The family socialism in the 21st century

[ladislav]

In Thailand, the Philippines and similar countries, feeding both your children and your parents and is a traditional rural society’s way.

You get married and have many kids. They help you work in the field ( or in the sea) and then, when they grow up, they take over.

You, by then, are too old and frail, and the able bodied, younger ones work and support you while also feeding their younger ones.

The kids provide the future, and joy, the strong adults provide the work force and the elderly provide guidance and advice of all kinds.

Thus, the strongest adults feed both the kids and the elderly, then, they in turn get old, their kids grow up, the elderly die and the mechanism continues.

Been going on for thousands of years. There is no point in judging this system as it is a survival arrangement that evolved by itself. It works well in agricultural or fishing societies and all seem to be happy with it as long as it is a farming community. Free land, free sea. No rent. No tax. No transportation costs. Most foods are grown or caught in the sea. No savings are needed. All the money is spent immediately. The real wealth is the land and the sea.

Fast forward to 2021 and you can no longer do it the same way in an urban or corporate setting. The system must be reformed.

In 1st World countries, social security and pensions are introduced. This liberates the younger generations and makes older generations more independent. The young ones become inventors and businessmen and are no longer toiling the fields to feel the generation ahead of them and the one behind them. The necessity to have many kids is no more.

What about the Philippines? It is still in the in between stage. Still some people are stuck in the rural settings, and some are in the urban setting. The kids are stuck in the traffic, taxed, must pay rent and utilities, and still the peasant parents ( or those stuck in the peasant frame of mind) want them to send all the money home which they immediately spend. And you cannot afford to get married and have many kids. Or even one kid! Or even get married as you have no money to even buy flowers for your girlfriend. The system breaks down. It causes a lot of stress and a lot of fights. The parents call you stingy, and you call them greedy.

Solution:

One must educate the parents and explain to them that the old system no longer works.

As soon as possible, parents need to become self-sufficient also. One should open up a store for them, or some other kind of business so that they could also make own money and not depend on the kids.

This is the only solution I see for now.