Critical age

[P2052 at AOL.COM]

That same "socioeconomic" argument can be used for the survival of
nonstandard dialects!  Trying to tell people about how bright a distant
future they can have "if  only . .  .," doesn't work very well when they are
so preoccupied with a grim present.  At most, they can envision only an
immediate future--that is, the next moment--if they survive the present one.
Oftentimes, the only "powers that be" with which many of them can relate are
those that pose immediate threats:  the elements and other people.   As
Maslow so aptly demonstrated in his hierarchy of motives, more basic needs
must be met before higher level ones are even considered.  Thus, concerns
about biological factors, safety, love and belonging, and self-esteem tend to
be met first; then, intellectual, aesthetic, and self-actualization motives
are activated.
                                PAT