THE RISE AND FALL OF THE MIDDLE CLASS: A FAMILY STORY

My parents were born in the early part of the 20th century, 1906 and 1908 - my mother in Mississippi and my father in Oregon.  Both were born into blue collar families, working class - farmers and ranchers and day job people.  But they both ended up well educated and working as professional class people - a minister and a school teacher.  That was beneficial to me because I grew up in a solid middle class home, upper middle class to be exact.  I married a woman first time around who came from a blue collar background, but she ended up with a college degree and in a profession that has pushed her into upper middle class status.  My second and current wife owns her own business, started as a hairdresser, turned it into a productive profession.  She saw to it that her daughter got well educated, college and advanced degrees.  She the director of a health care outfit, does well.  I spent 35 years being a college professor, saw to it that both of my children were well educated, expecting they'd carry on the family tradition of upper middle class status.

My son graduated from college and got an advanced degree in fine art, but he works now as a bartender in a large city, does OK financially, but has no plans to ever teach or work as an artist.  My daughter got a degree in biology, taught school for a while, married another teacher the first time around.  She didn't take to teaching, ended up in management - restaurants mostly.  She married a police officer the second time around, but he now works in the oil fields.  He's a decent man, works hard, provides well for his family, but is not well educated.  My son has never married, lives with a long time girlfriend who also works in the bar business.  My two grandchildren, both from my daughter, are leaning toward lower middle class lives.  The grandson flunked out of college in a hurry, had gone from job to job since then and shows no inclination to do much with his life.  My granddaughter is a freshman in college studying for a profession in criminal justice.  She plans to marry a guy before long who is a high school dropout, works as a welder.

My sister and her husband have also enjoyed upper middle class life.  She's mostly a housewife, is big time involved in church work, and he's a retired chemical engineer.  Their four children have done fairly well, with three of them getting college and advanced degrees.  Her two daughters live in New York City, do not work at jobs that require those hard earned degrees.  One of them has a doctorate she never uses professionally.  One son dropped out of college, went to work as a computer specialist in drafting, has done well . . . perhaps better than the others.  My sister's family has done a little better at upholding the family standard to upper middle class status than has mine.

Am I disappointed with how things have turned out so far?  Yes, I most surely am . . . but I'm also aware that my kids and grandkids are growing up in a society that is far different from the one I grew up in.  What has happened to my family has happened all over America in recent years - the lowering of class status and the demise of the middle class.  If you asked the average American what class they belong to, they'd likely list one higher than then qualify for.  The worst of the slippage in class status has occurred at the lower middle class status, among those people we call working class people. What we're talking about here just might be more critical than what has happened to the white collar set . . . the loss of the craftsmen, trained technicians, trained workers, the people who make the wheels go around in a society.  Many of those people, because of poor economic conditions and dwindling job markets, have slipped from lower middle class down to upper lower class.

You could write forever about what has caused this, and many are these days.  You can blame it on the workplace environment, businesses going high tech, modernization of equipment, outsourcing jobs to other countries, etc.  The workers themselves have changed, and so have their expectations. Reality sets in when they discover that what they're trained to do just isn't available, and you can believe me when I say that when the jobs went down in quality, so did class status.  You can only do what you can do, if that makes any sense.  We all have to work at something, and if what we really want isn't available, we have to do something else . . . and often jobs like that won't sustain us in a lifestyle that keeps our social status at an acceptable level.

I could blame it on anything, I suppose, but I choose to blame government.  Put plainly, they let us down when it came to protecting the American worker, both white collar and blue collar . . . and they did that to the benefit of the rich, the upper class, the vested interests.  One of my right wing friends recently told me, "Well, all those jobs going to foreign countries was a smart business move. Workers here in America demand too much, and you can't pay what they demand.  It's their own fault."  I always write comments like that off to just being words out of an idiot's mouth, shake my head, and walk off.  My thoughts are that if foreign companies can come here and hire American workers to build their products, why can't our own companies?  It's done all the time.  And that makes the real culprit here greed . . . just plain greed.

Here's a good question:  Why doesn't government do something about that?  Why do we not have some rules in place that would keep jobs at home?  The answer is simple, at least in my mind.  Our politicians are in the pockets of the people outsourcing the jobs, giving away our future . . . and we just keep electing the dumbasses to office . . . and our middle class is going away . . . and with it goes our chances of ever being a dynamic, self-sufficient country again.

Damn, I'm glad I'm old and near the end.  I hate watching anything die.

MY LAST GRADUATION (THANK GOD)!

Thank you Lord for endings, and for me there will be no more graduations.  As a retired college professor, I've seen lots of college graduation ceremonies.  I sat on the stage with other faculty members and watched with great anticipation . . . that it would soon end.  Graduation ceremonies for those who aren't there to see a relative graduate can be dismal affairs, and the more of them I attended, the more I hated them.  I only went through one graduation ceremony and that was to receive my M.A.  Found a way to get out of all the others, and there are several diplomas hanging on my office wall.  I attended my daughter's high school graduation, and her college graduation because that was local, right there at hand.  I didn't attend my son's graduations from high school and college in Arizona because they took place a long way off, and I was tied up with coaching duties.  Now, both of my grandkids have graduated from high school, and I attended both ceremonies, and that's the end of it for me.  I've had enough.

Yeah, I know, graduation is a big deal for the graduate.  And it should be, but graduation ceremonies have deteriorated over the years to where they're little more than a circus event.  I went to a college commencement ceremony at a large university about 15 years ago when my step-daughter got her M.A., left with a bad taste in my mouth.  Tacky.  Just a bunch of celebratory bullshit.  No class.  But the high school commencement I attended this past Friday night topped 'em all when it comes to being tacky.  My granddaughter was graduating along with hundreds of other kids from a large high school.  So large, in fact, that they had to have it at the city civic center.  I'm just guessing, but at least twenty thousand people showed up.  I paid ten bucks to park a half mile away from the building, then got a seat so far away from the stage set-up that you couldn't see much, unless you looked at the big video screen.  At the doors coming into the place, searches were conducted of bags and purses to make sure nobody brought in celebratory stuff - air horns, balloons, etc.  And they actually sold soft drinks, popcorn, and stuff like that.  Are you kidding me?  At a high school graduation?

It was a lengthy process, and as always with modern commencements, tacky . . . big time tacky.  Disgustingly tacky and low class.  I saw one man wearing a suit - one.  I wore a white shirt and dress slacks, stood out like a sore thumb among folks dressed like they were headed to a beach party.  But in the midst of all of that bullshit ceremonial stuff, something really nice was taking place.  Lots of happy kids were on display, their show, their time to be center stage.  The old days and old ways are gone now, replaced by a lightweight display of what should be more dramatic, more of a memorable event.  But that's me, and I'm old, and it's not my graduation.  I'm out of it now, won't ever feel compelled to attend another commencement.  Perhaps those two grandkids will graduate from college, but one miserable old man won't be there.  I'm done with graduations, and they'll just have to understand that.

MY FAVORITE PROFESSOR WAS A UKRAINIAN

Dr. Tuchak was born in the Ukraine but ended up teaching political science at the University of Southern Mississippi.  I attended graduate school there, worked on a Ph.d., and my major professor ended up being a foreigner.  I didn't study a lot of Russian government, had no interest in it, but Dr. Tuchak was a comparative government specialist who taught me a lot about the governments of Europe, and that included more about Russia than I wanted to know.  I did that because I didn't do well on my qualifying exam for entrance into the program, at least not concerning international politics and comparative government.  Dr. Tuchak's first words to me upon reviewing my exam scores were, "You have deep gaps in your knowledge, but we shall rectify the problem."  And, he did.  Over the next 18 months I took a half dozen courses and seminars with Dr. Tuchak, and I'm proud to say that I came away from the with all A's.  Better yet, he liked me, even invited me to his home to have vodka with him.

I left the university where Dr. Tuchak taught and seldom went back.  A classmate called me sometime in the early 70s to tell me that my favorite professor had died suddenly of a heart attack.  He remained a bachelor until he was about sixty, then met a Ukrainian widow woman living in south Mississippi and married her.  I grieved some over his death, partly because I loved and admired the man and partly because I thought he deserved more time here on earth.  But while here, he did his job well.  I never intended to be a specialist in international politics or comparative governments, but ended up being qualified to teach those courses at the college level . . . and I did for many years . . . and I owe that to a man who started life far away from where he met and taught me.

Ok, I know you're thinking, "Well, what's your point?"  It's this:  I learned a lot from a man who spoke my language poorly, wasn't a great lecturer, but was still an outstanding professor.  He knew the trick in getting people to learn - point the direction and the demand results.  The best held information we have comes to us in strange ways, but it sticks best when we root it out ourselves under proper direction.  After reading my first research paper for him, Dr. Tuchak said, "You are a very good writer.  You write much better than you talk, and we need to work on that."  He couldn't teach me to talk because he didn't do well at that himself, but he'd sometimes scowl at me and say, "Don't be lazy!  Sit up straight, hold up your head, and speak clearly.  You will be a fine professor when you learn to talk."

I practiced at talking once I got out on my own and started teaching.  It took me several years to learn how to speak well, and it took me even more years to learn to say things people could listen to.  And I became the kind of professor Dr. Tuchak was . . . I didn't lead or prod; I pointed the direction, gave instructions, and then expected results.  And like him, I was a tough grader.  Nobody got A's in my class for shoddy work, and I wasn't timid about giving F's to people who wouldn't study.  He was a stern man in many ways, and so was I.  But he was also a compassionate, caring man, especially when he saw that a student wanted to learn.  Yes, Dr. William Tuchak was a foreigner, but he sure wasn't foreign to what it took to be a good professor.

SHARING WISDOM: A HARD SELL

As a retired college professor, I should know how difficult it is to share knowledge.  Teaching isn't easy, regardless of what you're trying to teach, and it's even more difficult when you're trying to teach something people don't really want to learn.  After spending some 35 years in the college classroom, I'm convinced that most college students aren't there to learn.  They're there to punch their ticket, get a diploma and a jump on job market opportunities.  They care little about what a decent education can do to enrich their lives.  Life is difficult enough for the educated person, much less for someone who's burdened with ignorance.  You'd think, therefore, that education would be an easy sell, but it isn't.  Sharing wisdom you've acquired through education and various life experiences is even a more difficult sell.  Nobody, it seems, wants to pay anything for wisdom, and perhaps that's why we live around so many people who don't have it.

I hear a lot of talk about common sense, the ignorant person's fallback education.  Book learning can't replace good old fashioned common sense, so goes the belief is such nonsense.  And yes, it's true that a lot of people with little or no education have somehow found ways to survive using this practical knowledge.  They have this practical knowledge, this common sense, because they've had no choice but to work at acquiring it.  How smart to you have to be to drive a nail into a board, dig a ditch or post hole, fix a lawnmower, paint a barn, or do anything that requires little more than effort?  No very, that's for sure, but figuring out how to build an entire house takes something common sense can't provide - an advanced knowledge about carpentry.  The carpenter perhaps didn't learn the trade through normal educational channels, but someone had to teach him.  Few mechanics get good at it without instruction of some kind, and that's not common sense.  Wisdom, whether or not it comes from formal education or learning practical sense way, is something we should all treasure.  But we don't, at least not until we reach a level of maturity where wisdom becomes important to us.

I'm old, well educated, and wise.  Most of my wisdom comes through reading, study, and formal education.  But I haven't always learned that way, and much of what I call wisdom has been acquired from living a long time.  If you live long enough, and if you've put yourself in the path of various influences, you learn a lot just from experience.  That's real common sense, not a fools fallback excuse for not knowing much of anything else.  And as it turns out, much of what I've learned that has helped make me a wise man has come through the multitude of mistakes I've made along the way.  I've tried a lot of things, and there's no way you get good at anything without practice.  Want to be a good guitar player?  Practice, and not just a few minutes a day.  If you've got a day free to practice, do so until your fingers get sore.  That will make a guitar player out of you . . . well, almost.  You've still got to study music, develop style, hang with the good players, and go at it with determination.  Want to be a good college professor?  The same rules apply.

I've been retired from teaching now for 14 years, and I'm loving retirement.  My time is my own now, all the time I need to write novels, play guitar, build stringed instruments, do work around the house . . . just anything that strikes my fancy.  And I enjoy this time because over the years I learned how to do a lot of things.  Learning those things (and failing to learn other things) has made me a much wiser man that I would've been had I relied on common sense.  Yeah, I'd be one of those good old boys who watches Fox News, goes to coffee in the morning with other old unwise guys who talk about things they know nothing of.  I hear it all the time.  Common sense guys . . . dumbasses almost to the letter.  And now that I'm old and fairly secure and wise enough to share some important things with younger people, I have no inclination to do so.  That's one thing I've often failed at.  Learning something new just isn't something most people want, and getting wiser sure isn't on their agenda either.  I know this from experience.  I still remember the words of a wise and well-educated mentor from many years ago:  "You can't hang flowered curtains in a mule barn and expect the mule to appreciate them."

I gave up on education a long time ago, but I didn't lose faith in it.  Now that I no longer feel compelled to share what I know, I'm content with just having it.  In fact, I still feel like I don't know enough, and so the inquiry through study continues.  And when I lose interest in that, I'll be cooling down and turning stiff.

IS COLLEGE THE RIGHT WAY OR A RIPOFF?

I taught college for 33 years, don't regret my career choice, and I'm not about to knock the profession that served me well.  If I had it to do all over again, I'd chose another occupation, especially in this day and age.  A college education is too expensive these days, and I don't like the direction higher education has taken in recent years.  It's still a smart move to get a college education, but in some ways it's a ripoff.  I blame that mostly on poor administration, planning, and competition.

Ask a high school senior what college they want to attend, and they'll usually name a big university.  Here in Texas, we've got some big ones, and by big I mean colleges with fifty thousand students.  The University of Texas in Austin is at least that big, and Texas A&M and Texas Tech are probably close to being that large.  We've got other large universities, some of them private, but in my opinion chosing any of them is a poor option for most high school graduates.  Personally, I think large universities are to education what McDonalds is to food.  The only choice you can make that's worse than the large university is going the distance education route - education without ever seeing a college campus.

The quality of education has been in a downward spiral for years now.  During my 33 years of teaching, I watched it decline year by year.  Kids coming to college just weren't prepared to do real college work, and that left the colleges with choices to make - either turn them away, or lower standards.  They opted for lowering standards, and I'm not talking about just entrance requirements.  Those standards have actually gone up some, but the on campus quality of education is now much less demanding than it was during my days in college.  We've got too many colleges and universities competing for students.  It's a money game, plain and simple.

We've over sold the idea that everyone should go to college.  Some occupations require it, but both of my kids have college degrees, and neither of them worked at occupations associated with them.  My daughter got a biology degree but ended up managing restaurants.  My son has a graduate degree in art, but he's a bartender.  I could offer a decent agrument that going to college to get trained for some occupation is somewhat self-defeating.  What about going for the purpose of enrichment of life?  I can promise you that living life as an educated person beats hell out of living one as a dumbass.  But all college graduates aren't smart, and all people with just a high school degree aren't stupid.  To assume that would be to ignore individuality.

I had a conversation recently with a young Mormon missionary out doing his two year duty to the church, and he talked about being confused as to what he should do about education.  He went to college a year, then dropped out to do his missionary duty.  Now he doesn't know if he wants to go back to college or do something else.  My advice to him was that college isn't for everyone, not even some smart kids who could easily graduate.  I also offered him a little more advice, something I've always believed in.  Even if you do go back to college and get a degree, you're still wise to develop some skills.  It's sad to see someone with a Ph.D. who can't even drive a nail into a board, has no idea how his car engine works, and can't even mow the lawn.  You should never get to the point where you think you're above something, especially a little hard labor.

I once knew a college professor who tinkered with old cars, and he turned into a wizzard mechanic.  Another professor friend got into restoring old houses and ended up making more money doing that than he did teaching college.  Don't be one dimensional, and don't be a snob.  That's never smart.  So going to college is still a good idea, but keep other things in mind.  You can't change the system as it now exists.  College might not be as good as it once was, and it might be too expensive, but that's what you've got to deal with . . . if you want that.  The degree you get won't be cheap, but it won't be cheap when it comes to looking for jobs either.  And if you don't want that, think about high skill level training.  Regardless of what you do, you're going to have to study something.  Nobody is born automatically knowing how to do something.

If I hadn't gone to college and graduate school, what would I have done?  I don't know for sure, but I think I would've been a mechanic.  My buddy Richard dropped out of school without graduating, ended up being a hotrod builder . . . and he did well at it.  He even became an inventer of mechanical things, and he did that on his own.  But like everyone else, somebody had to show him how.  It sure helps if you're a really bright kid like he was.  Regardless of what you do, don't waste your best asset.