Charles Fischer [no relation to your blogger] arrived in New York City in 1890. A well-educated clerk from Stuttgart, Germany, he struggled in America, failing in real estate, in the saloon business, and finally in china plate decorating. He divorced and lost touch with his only child. Fischer wrote his mother, “I cannot stand this … Continue reading »
Baby Boom generation
The ’60s turn 50
We have a commemoration going on about the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and the great social changes, such as the Emancipation Proclamation, which accompanied it. There’s another anniversary coming up over the next 12 months or so: the 50th anniversary of “The ’60s,” by which I mean the 1960s as a distinct social, … Continue reading »
Job hunting: Timing is (not?) everything
Americans generally claim that what you get in life is mainly a result of what you put in, your talents and your effort. Yet it hard to deny that, often, factors outside a person’s control have major consequences — such as the year the person was born. This post is about what some social scientists … Continue reading »