I had the choice to put education and career before marriage and childbearing years ago and that was when I was not confident about the economy or just life in general. I am sorry to hear of the lack of choices women will be put through these days and ahead if this continues.

"We" have very little say in the matter. Events over the past few months/years have clearly demonstrated to me that the Monied Interest Powers That Be not only have no interest in what "we" want but are actively against "us." "We" can be suckered with slickly misrepresentational political ads and distracted with "reality" shows and pointless outrage scandals.

Unless someone figures out a way to communicate effectively with folks like the self-described "Tea Party" folks (and that's unlikely) we will all suffer and most will have no idea why it's happening.

This morning, I watched this segment on MNN, here in NYC -- Laura follows Amy Goodman and Democracy Now!

Laura's point about more and more money being funneled into the wars/MIC and into elections is well taken. There is no money left over for children, women, or anyone else who might need a little help during hard times.

But, what did people think would happen when Clinton dismantled the welfare system in 1998?

When politicians claim that they act in the best interests of children in the U.S. -- they lie!

Now that James O'Keefe, Wingnut Boy Detective, has resolved his legal problems, it's only a matter of time before he whips up a devastating video exposé of Head Start and sends the whole damn program the way of ACORN.

Wealthy white males control the media, the money, even our spirits. Macho white millionaires control congress and allocate tax dollars to other wealthy white men. We the people still have a chance but not for long. Free education, cradle to grave health care? No problem. The progressives who voted for Bush aka Obama, need only stop paying their insurance premiums, take your kids and adults out of school. Fat chance when more people vote for American Idol than for federal officials. As long as we refuse to act, the situation will only worsen and our ability to act weakened.

Sioux Rose

I remember reading a publication written by Sun Bear more than 15 years ago. It related certain Indigenous prophecies that speak to our times. As things further collapse, human beings will be forced back to the lifestyle wisdom choices of America's original inhabitants. In such societies, the elderly were not expected to go off hunting or work all day in the fields. Often the elderly (the respected grandparents), would mind and educate the little ones, while the younger citizens would focus on the labors necessary for the survival of the entire clan.

A while back I remember reading about some novel housing issue that arose in Massachusetts (if memory serves me well) where older people were renting out rooms in their homes to young workers. It violated local residential codes and was being challenged in court. This idea of residence-sharing, and having older people watch the children so the younger ones can work may become a radical necessity.

When money becomes scarce we are all still left with our particular skills, talents, and aptitudes. Even without capital, these are still worth something in terms of trade(s). In my early days of parenting I was able to trade a remarkable array of things on the basis of barter.

More cities may follow Ithaca's example and print their own local currency, too. People will be experimenting with ways to survive, learning to share in forms they never previously needed to consider. Adaptation is inherent to the life force and challenges us to think in new ways. Some of this process may prove refreshing.

From the number of comments it really shows how much men care about this subject!! Has anyone noticed on the internet that comment sections are usually dominated by males? If you put down a man's name and comment you will get much more feedback I have noticed. This is sad.

Women need to take on the intellectual aspects of the world problems. Stop taking a back burner. Women will always be judged for showing emotion more than men will.

Its a dead end for women unless they put aside the glamour magazines and show that they actually have good input and good ideas for our world. I'm sorry to say but it is truth, men still only look AND listen to women with looks, youth, and grace. So stop feeding this. insist on your rightful place at the big table.

Hello Catz:

I literally feel your pain. I know where you are coming from.

Millions of people, including Black Women, Hispanic Women, and White women, though not a majority of any of them, actually voted for R.Reagan,and the Bushes, in addition to those white males who voted for the Reagan/Bushes. The millions of people, of various genders and races, who voted for Reagan and the Bushes also call themselves "we the people." So which "we the people" can we call ourselves members of?

On the other hand, millions of white males did not vote for Reagan, the Bush dynasty, Atonin Scalia, or Tommy Thompson, and feel a visceral revulsion for all of them.

The Bush II regime was the most ethnically and genderly and racially diverse administration ever arbitrarily ensconced or voted for up to that time . . . rule by confusion. Go through a list of the Bush II cabinet: you will find Oriental names, Hispanic names, People of Color (approving torture)diverse religious backgrounds,
and plenty of women who cared not a whit for working people (Elain Chao:Secretary of Labor, as one example, is of Chinese descent.)

Many women are not just sitting home watching American Idol; no, they are much more active than that: they are joining in the invasion of other countries for undetermined ends.

If business doesn't pay women enough to send their kids to day care and make a meager living, they are exploiting these women.

We have been conditioned by an abusive power elite to believe that literally millions of jobs across the board are not "grown up" jobs and low lifes, like most women, should not expect grown up pay or health care for their time. This is particularly heinous because we are taught that we get our health care from our employer. This is clearly a lie for the masses, in particular, women.

This becomes particularly exploitative to a evil degree when you have multinational corporations with billions in profits like Walmart setting pay levels so low workers are eligible for food stamps.... and if they have kids, they can get health care too.

Of course now that industry has taught us to live on a pauper's pay using subsidies, our leaders turn around and say that these entitlement programs that really have been serving the gargantuan growth of billion dollar industries should be canceled because these women are just not worth it.

Obviously, this is a formula that really subsidizes the wealthy so they don't have to actually let go of that much money to pay workers. It has never been anything but a formula that allows employers to pay less than a living wage.

If the rich and our unrealistic unfair leaders really cared about people they would insist that companies spend more on their workers thus providing a world in which to function. But that is not what is happening. People are being shoved out of herd. Now that the super wealthy have enough money and power to cherry pick the world for job markets they taken over, they don't need American workers. They can get most of their work done in third world countries like Walgreens that just announced that all their office work was moving to India.

We are in need of some new definitions to describe what is being done to American. In this case I would describe the off shoring of jobs in a community as being the evaporation of resource. Our leaders have allowed the wealthiest people in the world to take things out of this country like thieves stealing artifacts from a museum or park. Soon the museum is another empty building. The park a weed patch. Then those that have stolen everything turn to the people and say, we'll take the land and the building, you don't deserve it, look how things are.

Our leaders no longer serve us, they are serving us up and they spend billions on everything they want. Even Trillions, while the people that actually create the wealth they are spending are told to drop dead basically.