Subject: Qualities for success
The Macro Economy is an emergent property -- the aggregation of producers and consumers adds up to more than the sum of the individuals in the same way that an ocean is more than individual water molecules. But the quality of individuals certainly feeds into the aggregate. If the quality of individuals gradually shifts from supportive to non-supportive the aggregate will gradually shift and may reach a tipping point.

The U.S. Census Bureau's working paper, "Changes in Milestones of Adulthood," reports that only 17% of young adults (ages 25-34) had reached all five markers of adulthood in 2023. This is a significant decrease from the 26% who had reached them in 2005. These markers are: Completing their education, being employed or actively seeking work, living away from their parents, marrying and living with a child (becoming a parent or step-parent). I found this shocking since the foundation of a thriving society depends on people becoming educated, working and forming families.

https://www.census.gov/library...

The detailed analysis shows that young adults are focusing more on economic security above prioritizing family formation. One out of five young men (20%) in this age group live with their parents. One out of nine (11%) is not in the labor force (working or seeking work). I focus on men because women could be out of the labor force due to taking care of children. Like most other developed countries our population growth is below replacement. We rely on immigrants to provide growing labor needs. Our own population is becoming less capable of providing a reliable workforce.

David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, just wrote a perceptive editorial.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/0...


Why I Am Not a Liberal
Sept. 5, 2025

....
As a society, we are pretty good at transferring money to the poor, but we’re not very good at nurturing the human capital they would need to get out of poverty. As a result, we do an OK job supporting people who are in long-term poverty but a poor job of helping them lift out of poverty. ...

Rising out of poverty requires the nonmaterial qualities we now call human capital, such as skills, diligence, honesty, good health and reliability....

Nonmaterial forces — culture, moral norms, traditions, religious ideals, personal responsibility and community cohesion, manners and morals are more important than laws. You should have limited expectations about politics because not everything can be solved with a policy. ...

Today most of our problems are moral, relational and spiritual more than they are economic. There is the crisis of disconnection, the collapse of social trust, the loss of faith in institutions, the destruction of moral norms in the White House, the rise of amoral gangsterism around the world...

Progressives are quick to talk about money but slow to talk about the values side of the equation. That’s in part for the best of reasons. They don’t want to blame the victims or contribute to the canard that people are poor because they are lazy....[end quote]

I think this last sentence is being politically correct to avoid getting canceled by liberals.

I am quite willing to say that people are poor because they are lazy, stupid or lacking the skills needed to work in a modern society because their culture doesn't promote personal virtues needed by workers. I'm quite willing to say that our society has a problematic outlook because many children are skipping school. The RAND Corporation estimated that approximately 22% of K-12 students were chronically absent in the 2024-2025 school year.

Liberals and progressives want to solve social issues with transfer payments. I agree that a wealthy society shouldn't allow people to starve or suffer without essential medical care but several studies show that additional money above the amount needed to provide the basics will not lift people out of poverty if they lack social skills.

On the other hand, conservatives are working hard to strip even the basics from the poor and working class, such as SNAP and Medicaid. The objective of conservatives seems to be to shunt even more wealth toward the wealthiest while shredding the safety net.

I'm a centrist. I believe that the virtues and qualities which were the foundation of American success should be promoted. Unfortunately, liberals would scream blue murder if schools went back to teaching social virtues. And conservatives would instantly snap into the Christian evangelical mode.
Wendy