‘Whether we like it or not, there is only one way forward,’ I wrote a few days ago.
But what does that mean for families? Can we oppose the idea of a ‘rainbow family’ with anything other than the traditional 1970s family model? If not, we are doomed. Because then the progressives would be right and a total collapse would only be a matter of time.
So what can we offer as an alternative to the rainbow family? The traditional family, of course! This is a continuation of the 1970s model with the understanding that development is ongoing. We can predict that the family will become less important economically and less stable, while providing more joy and emotional support. The patterns of behaviour in which each partner is both supervisor and prisoner (already a minority today, unlike in the past) will gradually fade away. At a certain stage of life, this will also include passionate sex, which, throughout most of European history, has been considered unacceptable in marriage by moral teachers. It is something that belongs in prostitution or illegal love affairs. In this sense, any scholar before the Industrial Revolution would have considered the current institution of marriage to be scandalous.
Perhaps the legal definition will also change over time. One of my creative readers suggested that marriage should last for ten years. After that, people could have a new wedding and experience the romance of being newlyweds again. Otherwise, people may find that they don’t actually want to continue.
Personally, I think ten years is too short, especially when there are children in the household. They need a much longer period of stability. Moreover, how would cohabitation be affected if both partners knew it would end in two years with no possibility of extension? Wouldn’t that lead to unnecessary relationship breakdowns? There are many such possibilities and questions. We don’t know the answers today, but people will in time.
In the meantime, we can leave various rainbow experiments on the sidelines without paying too much attention to them.