The March 7, 2007 (yep, tomorrow' s, today!) edition of The Washington Post has a great column by Harold Meyerson that gives some compelling explanations of some of the major reasons behind the decline in "traditional" families among working-class Americans,  You can find his column at the following link:

Meyerson correctly points out how so many of those who have prated about "family values" over these past 25 or so years have often supported policies, especially economic and labor policies, that are anything but pro-family (or, for that matter, pro-people).  As he writes,"disperse a vibrant working-class community in America and you disperse the vibrant working-class family."

That' s ultimately exactly what many in right-wing economic and political circles want--the destruction of any sense of community or unity among working people in America, the fragmentation of community--and any possibility of unified, organized, effective resistance to abuses from business, government, and the like--by making working Americans fearful and insecure economically, making them feel that "looking out for number one" is their only option to survive, isolated and powerless.

Together, as many wonderful examples from American and human history show, people have more power than most ever dream possible.

As at least one perceptive high-school alternative journalist of the 1960s noted, the motto of those in power is "Divide and conquer."  Ours must thus be "Unite and conquer."  Let' s never cease to confront them with the three things that, as another such journalist pointed out, they fear most:  questions, unity, and resistance.

Just as Norman Mailer famously said that America would benefit from having more single people on the ground that single people were more difficult to control (I agree!), America has benefited from--and will benefit through the return in strength of--a vibrant working-class community with likewise vibrant families and individuals!

Yes.  If one is truly pro-family, one will support economic and labor policies that strengthen family and individual life for all American families and their members, not merely those who are obscenely wealthy and powerful. So let' s unite as a community to demand, win back, and build upon pro-worker, pro-labor, and truly pro-family policies!

For one of the most powerful and inspiring statements of how necessary and powerful it is for each and all of us to join with like-minded others to bring about positive change, check out Marge Piercy' s famous poem The Low Road.

The Low Road actually describes the high road. Dare to care.  Remember, think--and take action.