She was on to something. I’ve had more love and kindness shown to me from complete strangers than my entire family combined, who live to spite me. I keep telling my mom that people are generally good, it’s what’s got us living in the modern age, it’s just that capitalism keeps the good people from sticking together.
The family unit isn’t itself reactionary, the structure the family unit naturally takes in a capitalist society is.
Amber might’ve said it. I know Engels definitely said it.
The bourgeoisie has torn away from the family its sentimental veil, and has reduced the family relation to a mere money relation.
On what foundation is the present family, the bourgeois family, based? On capital, on private gain. In its completely developed form, this family exists only among the bourgeoisie. But this state of things finds its complement in the practical absence of the family among the proletarians, and in public prostitution.
The bourgeois clap-trap about the family and education, about the hallowed co-relation of parents and child, becomes all the more disgusting, the more, by the action of Modern Industry, all the family ties among the proletarians are torn asunder, and their children transformed into simple articles of commerce and instruments of labour.
You should know where this is from.
I don’t think all family units are reactionary. I just think Americans are more reactionary & selfish in general so if you pick out random families they’ll seem to be reactionary & selfish.
I mean the individual family unit is not inherently reactionary but the forced narrative of two parents two kids in a capitalist economy which promotes the greed of this family unit is reactionary.
There’s a whole lot of really interesting psychology behind the nuclear family being promoted by American propaganda. The idea has always been to stop people from organizing through the promotion of consumption, and to tie up as much time as possible from the parents so there isn’t time to organize or be active in the community. The suburban housing layout physically separates people within communities. Cars separate you from others on your commute to work and errands, you are also physically separated from those doing labor.
It’s really fucked when you start realizing just how much suburbs are designed to crush you so you can fill that void with consumption.
