3 ms·

It would have to be the end of the nuclear family, the entire foundation of the traditional perspective in the developed world, replaced by some form of collect

It would have to be the end of the nuclear family, the entire foundation of the traditional perspective in the developed world, replaced by some form of collective inter-gender polyamory whose main benefit is to reemploy the ancient notion of child rearing by "a village", permitting multiple members to rotate between wage earning, child rearing, and personal time, so that the lifestyle is compatible with trending standards in progressive living. If you've seen The Expanse, this would be familiar to you one of the lead characters grow up under these precise conditions in a possible future Earth. We are already seeing a growing appreciation for practices like ethical polyamory, open marriage, etc today, coupled with the growing depreciation for things like real estate while the divorce rate tells us traditional marriage is becoming untenable. The polyamorous communes of our progressive descendants may be more robust emotionally and economically, as they assume those functions of the nuclear family without the constraints of "traditional" two-adult family units (cheating, disinterest, work/life balance, max 2 earners, etc). The traditional perspective believes it has a monopoly on social harmony and fertility because it adheres to strict, heteronormative, and patriarchal rules that appear to have "always worked"; the wager our this collective polyamorous future is to recreate those "village" conditions, even more primordial than the nuclear family

Animats 8y ago
Israel tried that, in the kibbutz era. It didn't last. The communal socialists have been overcome by religious fanatics.
philwelch 8y ago
I am polyamorous, and I happen to know a lot of polyamorous people. “Reproducing above replacement level” is not, in my experience, a good description of the polyamorous community. While you’re right in that nuclear families aren’t ideal, the more fertile subcultures are those where extended families are valued. And these cultures are, by and large, religious and culturally conservative. The only issue there is the tendency for the children of those cultures to assimilate into the progressive mainstream; after all, that’s what happened to us.
CuriouslyC 8y ago
We're probably heading for something like that in the (very) long run. Pretty much all eusocial animal societies are arranged with a small number of breeding females and collective child care. We're unusual animals to be sure, but I don't think we'll be an exception in this case.

Animats 8y ago

Israel tried that, in the kibbutz era. It didn't last. The communal socialists have been overcome by religious fanatics.

philwelch 8y ago

I am polyamorous, and I happen to know a lot of polyamorous people. “Reproducing above replacement level” is not, in my experience, a good description of the polyamorous community. While you’re right in that nuclear families aren’t ideal, the more fertile subcultures are those where extended families are valued. And these cultures are, by and large, religious and culturally conservative. The only issue there is the tendency for the children of those cultures to assimilate into the progressive mainstream; after all, that’s what happened to us.

CuriouslyC 8y ago

We're probably heading for something like that in the (very) long run. Pretty much all eusocial animal societies are arranged with a small number of breeding females and collective child care. We're unusual animals to be sure, but I don't think we'll be an exception in this case.