Quiverfull

[markomalley]

Sorry for the delay in my response...been sort of busy...and our exchange cannot be accomplished in sound bytes:

Abigail,

However, it seems to me that if universities simply refused to offer such high salary's, those who truly want to teach would accept a lower one. That too we see in our school. We simply cannot afford to offer $50,000 plus. Yet, because so many teachers are currently unemployed in our state, we have no problem finding highly qualified and wonderful teachers. In fact, our charter school has 100% highly qualified teachers while the local city school district only has 83%.

Yes, if universities...as a whole...simply refused to offer such high salaries...it's likely that those who truly wanted to teach would accept a lower salary.

But it's also likely that those who had to deal with modern society and its costs would move on to a better paying job.

There is a fundamental disconnect between elementary education, of which I'm assuming you're referring, and secondary/ university education. With elementary education, the teachers have a degree in education, while, with secondary and university education, the teachers have degrees in their respective professions. An elementary teacher teaching English will have a degree in elementary education...a high school teacher teaching English will have a degree in English. Likewise with History, Math, Phsyics, and so on.

The point is that unemployed educators are likely elementary school teachers, while those who are high school and university educators would be unemployed historians, chemists, and linguists.

I agree, those are factors.

• I think our reliance upon the government is another huge contributing factor. We now rely more and more on the government to take care of those family members that are elderly, ill, or otherwise incapacitated and unable to support themselves.
  
• Social climbing also contributes - that too I see within my own family. The wealthier members have little, and in most instances, nothing to do with the less weathly members.
  

Reliance upon the government is a horrible thing. Agreed. I have also seen the issue with social climbing; however, I've seen enough exceptions to that (particularly with my wife's family) to question whether or not this is the norm or the case with a minority of families.

Yes, and since the dawn of time, or at least the dawn of our country, we have cycled back and forth in trying to find a balance between greed and need. For small periods of time we wave at it as it we cycle toward one extreme or another. The current trend is for the rich to get richer, while the middle class becomes poorer

I would disagree with you on the current trend. I don't have time to look up economic statistics, but I've again seen enough examples of upward mobility with people to call it into question. Bill Gates started off as a poor geek. Oprah had a very humble beginning. Shoot, Andrew Carnegie started off as an accountant. There are plenty of other examples: I started off as an enlisted man in the Air Force...the next promotion I receive at work will be with the title "vice president of _____." The neighbor across the street from me started off as a stock girl at the electric company warehouse; she now runs the purchasing department for that same electric company. A couple of doors down, our neighbor came over as a poor immigrant from Italy: he is now the district manager for a large restaurant chain. Lots of other examples. Not that any of us are rich; around this area, we'd be classified as "middle class" or even "working class," but all of us, without exception, crawled our way to where we are now. And none of us are getting poorer.

(Having said that, I realize that there are different economic forces in play in Michingan as opposed to Maryland, but that's where the old "mobility" concept comes in play. A person could move to Maryland or Virginia or South Carolina or someplace else where jobs are)

The bottom line, Abigail, despite everything, is that we're both seeing the same things and are, in most cases, drawing the same conclusions from them. But I am seeing an underlying theme to those conclusions that causes me to see something below the surface. I think that's the crux of our disagreement.

[dancing]

10My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. 11God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 12If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 13He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. 14Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. 13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. 14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. 15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. 16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. 17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. 18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. 19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.