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The Postmodern Family Clan

macroaffairs.com

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Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#21

Post by 0x445442 »

I see these types of stories as propaganda aiming to placate younger generations into accepting a lower standard of living than their predecessors. The ones I really get a kick out of are all the Tiny Home shows popping up.

I know, I know, some people really are embracing simplicity and being unencumbered by the responsibilities past generations faced. However, what these types of stories are really saying is; sorry but because of inflation and the ponzi scheme that is our financial system you young folks are just not going to have what your parents and grandparents had so you'd better start embracing things like family cohabitation and tiny homes.

Instead of accepting this drivel I'd really like to see the gen Zers call bullshit and start demanding that they can be plumbers, electricians, nurses etc. AND still have single, detached family dwellings in Palo Alto.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#23

Post by josephpmay »

This concept really appeals to me, but I’m disappointed the article failed to talk at all about what could go wrong. Another comment here discussed the difficulty in decision making for big life choices, but in addition to that what happens when one of the couples falls out of love and wants to divorce? Suddenly the other couple might be expected to “choose sides” and the messiness of a normal divorce is compounded by semi-related children and communal responsibilities.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#24

Post by iguy »

hanklazard wrote: post #14

Interesting read. I think this idea underestimated the challenges posed by having more adults in a family unit, especially when major decisions are made. Life events like moving to a new city, finding new employment, etc can be very difficult even for two people. Add in a few more and it seems that every major decision is being made by a committee—I imagine this could be very frustrating and problematic. Jim + Sally…

Looking on the bright side, just imagine how many divorce lawyers could be saved from unemployment!

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#25

Post by sovietmudkipz »

hanklazard wrote: post #14

Interesting read. I think this idea underestimated the challenges posed by having more adults in a family unit, especially when major decisions are made. Life events like moving to a new city, finding new employment, etc can be very difficult even for two people. Add in a few more and it seems that every major decision is being made by a committee—I imagine this could be very frustrating and problematic. Jim + Sally…

Entertainment instantiation of the multi-parent idea... Have you ever watched Futureman (M rated comedy)? In season 2 in a post apocalyptic world family units are composed of 5 parents. Each parent has a role to play.

Your proposal made me think of that family setup. How would a multi parent family unit deal with personal relationships? In the show, every parent was “married” to each other and they collectively engaged intercourse as a group. In reality I bet people would have favorites and that would collapse the parental dynamic.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#26

Post by iguy »

resiros wrote: post #8

Funnily the postmodern family clan looks quite similar to the old fashioned non-nuclear family: The grandfather would have multiple children, which all live in the same household. Each of the marrying sons will bring their wives (and then children) to the main household. The whole family will help each other and the responsibility of children will be shared between everyone.

Where such families existed, they had ties of blood to bind them. The brother who loses his job will be supported by first-degree relatives, not by people he met on Tinder-for-couples. (And even better for stability if his wife is also related to the clan.)

But it's worth knowing that such families were not common everywhere. Nuclear families have certainly been the rule in England for at least 500 years (we have good data) and likely much longer. France is the same, but Russia is different, IIRC.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#27

Post by chobeat »

hanklazard wrote: post #14

Interesting read. I think this idea underestimated the challenges posed by having more adults in a family unit, especially when major decisions are made. Life events like moving to a new city, finding new employment, etc can be very difficult even for two people. Add in a few more and it seems that every major decision is being made by a committee—I imagine this could be very frustrating and problematic. Jim + Sally…

You still think about a family as if it's a community of individuals. You participate in a community when you have a personal interest that overlaps with the collective interest of the community and you're out once these interests diverge.

A family is a tribe. The support is mutual and unconditional. It's postmodern because to embrace this sense of belonging you need to renounce part of your individuality and indipendence, values that are deemed sacred by modern society.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#28

Post by lotsofpulp »

0x445442 wrote: post #21

I see these types of stories as propaganda aiming to placate younger generations into accepting a lower standard of living than their predecessors. The ones I really get a kick out of are all the Tiny Home shows popping up. I know, I know, some people really are embracing simplicity and being unencumbered by the responsibilities past generations faced. However, what these types of stories are really saying is; sorry…

No one is being stopped from asking for $200k+ salaries.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#29

Post by jnbiche »

All of the benefits described by the author's proposed "postmodern family" are already enjoyed by much of the world's population, a large portion of which lives in extended family compounds. From India to the Middle East, and S. America to much Africa, families live together in multigenerational housing.

Indeed, even many Americans lived in this type of arrangement up until the WWII era. And the benefits to this living arrangement are significant: multiple income streams provide resiliency against sudden sickness and death, better living quarters, available childcare instead of having to pay someone outside the family to do so, etc.

Unfortunately, modern Western society has decided that living in multigenerational living arrangements is shameful, and indicates failure.

I support the idea of this author's "postmodern family clan" (although I don't like the name). Particularly for those people who don't have extended family, suffer from abuse from family members, or are estranged from their extended family. However, we should also consider the advantages of the living arrangements enjoyed by much (most?) of the world's population -- the extended, multigenerational family unit.

Re: The Postmodern Family Clan

#30

Post by lotsofpulp »

sovietmudkipz wrote: post #25
hanklazard wrote: post #14

Interesting read. I think this idea underestimated the challenges posed by having more adults in a family unit, especially when major decisions are made. Life events like moving to a new city, finding new employment, etc can be very difficult even for two people. Add in a few more and it seems that every major decision is being made by a committee—I imagine this could be very frustrating and problematic. Jim + Sally…

Entertainment instantiation of the multi-parent idea... Have you ever watched Futureman (M rated comedy)? In season 2 in a post apocalyptic world family units are composed of 5 parents. Each parent has a role to play. Your proposal made me think of that family setup. How would a multi parent family unit deal with personal relationships? In the show, every parent was “married” to each other and they collectively engag…

It would seem that throughout history and across the world, societies with at least a pretense of long term monogamous relationships have survived longer than polyamorous ones.
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