Mourning The Old Ways

Didact has a great post about being born in the wrong century:

Men wouldn't just work for a big company because it provided stable employment and a guaranteed pension upon retirement. Many of them worked for such companies because they genuinely loved the company and its culture.

In my case, I still work at my "current place of work" after effectively 20 years for a slightly different reason - because I helped build up the culture in that place over that 20 year time-period. Though management is definitely doing their damnedest to tear it down at the moment.

When it goes, I will probably go also. At the least, it will leave me with less motivation to do real work for them. (Though my efficiency has already dropped tremendously.)

The comments from Tom Kratman are great too:

Oh, and it appears that the actual rule, for sex, for most of mankind for most of history - at least in cultures that placed a high value on certain things - was, "We know you're human and you're going nuts with the urge to rut. Once you are properly engaged / betrothed we will avert our eyes to what you do. However, if she comes up pregnant you had best be prepared to move the wedding date up to the week after the rabbit died. Oh, and if you try to back out we'll kill you or, bare minimum, shotgun you to the altar."

I was bought up the old way re marriage and sex. Having all those attitudes stripped away from me by age 18 should never have happened - unfortunately, that's the way things went. (Even my own mother stepped out in her youth - which is why I have an older half-sister, 'cause mommy dearest got pregnant by the milkman. How cliche.)

Sadly, it is our modern advantages - of prevalent food, shelter, and protection - which have caused a degeneration of the old ways. (The Roman dole of grain - free food - and we wonder why Rome declined and fell. Bread and circuses, beer and games, food and entertainment.)

Because the consequences are not so dire these days. She's not going to get kicked out by her family and have to fend for herself. Even if she did, the government is more than happy to pay her. Just as a simple bribe for her vote.

For the children, yeah...