(02-05-2010, 10:37 PM)Questioner Wrote: Anthropology and the Law of One
Hey Questioner! Thanks once again for what I hope you don't mind me calling an "awesome" thread. That is to say (with less judgment this time), I enjoy topics like these quite a bit.
Yes, I think it is quite true that children and parents alike have had a bit more difficulty in recent ages. As far as chalking it up entirely to the industrial revolution- I do not know for sure on that. It may well be but I suspect that there may be other factors involved as well. Suffice to say though, a good argument can be made for it. With the advent of technology we have been able to move far away from our immediate family, sometimes many thousands of miles away, and still keep in touch with the phone, internet, etc. Not to mention the relative ease in which we can traverse those distances (as compared to a hundred years ago).
The "nuclear family" is a new experiment. In a book I am reading "The happiest toddler on the block", the author identifies with the frustration of the reading parent by saying something to the effect of: "With all the stress, confusion, sleep deprivation that comes along with parenthood, it's a miracle that anyone makes it through alive! How was it that our grandparents ever managed? Well, they didn't." And then he proceeds to explain how families did not split apart or move out. The grandparents, parents, siblings, and children would all be under one roof. That we no longer do this in western society has made raising children, and being raised by parents, much more difficult. And I'm sure has led to problems with abuse / neglect, which has in turn led to problems in society.
It's a biggie. But I'm sure there are other things contributing to the patchwork of our present day humanity. The dramatic upswing in consumerism since the 50's has placed an overly large emphasis on the importance of material goods for example. (there is a really good, although somewhat depressing documentary on this called... (I'll edit this in when I can remember!). It may also be good to consider the extremely rapid changing landscape itself. Consider how FAST we are moving. The internet wasn't around for the people 20 years ago like it is today. Computers weren't 40 years ago. Cars weren't roughly 100 years ago. Electricity wasn't 150 years ago. (those are rough estimations of course). That's a sliver of time compared to the the rest of human history. This makes for exciting lives, but for some (whose root chakras may be a bit blocked) this can be extremely uncomfortable, and who may polarize in a 'fundamental' sort of way. Oh- and then we should consider our heavy reliance on drugs rather than natural remedies. There is a pill for everything and after a while your body is just this huge chain of dependencies and 'fix it quick' bits of duct tape. That can't be too good for your mental state, in general of course.
Those are just a few things that come to mind, in addition to how we raise our kiddies. I'm sure there are many more... sounds a bit depressing maybe, hope it didn't come out that way too strongly. In general I think it's quite exciting to be around right now. And if anything, the situation as it exists must surely be helpful for those needing a wide array of catalyst, myself included.