% and the chaos is everywhere apparent--from the homicidal streets of Chicago to the flash mobs everywhere.; 2/15/13, 11:02 PM
Gene said...: SOJO: This isn't much different than the reasons anyone over age 25 becomes a single mother. Example, black community, there aren't enough eligible men.

There isn't that big a shortage of black men. Otherwise young black women wouldn't get pregnant in the first place. The problem is the War-On-Poverty reforms which made it possible for the first time for large numbers of young women to have children out of wedlock. The more you subsidize something the more you get of it.

Daniel Patrick Moynihan told us 40 years ago, when the black illegitimacy rate was only about 25%, that any society that encourages large numbers of young people to grow up without fathers is "asking for chaos" and will get it. Nowadays the black illegitimacy rate is around 75% and the chaos is everywhere apparent--from the homicidal streets of Chicago to the flash mobs everywhere.; 2/15/13, 11:03 PM
Anonymous said...: @Gene

I suppose I was looking at it from the perspective of a professional woman. There are black women who are perfectly happy to marry 'down' to a good man, except a huge percentage of the available young guys sell or use drugs or go in and out of prison. Also, a lot of those war-on-poverty women are sharing their men.

I take your point about war-on-poverty contributing to the breakup of the family, but it's intertwined with the war on drugs and prison-for-profit.; 2/16/13, 1:48 AM