Education and its Consequences: My Philosophy of Life

Abstract

Family has always been a major influence on my life. My parents, despite the problems of their marriage, gave me great love and attention. Although their families' circumstances made it impossible for either of them to finish high school, they respected learning and were pleased that both their children pursued academic careers. My brother was my closest companion in childhood and has been a loyal friend and critic since then. Our parents' strong social concerns undoubtedly played a role in our choice of fields and our approach to research: the social sciences applied to problems of social policy. As a child, I was frequently visiting or being visited by my grandparents (immigrants from Austria and Poland), and dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins who would crowd into our apartment in the Bronx to celebrate birthdays, graduations, and holidays. At times these visits conflicted with more urgent matters such as a baseball game or a chance to meet girls, but on balance the many hours spent with different generations contributed much to my develop ment and sense of identity. For the past forty-five years my wife has been my dearest friend, my most enthusiastic sup porter, my most valuable critic. I am constantly amazed at her ability to nurture our family and my career while pursuing her own. Our children and their spouses have added another dimension of love and understanding and each of them has taught me a great deal. They share with me their knowledge of other fields, they sensitize me to different perspec tives, and they provide windows into the next generation. Our grandchildren are a source of inspiration and I hope that they will appreciate my research on the problems of children [1992] and women's quest for economic equality [1989]. To move from the specific to the general, why is family so important? One reason is because it is our first experience with an system. This has been defined by Kenneth Boulding [1968] as a system that involves such things as status, identity, love, hate, benevo lence, malevolence, legitimacy?the whole raft of social institutions which defines roles in such a way that you do things because of what you are and because of what I am. Economists in particular need to be aware that the market (exchange) and government (threat) are not the only institutions available to allocate resources and distribute income. Families, religious com munities, professions, and other integrative systems are of crucial importance in some societies and can continue to serve vital functions even in our own.