Family Life Sucks

The philosopher David Archard argues the family is a terrible way to raise children — but every alternative turns out to be measurably worse. Plato’s Republic and the Oneida Community both abolished private parenthood to engineer fairer citizens, but neither could extinguish the bond between parents and their own children. America’s Orphan Trains reframed child removal as rescue, but often coerced poor immigrant families into surrendering kids for cultural assimilation. On the second day, we were told we could go home. We stuffed our snacks, blankets, wet wipes, and nappies into whatever bags we could, and we shuffled back to the car. There he was — a newborn baby in a Winnie-the-Pooh onesie and a cute cap, strapped into a car seat that made him look like a Lilliputian. I’ve never driven home so carefully or slowly as that night. I’m sorry to anyone stuck behind me. https://bigthink.com/mini-philosophy/experiments-in-parenting/