My family is... Not a healthy or happy one. I imagine most people know this by now. Yet, for reasons that I honestly do not understand, my parents are still together. Toxic, painful, continuously arguing, but still together...
The same cannot be said for extended family. Divorces everywhere. A number of children out of wedlock. Painful intergenerational relations on both side. Lots of "not talking". Lost of... Honestly, relationships that are far more negative than they are positive. As the black sheep "loser" of the family, I can't tell you how shit my relationship with nearly all my cousins is, right now. I could, I suppose, blame myself for that, but I really don't think it is that simple...
I actually don't think this is that uncommon, where I live. Sure, most people don't have family quite as toxic as my own, however divorce is utterly ubiquitous. Siblings not getting along is probably more common than not. And honestly, it feels like people almost expect families to behave like this - not communicating, not really talking, and generally... Not behaving like civilised adults. At least amongst the majority "white" population, in addition to the "blak" population (among whom it is most definitely even worse, lol), this is... All too common.
Thoughts? What's it like for you lot, where you live? Do you get along with your extended family? Are you close to them? I realise that I am almost certainly an outlier, where my family are fucking shit, in addition to being the "black sheep loser to end all black sheep losers", but... I'm just curious.
I like the idea that "family is the people you choose to include in it", but I am yet to find my... "One". I'm honestly yet to really find anyone. So I don't have that to have as my "core". I'm sure it's very different for those that do. Unfortunately, though, I'm not sure I will ever even find that...
So yeah. Pretty blackpilled about "family", at the moment, after mounting betrayals, I have to be honest. Would appreciate some... Alternative insights, if your life experience differs in that way.
I think a much more significant part of the problem, particularly in the US, is how overworked, overtaxed, underpaid, and utterly difficult it can be to not only support a family, but have the time, money, and sanity to raise a healthy and thriving family.
To make things even worse, liberties we have enjoyed for decades, if not longer, are under constant threat. Elected officials in our governments no longer represent its nation's citizens. And there is an imminent dystopia looming on our doorstep.
Sorry, I may have gone off-topic and too blackpill there for a moment. My first paragraph though is the cusp of what I'm getting at though. Financial troubles, stress, and generally unhappy and unhealthy modifiers just wreck a lot of potential for a good family environment, and it often cycles and perpetuates.
And I think what maybe makes these issues more pertinent than it may have been throughout most of history when families were always fighting to survive is that we have a LOT more on our plates from modern life that occupies our time, causes us more stress, etc. Humans are very intelligent and adaptable, but we're trying to keep up with far more in life than our brains and lifespans are realistically capable of. And that distractability is probably not especially helpful for emotional health or for honest communication between people, particularly families.
I don't know. I'm a little all over the place, but ultimately I think while it is somewhat probable for families to be a bit of a mess today, something's gotta give. I don't really think that things will really slide back into "the good old days", but this mass-psychological state is simply not going to be sustainable. Especially not with the direction the economy's headed.