It seems like we went extended family 👉 nuclear family 👉 lonely atomisation
But history isn't inevitable trends. Any signs community might grow/strengthen in the future?
Nope. The market is the driving force of society so all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, etc.
Sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky to me.
Blood ties aren't becoming unimportant in the short or medium term future.
Sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky to me.
yes it is w/o the parts they left out; but it's still realistic.
like blood family, chosen family can disintegrate as well; so expect a rotating cast with maybe one or two in-for-life members.
also it takes A LOT more effort to maintain those relationships with a chosen family; especially as you age.
Yes, but it requires moving away from the automobile as the primary form of transit, and shifting the balance of labor relations more towards workers. The main antagonist of extended families is the expectation that skilled workers relocate for jobs.
Blood does not a family make. It just means the composition looks different.
Any signs community might grow/strengthen in the future?
Community and extended family are different things.
Community is a choice blood doesn't specify. You can choose or find yourself lucky enough to live in a community that's engaging. I live in a major US city. My particular block isn't super engaging but I know, and am jealous of, a number of nearby blocks and neighborhoods that are incredibly supportive and engaging with each other - despite or in spite of the appearances or affiliations of the individuals.
Inversely, extended family may be more physically separated than in generations past. We've lost most connection with relatives in favor of the choice to live in an area that's more advantageous to us - be it financially or spiritually or physically beneficial.
I've observed more instances of people establishing their own "extended family" through their communities. I'm not so sure there's an inherent advantage of the extended family being made of blood or friendship.
Also, I'm not sure how you define "extended family". I hang out with some of my first cousins all the time. Second cousins, not so much. Are aunts and uncles extended family - if not "nuclear family"? I see them too often, tbh.
We should ask the Multivac if the decay of the extended family can be reversed.
No, it's not a vacuum cleaner. The "ac" at the end stands for "automatic computer".
As others have said, community isn't family.
Honestly, a lot of what kept a lot of extended families together in the past was economic necessity. People needed a group to depend on and the family unit was the initial group to do so. You'd forgive a lot of what your family members did as family cohesion was more economically important than morality.
Some people will say this is only a product of capitalism, but this is also a communist issue as well. If the economy can provide for everyone, then the economic need for the family is removed. In contrast, familial ties in capitalist structures are usually when everyone is very poor and no one has the means to sever familial ties.
