Point of no return: the institution of the family can be restored only by violent means

Sergey Belanovsky, social scientist

The institution of the family disintegrates under the influence of the atomization of society. I am not discussing whether this is good or bad, but I am trying to understand the trend.

As far as I can tell, Japan is the leader in this process. Marriage rates are declining, the birth rate is likely to decrease the number of sexual relationships. A phenomenon called by some Japanese word has spread, the essence of which is the complete solitude of young people, both men and women. Literally to the point that they do not leave their apartments and rooms. Many are fed by their parents, some put food outside the door. What do they do? They seem to be sitting at the computer. Japanese connoisseurs will correct me if I wrote something wrong.

But if everything is so, then the same fate awaits China, Korea and other countries of the region after some time. Probably not only. In Russia, there are also a lot of such computer loners. I read the text of a psychologist from Togliatti: a 55-year-old man came to her in horror: my mother died, who will feed him now?

I recently had a broadcast with demographers. I don’t like this genre, so I didn’t even remember which channel and didn’t ask for a link. The bottom line: three demographers, especially one, called on the state to take measures to restore the family. Along with the proposals for economic support for families with children (here I did not object) moralistic arguments were heard in abundance, which I did not like very much. demography is science, not moralism.

But then I thought: what if the whole body of arguments for the state policy of strengthening the family is taken seriously? I am a supporter of the idea that any thought must be consistently thought out to the end. What happened in the end?

I think that in modern conditions, to restore the institution of the family, it is necessary to use the apparatus of violence of the Stalinist type. Neither more nor less. Specifically: prohibit divorces, prosecute for adultery, prohibit abortion and contraception, forcibly find couples single and register them as families (in the absence of medical contraindications), introduce state planning and distribution of housing (for young families a one-room apartment, provide apartments for young families as their children are born larger area). Maybe I missed something, but like that. The alternative is the demographic situation in Japan. My opinion is that there is no third choice.

In one of the countries of pre-Columbian America (maybe not in one), the issue of creating families was solved very simply: they lined up in pairs of boys and girls who had reached marriageable age, told them to join hands, and from that moment they became a family. Of course, this method is shocking to a modern person. But he's actually not that bad. Anyway, finding a marriage partner ultimately happens by chance (no matter what they say about love, kinship, etc.). It is easier to legitimize this accident. But it is clear that the modern world will not accept this.

Then - welcome to modernity. With romantic love somewhere in a bar, but also divorce, infidelity, loneliness, falling birth rates and so on. It's OK. Everything has its pros and cons.

Original is here.