Until very recently, most children in agricultural societies were family assets. Able to help and do hard work almost from the age of three. Industrialization further reduced the children of common laborers to near animals or slaves.
As the industrialized world became a little richer, childhood _ as we used to envision it _ was invented as a carefree time of play and learning. However, that made the kids expenses rather than assets, often for extended periods.
Today, adolescents can be a financial burden for a long time, often into the mid-20s. This can be a tremendous drain, with little chance of payback. Since there is very little guaranteed in capitalism, parents naturally want their offspring to become independent and self-supporting as soon as possible. Some even hope that there will be some financial return as time goes on.
We inevitably end up with many prospective ”meal ticket children” who can aim for scholarships or lucrative careers as soon as they leave the cradle. Nothing new, ancient European aristocrats did much the same for equivalent reasons.
Parents polish and grind such a child into a sparkling little gem. Some may become sports stars, some financial wizards, some entertainers, and on and on. Often justified by “it’s what they want to do.”
Carefree childhood vanishes into constant training run on rails. I think that is a grave mistake, and maybe at the core of the rot in our culture. All those driven _ but inevitably mostly eventually disappointed _ young people end up angry at fate.
And everyone feels like a victim.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 