Been seeing this post around more and thinking about it.
Not that long agoāwell under a centuryāwe DID have support systems outside of marriage. Most adults lived close to their families of origin. You had relatively easy access to your parents and siblings. Speaking of siblings, you probably had 3-5 of them. Your parents were still married. You also had a local network of extended family. You likely attended church and were involved in other civic organizations. All of these foster support systems. Most people were married, and marriage is an important primary support, but it was far from the only one.
In 2026? You live hundreds or thousands of miles away from your parents. If you have siblings, you only have one or two, and they live hundreds or thousands of miles away too. Your parents are more likely to be divorced or never married. You are more likely to be estranged from at least one family member. You are less likely to be religious. Thereās a not insignificant chance you work remotely and never see your coworkers in person. Third spaces increasingly donāt exist or only exist online. Itās become incredibly easy to live your entire life with no real human connection.
In this landscape, you have almost no option but for your spouse to be your sole support. And thatās if youāre lucky enough to find a spouse. When you do find a spouse, you both work full time which leaves less time for religious or civic or any engagement outside of your jobs.
We stopped getting married, stopped having children, started moving across the country or even the world to pursue employment, stopped going to church, stopped doing all the things that forced us to interact with other human beings who would eventually become our support networks. We didnāt neglect to build support systems outside of romantic partners. We HAD them, and we dismantled them, and now we have to live with the consequences.
dededos
blakekathryn
areudirty
janainaart
snowghoul
