When a phenomenon that’s endured for millennia comes to be thought of as a “miracle,” something is seriously wrong.
Usually, it’s the other way around. Partially or fully incomprehensible events, developments, processes, habits and such are initially interpreted by the myths of mystics. In time, facts, evidence, logic, and reason force woo-woo to play defense, and informed, intelligent people accept rational explanations.
But as — ironically — a rabbi once put it, “Modern society, having long ago lost its moorings in reality, today drifts aimlessly on a sea of silliness.” This summer, another valuable documentation of our folly arrived in the form of “The Utah Family Miracle: Five Policy Ideas to Keep Utah Families Strong and Stable.”
Published by the Sutherland Institute and Institute for Family Studies, the report itself is far from silly. Indeed, it’s bold, top-notch research, and should be required reading for anyone concerned about the nation’s socioeconomic regression. Its silliness, whether intended or not by authors Brad Wilcox, Jenet Erickson, and Patrick T. Brown, is its reference to Utahns’ attitude toward education, work, marriage, and child-rearing as a “miracle.”
It’s barely worth mentioning the Beehive State’s position as a wealth- and job-creation superstar. Ranking No. 1, or very close to it, on index after index, Utah is “marked by exceptional economic growth, a favorable business climate, and high rates of economic mobility.” But while limited government deserves plenty of credit for the boom, a silent partner makes an enormous contribution.
Utah’s high-school graduation rate is strong. The state has the lowest illegitimacy rate in the nation — about 20 percentage points better than the U.S. median. Within its borders, over “four in five children [are] being raised in a married-couple family.” Participation in the labor force is almost embarrassingly robust.
In other words, Utahns hew to the success sequence.
Popularized by the Brookings Institution’s Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill — nope, not Dr. Dobson and Focus on the Family — the success sequence is a three-item list. Follow the instructions, and not only are you all but assured to avoid poverty, you’re likely to enjoy middle-class (or better) comfort.
1. Earn a high-school diploma. 2. Obtain and keep a full-time job. 3. Do not have children outside of wedlock. A “miracle” today, perhaps. A broadly accepted norm not too long ago.
When kids are raised in loving, stable, two-parent households, and consistently witness the adults around them acting in diligent and conscientious ways, “child outcomes in school, physical and emotional health, poverty, and criminal justice” are stellar. Yeah — shocking. “[A]dult outcomes in physical and emotional health, poverty, criminal justice, and labor force attachment” are linked to the quality of family life, too. Wow — mind blown.
As the title of their report indicates, Wilcox, Erickson, and Brown worry about the Beehive State’s ability to sustain its social vigor. And they support a number of policies “designed to sustain the Utah Family Miracle.” They’re intriguing, if not libertarian-friendly, tools. Reasonable people can disagree about the appropriateness and efficacy of a marriage-license discount in exchange for “at least six hours of premarital education,” a “child allowance” to “help make family life more affordable,” and a “Commission on Men and Boys.”
What’s not debatable is that the nation looks nothing like Utah. And some of the United States of Self-Destruction’s scariest trends are worsening. Between 1999 and 2017, the “number of alcohol-related deaths” in America “more than doubled.” (Boozing “caused nearly 13% of deaths in … adults under 65 between 2015 and 2019.”) The “overdose death rate involving fentanyl nearly quadrupled between 2016 and 2021.” There’s a “mental health and suicide crisis, especially among adolescents and young adults.” Due to an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation,” the surgeon general has crafted “a framework for a ‘National Strategy to Advance Social Connection.’”
No top-down cultural shift would aid our deeply unhappy land more than if pols, pundits, religious officials, business leaders, and entertainment figures began to focus attention on how Utah validates the success sequence. Imagine it. No more frothing about the phantom of “institutional racism.” No more fearmongering about Russia and/or China. No more nonsense about an invasion of Mexico. In its place, a frank discussion of the beliefs and behaviors that foster individual and societal flourishing.
Okay, it’s a pipe dream. Americans don’t make judgments anymore. They don’t hold anyone accountable for laziness and selfishness. Shunning and stigmatizing, well, they’re just plain mean. We’re a “kinder, gentler” nation now. And everything we do is for the children.
How’s that working for us?
Dowd. I'm on the road traveling and don't have time for normal research. Have you ever seen a reliable source for NM's illegitimacy rate and how it compares?
You neglected to explain that Utah is the home of the LDS and a hugely Mormon State! Their morals and family values permeate the society and it has an overwhelmingly strong effect on life choices for young people. Although, that polygamy thing is a pretty strange detraction for the normal homosapien! But when in Rome!!