What happened to the good old housewife?

I do not see too many girls who want to become housewives these days. It is almost as if staying at home and bringing up kids is inferior to having a power job. My mother has been the most important person in the family for the better part of the last three decades. She has pretty much molded our (dad’s included) lives. Now before this turns into a eulogy (are you reading max?) for my mother, let me get back to the topic I have been thinking about.
Right, so why is it today we believe that a working woman is somehow superior to a housewife. The lady with a job brings greater financial security to the household. But the housewife is able to give something which is a lot more important than that: her time. There are some things only a woman can do. Teaching a kid right from wrong is definitely one of them. I believe that making sure that our future generations turn out well is the single most important task we perform today. It is not just charity that begins at home. This is where it all begins. The whole character of person is made or marred during those formative years. The conscience of humanity and indeed its survival depends on the quality (not talking intelligence here) of our people. And it is the mother’s responsibility for the simple reason that she is better equipped for it (I have always known that I am a chauvinist in these matters. But that is how it is).
So why am I writing this today? Because I heard someone talking to a colleague of mine asking her to “put in more work towards getting a management degree, or prepare to just bring up kids and look after your home”. That to my mind is simply not fair. We do not give our mothers the respect they deserve. And as such, no girl would today be willing to be “just a mother”. Besides that there is the issue of financial independence. That seems to me a rather strange argument. I wonder what kind of a marriage it is where one person needs to be financially independent of the other. The concept is so very alien to me that I am not able to produce counterarguments.
I am not a lucky person. Perhaps that is because I used up most of my share of luck when He gave me my mother.
Why do I get the feeling there is a lot left unsaid every time I end one these things?

Art or Science?

Now there is a question most of us dealt with after we "matriculated". Yeah, I know I should be adding commerce to the list too, but more on that another day. So what makes us decide if we want to be artists or scientists? Most of the time it is the economic consideration (of course kids are supposedly "non economic"….But parents are not, are they?)
But besides that, why do we assume (oh, of course we do not assume anything….it is just the ignorant pagans who do) that a career with science is superior to one with art? If it was just economics, then we should be enrolling en masse for courses in politics and underworld management (Did I tell you I am good at tautology?). Those are the most lucrative career options by far with the only prerequisites being an atrophied conscience and skin like a rhino. Did someone say ethical?
But I am diverging from the topic. Now that I think about it (and I have been for a couple of days), there is more to be done with the mind than there is with the brain. The mind is mostly uncharted territory for us while we have been doing better with the brain for the last couple of centuries. I believe that art will eventually lead us to understanding our minds. And that the mind has immense power is not a theory I need to repeat here. We have been developing our physical prowess admirably ever since James Watt inspired the industrial revolution. And frankly, science seems to me a lot easier to master than art. Like the lady who used to teach us mechanical engineers, basic electronics used to say "You can understand mechanical engineering as you can see the shafts and the rollers. You wont get the hang of Electronics since you cannot see the electron" Science deals with what can be seen or measured. Art deals with the abstract. Isn't the unknown fascinating anymore?
All it needs is one idea for the focus of humanity to change. And if we do not encourage good people to get into art, that idea may never come.

The Interface

One of the primary requirements to succeed in life these days is to have good interfaces. We need interfaces to interact with everyone from the people we work with to prospective employers, from our friends to our competition, salesmen to the road side beggar. So much that it becomes an effort to really remember what we feel and think truly.
Honesty has become a dangerous virtue. And it is in some way because we do not expect others to be honest in their dealings with us. Dishonesty has been taken for granted to such an extent that nothing ever is taken at face value anymore. From professional to personal, there is a factor of safety we have built into our judgment of other people. Take a job interview for instance. Two and two is five for the candidate and three for the interviewer if you are talking about experience or vice e versa when remuneration is the issue. And woe to the candidate who asks for just the salary he deserves. To be really free, we all need the freedom to be ourselves. Today we deny this freedom to those around us. We expect people to be perfect and in turn pretend to be perfect. The funny thing is that we know no one is. So wouldnt it make more sense to look for someone who is honest about his abilities?
There is a lot more to say. But I cant find the right words which will suit my interface here.