One thing that has been said by a friend to me about the 2010s is that it just has been a trip back to the 1970s. The 1970s were a chaotic and, in many ways, hate driven era of American politics, more so than typically: the Black Panthers, George Wallace, Richard Nixon, Kent State, Vietnam, Harvey Milk, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. When becoming president after the resignation of Richard Nixon, Ford referred to his presidency as the "end" of a long national nightmare.

The possibility of a Donald Trump presidency, as disturbing and disorienting as that is, is seeming more and more like a real possibility every day. Trump is blatantly advocating for an authoritarian regime and voters seem to be responding positively in kind.

“Family values” is spoken of often in politics. It usually alludes to incredibly superficial issues – same sex marriage or abortion being among them. The actual politics of raising a family in this society are not mentioned often.

It’s incredibly expensive to raise a child in this country. Daniel Marans, a reporter for the Huffington Post, said that, in many states, it is actually “more expensive than college.” More specifically, the cost of child care for one infant exceeded that of the cost of in state tuition at a public four year university.