Tolstoy began his great novel, Anna Karenina with this famous line: “Happy families are all alike; unhappy families are all unhappy in their own way”. My grandchildren don’t know or can’t remember what it was like to live through impeachment proceedings. But this will be my third rodeo, and I can tell you that each impeachment hearing is different–and unhappy– in it’s own way.

The Nixon resignation in 1974 was the first impeachment proceeding I had seen in my lifetime

NIXON WAS ON THE VERGE OF IMPEACHMENT WHEN HE RESIGNED

The Nixon debacle came at a time when my personal life was in turmoil. My then husband lost his job in the recession. I returned to school to get my dietitian’s license, while raising three children under 7. I was so tied up with financial worries, exhaustion, and stress, that Nixon’s impeachment was the farthest thing from my mind. As a university grad assistant, I heard college professors discussing Watergate. . I didn’t see impeachment as a major concern, or anything that would change my life for the better or worse. . Nixon’s resignation speech was painful to watch, but life went on pretty much the same. I know I voted for Jimmy Carter in the next election.

Comic photo of Bill Clinton wearing Monica Lewinski's blue dress

EPSTEIN HAD THIS STRANGE PICTURE OF BILL CLINTON IN A BLUE DRESS

The Clinton impeachment hearings came at a time when my children were raised, and I was nearing retirement. That winter, I came down with the flu, and spent hours on my computer with the Drudge report. It was like reading an enactment of the National Inquirer; sex, lies, and the famous blue dress. It was great entertainment and got me through a rough bout with the flu. For Republicans, is was schadenfreude at it’s best. Even liberals found the cigar wielding president a salacious distraction. When the impeachment didn’t pass the Senate, I don’t remember being upset. My life would go on pretty much the same, although I would miss the presidential soap opera.

Now we have the Trump impeachment inquiries. I’m probably not going to watch the hearings during the day. They won’t have near the entertainment value that we had with Bill Clinton’s time on the hot seat. And of course, it will be all over the news, night and day, until the final vote is taken. But from my standpoint, this impeachment would have much more impact on our nation.

If Trump goes down, a liberal president is a foregone conclusion. And most everyone’s life will change. Like it or not, we will have Medicare for all. Since I’m already on Medicare, it won’t make much difference to me. But as we seniors know, Medicare A doesn’t cover everything. I’m wondering what will happen to the cost of supplemental insurance and Medicare part B? My husband and I currently pay over $10,000 a year for this coverage. . Will the premiums go up even more than they have the past few years? For sure, taxes will increase to pay for all the freebies. Since my time on this earth is limited, it won’t change my life so very much. . But the direction of my grandchildren’s future will take a sharp left turn.

When I graduated from an all girls high school in 1953, it cost $15 per semester hour to attend the local state teachers college. If you lived at home, you could pay for that with baby sitting money. Strange as it may seem, only 10% of my class went on to college. Why was that? What happened in the old days when college was cheap?

college degrees are losing their luster — Free College May Not Make Much Difference to High School Graduates

Young women weren’t motivated to attend college in the hope of getting a better job. In those days, most girls got engaged to be married before they were 20. Why bother with college at all? And for those of us who scrimped and saved and slogged our way through college, it didn’t really pay off. A good secretary who learned to type and take shorthand in high school made as much as a teacher.

Girls who went on to college were accused of looking for an “MRS degree.” It was assumed they were only interested in finding a well educated husband, who could provide a better life than a truck driver. . And it must have worked. If you read the obituaries of octogenarians who were prominent in society, it often says they met their husbands while attending such and such university.

Back then, most women who did graduate and entered the work force got married in a couple of years, had kids, moved to the suburbs, and became stay at home wives. Their hard earned college degree wasn’t nearly as helpful as reading Dr. Spock.

The birth control pill in 1960 marked the beginning of the women’s liberation movement. “Good” girls didn’t have to get married in order to enjoy sex. And they didn’t have to have kids unless and until they were good and ready. Employers began hiring women to fill traditional male occupations., and paying them better salaries. Their college degrees paid off if they studied accounting, engineering, or medicine. As more and more women attended college, tuition and fees went up. That small teachers college in my home town became a State University. Enrollment multiplied five times over the years.

Now, I see the pendulum swinging the other way. A college degree is beginning to lose it’s luster. Enrollment is declining. With salaries rising for skilled trade jobs, and the $15 an hour wage looming on the horizon, it hardly seems worth it to pile up half a lifetime of student loan debt. https://livingwellafter80.com/why-some-bright-kids-drop-out-of-college/

And, let’s face it. We’re heading toward socialism. When health care and a college education are free, then there’s less incentive to spend four years of your life in a classroom when you could get a good skilled trade job, buy a house, and start a family before you’re thirty. As a matter of fact, waitresses and bartenders now make more than many college grads.

I’m all for a free college education as proposed by numerous presidential candidates. Just don’t be surprised if a lot of young people aren’t interested in taking advantage of it.

Tag: medicare for all

EACH IMPEACHMENT IS DIFFERENT

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN COLLEGE WAS CHEAP?

I’m all for a free college education as proposed by numerous presidential candidates. Just don’t be surprised if a lot of young people aren’t interested in taking advantage of it.