The Duggar gals are firmly in the spotlight this summer, between Jinger’s rebellious move to LA , and that pile of babies on the way. But we haven’t entirely forgotten about the (admittedly less interesting) Duggar boys. Lately, fans have been wondering why these guys can’t seem to hold down a job unless it’s working for Jim Bob. It’s weird, right? With a family this large, you’d expect its members to have all kinds of careers. Basically, in the Duggar family, the men work, and the women get married and have kids. It’s like a rule, and they’re apparently very into it. It all goes back to the family’s religion. They’re devout followers of the Institute in Basic Life Principles ministry. The Duggar way of life stresses family ties, so much so that they basically disowned Jinger for moving away. So it’s not surprising that the men like to keep their jobs in the family when possible. And let’s not forget Jim Bob’s many business holdings. The man has a successful real estate business, a car lot, and several airplanes, not to mention a hit reality TV show about his life. Jim Bob would obviously have no problem finding a job for every man in the family. He’d probably put the kids to work too, if it weren’t for those pesky child labor laws. Of the boys who are old enough to work, Joseph, Josiah, and Jason Duggar are all apparently going into real estate. They’ll be following in the footsteps of Jim Bob, who began his career in real estate. Jim Bob reportedly still makes good money for the family through his real estate business, despite shifting his focus to Counting On . Hopefully the real estate game will be kind to Joseph, Josiah, and Jason. Jim Bob’s older boys weren’t exactly successful in their own careers. Josh Duggar, the eldest, had a brief but disastrous stint in politics. For two years Josh was the executive director of FRC Action, an organization that lobbied on behalf of the conservative hate group, Family Research Council. He was brought on board because the FRC assumed his fame would help their message appeal to kids. But as we now know, it was actually kids who appealed to Josh. In 2015 it came to light that Josh had molested five underage girls, and his family had helped him cover it up. 19 Kids and Counting was cancelled, and so was Josh’s career. Josh returned home in disgrace and now works at a used car dealership owned by his father. Josh’s younger brother, 29-year-old John-David, has a less loathsome story, though the bar is low. John has his pilot’s license, but he’s never quite reached the heights of success with it. Apparently he mostly uses it for flying his huge family around, instead of making an actual living as a pilot. John is also a constable in Washington County, Arkansas, though this is reportedly an unpaid volunteer position. So what is he doing for money? Perhaps he and Jim Bob have some kind of arrangement? We wonder what kind of benefits come with being the Duggars’ unofficial sky chauffeur. It seems like the Duggar family patriarch is happy to put his kids to work for the family, even if it’s not an actual position. The only exceptions seem to be for Jim Bob’s sons-in-law, who married into the family and don’t yet work for Jim Bob. Ben Seewald, who’s married to Jessa Duggar, is regularly blasted by fans for being unemployed. Jill’s hubbie Derick Dillard is also unemployed, but since he’s in law school, he has a pretty great excuse. Jinger, the “rebellious” one, married a minister. Truly wild stuff, huh? But her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, used to be a professional soccer player, which actually is pretty cool. So overall, the Duggar guys are all either unemployed, working in the church, or working for Jim Bob. What’s going on with the Duggar men? It would be unfair (and possibly untrue) to dismiss the Duggar boys unilaterally as clods who couldn’t make in the real work force. But it’s worth mentioning that the IBLP strongly discourages its members from seeking a college education. After all, during their education, they might be exposed to a viewpoint that isn’t shared by the church, God forbid. In fact, IBLP instructs men to avoid working for secular companies or employers. Men in the church are also discouraged from taking orders from a woman, even in a professional capacity. And this is what’s at the root of this whole trend of Duggar guys just working for themselves. They have a feverish obedience to fringe religious beliefs that prevent them from working for non-Christians or even women. We hear about the women in this community being opressed, at least from an outsider’s perspective. But this way of life doesn’t leave a lot of choices for the men either, and we can see that in the careers these guys have chosen. It’s either work to serve your family, work to serve your faith community, or don’t work at all. But the family is always growing, and several more Duggar boys have yet to reach working age. Here’s hoping they buck the trend. View Slideshow: The Duggars: Hated in Their Hometown?
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Jim Bob Duggar: Forcing ALL His Sons to Work for Him?
