Wednesday's child

Hi,
Today, my brother had a child. Well he didn't but his wife did. Obviously.
I immediately began thinking to myself about the country that this child is born into. Will the child be akin to a child of the eighties which I am? Will the child not know the glories of the money rich 90s kids who lived a life of richness til the age of 30 while still sponging off their parents?
I also began to wonder if we really are richer today than we were in the 1980s. I got to thinking about the huge levels of debts that we have amassed since we left college. Last month, I paid several bills including phone, credit card, mortgage and car loan. I remembered back to the 1980s and thought about the bills faced by my own parents. They didn't qualify for a credit card. They built a lovely house through scrimping and saving. No mortgage. We didn't have a phone in our house until the mid 1990s and they also paid for their car through scrimping and saving. They also had 9 beautiful children + me, which made 10. Were we any worse off? No. All ten of us went to college. We all worked part time throughout college and gained high honours. We are, all of us, professionals now. And we are all crippled with debt which is going to haunt most of us for a further 30 years. My new nephew is the first niece or nephew in our family. No one has had a child outside of marriage, touch wood, because we were brought up to believe that it wasn't a stable environment to bring children into until we were married and had a proper house to bring a child into. Somehow, I believe that we were richer then. Despite our government telling us that we have never had it so good, I don't believe it to be true. We owe more money now than our parents did then. Our health system, if anything, has deteriorated to an extent that it is pathetic. Our roads are still of a third world standard (and those that aren't are blocked up with traffic) and our literacy and numeracy skills are sliding off the scale. Children are now being taught science in National Schools, even though they don't know how to write properly. The study SPHE before they can do their 12 times tables. They enter secondary school as idiots, and it's getting worse every year. I don't blame the teachers in National Schools or Secondary. I believe they do a great job and the good ones aren't getting paid half enough. They are merely following the curriculum laid down for them by our wonderful government. Why? SPHE is the brainchild of a few government departments to stem the abuse of alcohol, drugs and so forth and also to teach kids about sex. Therefore, this takes all blame away from parents. If my child gets pregnant, becomes a drug addict or an alcoholic, whose fault is it? The teachers. God forbid, there's no way my child would have got involved in these things if the school taught her properly about safe sex and how not to use drugs. Every damn thing that's wrong in society - It should be incorporated into the education system. Meanwhile, the children then come out with 200 points in their leaving certs and it's the teachers who are to blame. Never mind that the number of classes per subject has been cut to allow for this shit to be taught to kids. Parents, take some f**king responsibility for your own kids. Now, I'm not a teacher. I wouldn't dream of doing it because I've seen friends of mine leave the profession in their droves because they have been verbally and physically abused by kids. When their parents come in, they stand up for the kids and by the by there people, schools don't even have the power to expel the kids anymore, even if they thumped the living crap out of a teacher or fellow student.
My nephew is going to grow up in possibly poorer times than the children of the 1990s. I hope to God that he grows up to be well adjusted in this shit state, which Fianna Fáil continue to congratulate themselves for. Thanks very much lads, you've done a great f**king job. And Bertie, you horrible illiterate weasel. Enjoy your time in America preaching to congress. Clearly, they don't mind corrupt f**kers like you. I hope your address is written and read properly. You can always blame your school if isn't