Tuesday, June 11, 2013

BeerGraphs, a blog about beer (duh)

Hello internetters!  Regular readers (Hi Mom!) may have noticed that I've been posting less here than usual.  There is a reason for that: I'm lazy.  However, I have an excuse in this case: I'm writing for another blog called BeerGraphs!  If you're into beer (and to a lesser extent, statistics and such), you should check it out!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Erick Erickson wants everyone to know that he is definitely not mean

Indeed, he wants everyone to know that he's not mean at all, just a harsh truth-teller.  As you may have seen, Erick Erickson recently came out and informed everyone that women were better stay-at-home parents than men, because of science, apparently.

Now, my first reaction, and probably yours as well, is that Erick Erickson must have grown up in a difficult area where the only source of food was an endless supply of baby seals that had to be clubbed to feed the family, and his mother just lacked the fortitude needed to perform such a vicious act. 

So, uh, right.  Anyway.  Point is, Erick has become aware that people are upset by this, so he has considered his position and issued a sincere apolo--haha, nope, he's just decided to write an extensive article regarding 1) why he's right and 2) why he's not mean.  Apparently, a guy who insinuates that women are unable to keep up in the workplace (and, conversely, that men are ill-suited for solo parenting) is really desperate for our approval.  Let's see what he has to say!

The Truth May Hurt, But Is Not Mean


Hey, I agree!  People are really biased about things like this, which sometimes leads to them making offensive statements.  Really finding some great common ground here.

I am shocked to learn I think women cannot be breadwinners.

So was I!  Now that you've noticed how silly that is, have you reconsidered anything?


That darn LEFT.  Every time!


I really find it incredible that someone can look at a veritable mob of people that disagree with them, see all of the various reasons why they might disagree and circumstances that might differ for every single person, and then say, "Whaaaaaat?  I did it, so why can't you?"  The term "first-hand experience" should appear in a piece like this roughly, oh, nowhere.


What an interesting personal story that has nothing at all to do with whether women being primary breadwinners is a problem.  This is the equivalent of a child bursting into tears when he gets in trouble so that you'll feel sorry for him (luckily, I personally don't feel sympathy for children, so I have no problem with telling them or Erick that they can just fuck right off with the sob story).


See, Erick, this is where all the actual single dads stopped reading.  "Thank God I was saved from being one of those!  Single dadhood would have sucked, right?"


You keep saying we and then telling us something that she did.  And then you said that "God truly blessed us" as if it was something he did, as opposed to your wife agreeing to stay home with the kids because your sorry ass clearly didn't want to.

I work three jobs rather constantly, but am fortunate to do most of it from home.

Like I give a fuck.  You're a commenter on Fox--I'm sure you'll be just fine.

All of this is to say there are many people who’ve heard what I said and think I’m judging them.

What?  All of that was to say that you have it hard and God helped by making your wife stay home or some such bullshit.

I am not.

lol ok


Evidence for your position: one anecdote you told that is maybe kind of related at best
Evidence against your position: pretty much all of the other things

Ladies, if you want to work that’s fine.

Ladies, make sure you thank Erick for so kindly granting you permission to work.


"It's totally OK to go with whatever arrangement you personally think works best for you!  Just so you know, all the other ones other than mine are wrong, though.  If you're OK with wrong, then that's totally fine!"



Gosh, I just can't imagine you saying something that would bother people.  Also, I'm not sure you know what "emo" is.


The facts you have presented here are that nearly four in ten families now rely on a woman as the primary breadwinner and that many people are concerned by this.  None of that is evidence that your statement is accurate, it's just evidence that a lot of people agree with you.  Also, the specific wording in the study was "Three-fourths of those surveyed say these mothers make raising children harder."  I'm sure some of those people agree with your reasoning, but it's entirely possible that if you asked a stay-at-home dad if raising children was harder when his wife worked full-time, he'd be like, "Well, duh."  Making sweeping conclusions based on a single question from a single survey won't always work out well for you. 


The LEFT strikes again!


And in others, the male is the primary caregiver for the offspring.  In others, the female is the stronger protector in the family.  In yet others, a single female is dominant over thousands and thousands of subordinates.  Nature is weird as hell and it's kinda bizarre to say, "Well, look at those animals!  We should emulate them when it comes to deciding which member of the family physically fights to defend the family goes out to earn green pieces of paper that we trade for goods and services."

It’s the female who tames the male beast.*

*Except in lots of cases, such as:


If you're trying to argue that animals all follow some universal family structure, you're going to find that about all of the species are exceptions.  I did enjoy the amount of shade you're throwing at MSNBC there.


Erick is strongly implying that he is really just a bold, outspoken rebel who is willing to stand against the tide of...people telling women they can be successful in ways of their choosing, I guess. 


When did gay parents enter this discussion?  It seems like someone who's so insistent on there being a mother in the house would love the idea of having two mothers, though I suppose the other way around might be an issue for Erick.  Anyway, if we follow his previous logic, we can always look to the animal kingdom for evidence as to whether there's a problem with gay parents, right?


"Single moms have a really difficult time, because we insult them by offering assistance."



Erick spends several paragraphs talking about how being a single mom is difficult, all of which is somehow evidence that in a two-parent home, mothers should stay in the home and fathers should work.  Being a single parent certainly is tough, but that has little bearing on Erick's point about which parents should stay home.

As a society, once we moved past that basic recognition, we’ve been on a downward trajectory of more and more broken homes and maladjusted youth.  Pro-science liberals seem to think basic nature and biology do not apply to Homo sapiens.


Sounds great!

in the liberal fantasy world.

Erick's problem is that his version of "liberal fantasy world" sounds awesome.  Well, that and all the other problems.  Still, I have to say, he's really convinced me of some things--admittedly, they're all probably the opposite of what he was hoping to convince his readers of, but still!