Romney's wife

[bae]

"I wonder how long before the campaign machines start going after the candidates' children as well." (bae)

I meant in this election cycle. We've certainly seen it in previous cycles.

I'd hoped we were past that sort of thing.

[ctg492]

Guess I will go eat bonbons now and bow out of this conversation.

[Spartana]

A bit later in the same Wiki article it goes on to say:

Guess I should read the whole thing :-)! But I believe that for her (and him) it was more a matter of choice than need. Knowing that you both have wealth, options and opportunity to fall back on is huge. A working class couple in the same situation may be living on the edge - having to make the choice between food or medicine for their kids. That's a reality that millions of parents deal with everyday - especially in this economy - and they often have no where where to fall except down if things get worse. Can't afford anti-biotics for baby Jimmy's cut finger - well that might turn into an infection that takes his life. Mom and Dad both have to work or they, and baby Jimmy, will be out on the street or living at a homeless shelter. Need gas for the car, pay for a sitter or daycare to get to your job because it's the only way you'll have medical coverage and money to support your family. Real life for many millions of people. Again, I'm not saying Ann Romney can't relate to those people, but she is in a different situation and shouldn't be compared to those who struggle everyday to just survive.

[JaneV2.0]

How is it mean-spirited to point out that Mrs. Romney (herself reportedly raised by one) may have employed nannies? It's common among upper- and upper-middle class families. Personally, I have no opinion of Ann Romney other than she has led an exceptionally privileged life free of worries about employment, health care, and other challenges most of us face. She doesn't, in any way, factor into my opinion of her husband's fitness to govern.

[iris lily]

...
As far as her credentials that her husband mentioned? Well, how do we know she's not capable of reporting women's issues? Just because she hasn't been tested in the workplace?

We don't know, she may be. But I'm not electing her and it's annoying to have her in the mix of policy making although I don't see that Mitt Romney intended to go that far.

I was annoyed when Hillary Clinton (who I did NOT elect) was appointed to put together the Clinton health plan back in the day. I didn't elect Hillary and it gave me the skeevies when she was elbowing her way into the business of governing. Mind you I do not dislike Hil, I disliked her actions. Michelle Obama has her pet projects which are appropriate First Lady interests and she is a good ambassador for them.

[Gregg]

Certainly neither Romney has the vaguest idea how the rest of us live...

A couple years ago we went to Mexico to climb a mountain and spent a few days in a village at the base waiting for others to arrive. The people in that village live a lifestyle far more removed from mine than I would guess yours is from the Romneys. And yet, after spending just that extremely short amount of time with them I think I have a pretty fair idea of how they live. I'm not exactly sure what anyone thinks is so very different about the Romneys of the world compared to the rest of us. I'm proud of my kids, I think they are, too. I have a TV, a car, clothes, furniture, a tooth brush and several other trappings of the modern world. I bet they do, too. The people I met in Mexico might be shocked by flat screens and indoor plumbing*. Its a pretty big step from their world to mine, like a 300 year step. The difference between the Romneys and me is infinitesimal compared to that. Statements regarding how they can't relate always seem to have a ring of class envy.


* I don't mean to play these people up as a lost tribe in the Amazon, they aren't. They are simply remote enough that many of the conveniences we enjoy on a daily basis haven't arrived there yet. They didn't appear any worse off for that.

[bae]

But at the same time, this topic is based on the assumption that money is THE fulcrum around which life must spin and to be smart we have to have a "what's mine is mine" mentality, and I'm disappointed that we self-proclaimed simple-livers are judging people on the basis of their choice not to get a "job."

I find it sad that the culture of money/get-a-job/be-your-own-dog has become so pervasive that it is viewed as "foolish" to rely upon others for your economic survival. We are social creatures - no human lives for long on their own. We must interact with family, neighbors, community members, even strangers for our continued happy survival. We do as a species rely upon each other for hundreds of things - you can see this by examining for even a moment any non-money-based "primitive" society.

To have culturally been pushed to the point where even the closest family members are "foolish" for relying upon one another, to view as "wisdom" that each should have to work in a cube receiving pieces of paper with a President's picture on it for economic security, well, we've surely lost something essential along the way.

If people want to be lonely cogs in a machine serving the almighty economy, that's their choice. But I don't think it is foolish to follow another path.

[catherine]

How is it mean-spirited to point out that Mrs. Romney (herself reportedly raised by one) may have employed nannies?

It's mean-spirited to disparage mothering skills because you've chosen to delegate some of the tasks.

[bae]

It's mean-spirited to disparage mothering skills because you've chosen to delegate some of the tasks.

It's also a bit obnoxious to suggest that one human cannot reasonably understand the circumstances and issues facing another human, unless they've gone through exactly the same circumstances themselves. Handy though if you want to divide people, instead of unite them.

[Stella]

If a woman choses to stay home with kids because she has a husband that supports her financially it's wonderful, but if a mother takes some aid (welfare) because she finds herself a single mom raising kids she's a scumbag. I don't get it. And don't tell me it's because welfare costs some vast fortune because that argument lacks the virtue of even being true.

IRL I don't know anyone who actually thinks a single mother getting help is a scumbag. It's the kind of thing people say in snarky internet comments at the bottom of articles on yahoo to tick off people who disagree with them, but it's extraordinarily simplistic. FWIW I agree with you wholeheartedly that it is not a position I could wrap my head around either.

I really meant that I'm not super judgemental to such lifestyles.

Maybe it's just due to the limitations of the internet as a communication device, but your posts on this topic have come across as extremely judgmental and condescending towards at-home parents.

A 30 hour week would solve the problem of a woman having to choose between having some time to spend with her kids and not having to depend on a man for economic survival. Little real world problems like that.

I think this is a simplistic representation of a choice that has about as many variables as there are people faced with the choice. Adding barbs like, "little real world problems like that" is condescending and dismissive. My point is that, while there are some people who would no doubt love to work a 30 hour workweek, and I am all for there being more part-time opportunities for those who want them, the situation each woman finds herself in is complex and personal and there is not likely to be one "solution" that fits all. I don't see it as one unified Problem to be Solved. There may be, among the various considerations a woman (or man) makes problems that can be solved at a broader level (health care is a good example), but framing the discussion in a way that invalidates what is, to me, a perfectly reasonable choice for many people made with through a thoughtful weighing of the pros and cons and sets that decision up as a problem to be solved is probably not constructive. The "real world" as you term it, is not even remotely that simple.