Is there any chance the decay of the extended family can be reversed?

Cowbee , 6 hours ago

Under Capitalism, no, not really.

queermunist , 6 hours ago

Nope. The market is the driving force of society so all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, etc.

Vanth , 3 hours ago

I look at queer people who have been completely rejected by their families and treated as second-class by their governments and communities. Despite those challenges, they still find accepting communities to belong to and thrive within.

“Chosen Family” is a term I hear very frequently from them. People’s nuclear families can be shit for a lot of reasons. We can take a lesson from the queer community and build meaningful connections beyond blood ties. It’s a lot of work, yes, but at least non-queer people don’t have the extra disadvantage of laws trying to erase their existence.

Vampire OP , 2 hours ago

Sounds a bit pie-in-the-sky to me.

Blood ties aren’t becoming unimportant in the short or medium term future.

Vanth , 2 hours ago

Lol, like I said, meet some queer people. This isn’t “pie in the sky” for a lot of them, it’s a reality.

Same with people disowned for any of a million reasons. Or people whose families have died out.

eldavi , 1 hour ago

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.

ramble81 , 6 hours ago

Blood does not a family make. It just means the composition looks different.

oxjox , 5 hours ago

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.

Azzu , 5 hours ago

We should ask the Multivac if the decay of the extended family can be reversed.

Vampire OP , 4 hours ago

I presume that is some kind of hoover

Azzu , 3 hours ago (edited 3 hours ago)

No, it’s not a vacuum cleaner. The “ac” at the end stands for “automatic computer”.

MagisterSieran , 4 hours ago

INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.

HobbitFoot , 5 hours ago

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.

xmunk , 21 minutes ago

Do what I did, build, buy, or rent a house that your parents can reside in as well (ideally with privacy for everyone) instead of looking at retirement homes.