Will returning to the "cottage industry" help the American family?

Question

It sounds as though many lifestyle options that are becoming popular - telecommuting, homeschooling, and other options - lead to families spending more time together. Some have theorized that the industrial revolution, and the public schooling that came later, have caused problems for families. Once industry was taken out of the home and into factories, families were split up during the day. After that, children began to be sent to schools rather than learning at home. (There were always a few schools available to the very rich, but the majority of kids have always learned at home.)

What do these changes mean for families? Do you think that the number of people working from the home will continue to grow? How about the number of homeschoolers? Will our families be stronger because of this, or we will be more divided within society?

Answer 1

Yes, it would help "the American family." About as much as turning back the clock on the last thousand years of human development would help.

But NEITHER is going to happen.

You can't make steel as a cottage industry. Nor can you make antibiotics, large-scale weaving of cloth, lasers, spacecraft, eyeglasses, or any one of a myriad of things that we rely on.

In the aftermath of something like a nuclear winter, a complete return to cottage industry might happen - but it would require an almost-extinction event for humanity, a total world population of, say, twenty million.

The "nuclear family" (play on words not intended) is only ONE model that humans have used in the millennia that have passed since we climbed down from the trees, roamed the grasslands standing on two feet, and evolved to eventually build cities. Any kind of a "return" to it, now that it is dying, would have to involve a backwards movement in other areas.

Group education in general and free public education in particular is a HUGE step forward for humanity. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm glad we have a place of socialization of our children somewhere besides the mall! If it is replaced on a mass basis by home-schooling, it could only be in the context of a new Dark Ages.

A new family structure is evolving. It's going to be some time before it's clear what that is, but to pine for an "ideal past" that never was, is just not productive.

And for those who say the old type of family structure is "god-ordained" or "natural"? If that is so, how come it needs all these social, religious and legal supports?

If some people oppose potential new family structures (such as bigamy/polyandry, gays, single parents, serial monogamy, group homes for children, etc.) how do they explain that it happens often enough to "need" to pass laws or push "moral" rules against it? Doesn't that mean that they ARE "natural"?

The "family" structure that we see as "normal" or "desireable" is part and parcel of our social, economic and political environment. As these factors change, so do our families. What we need to do is make government and social structures NEUTRAL on this question, and let people work out for themselves what is best for them.

I personally live in an old-fashioned, one man, one woman, with kid situation (he's away at college though) - but to expect that this will work for everyone, or even that it SHOULD work for everyone, is unrealistic, and unjust.

My bet (and ONLY a bet - NOT a "moral judgment")is that two hundred years from now the dominant form will resemble the old "extended family" with a touch of choice - a voluntary family, not only including blood relatives.

Hang on - new ways of living together will evolve to meet our new circumstances. Just don't try to force it, or change necessary industrial or economic processes to foster a desired outcome.

Answer 2

Ren has a point, The home schooled kids I've known have had social issues with regards to people of their own age.
However, I also know of two very gifted young men, Now attending MIT that had been home schooled for a considerable portion of their elementary education. The families reasoning was "Values".
The public schools do not reflect the majority of parents values, either moral or otherwise. They are a politically run venue where a muddled ideal of values is taught and embraced as the only real way of seeing the world.

Cottage industries in America may have a small come back but would only become a viable means for many in the wake of some kind of economic melt down.
Families in the USA would be better off if they disposed of many of the luxuries we know view as necessary. Most of which are entertainment based, and cost large sums of money to obtain and a continued stream to operate.

Try this some time, take a walk in the forest with your kids, along the lake or sea shore. go fishing, teach them to work the garden, help them to understand the main reasons we do what we do, anything but house them somewhere to be entertained until you are done with work.

Some may

Answer 3

I would alsolutely love to see the cottage industries come back to North America. It would open up many doors for families who wanted other options.

But I still think I would send my kids to be schooled outside the home. MOST homeschooled kids are socially retarded, that is, they may be able to communicate but not on the same level as someone who is accustomed to being around peers all the time.

Also, I don't think every parent is cut out to be a teacher. For instance, I would have no problem with the curriculum, but my kids would be learning social skills from an anti-social person and that is not fair. In school they get a new teacher every year and that is a good thing.

Answer 4

It doesn't. How could it? Marriage is just a bit of paper really. It just enshrines 2 peoples love for each other legally. I cant see how exactly gay marriage would affect anyone apart from giving those winging, bigoted religious types something to moan about. Ask a catholic priest about homosexuality and they will thump their bibles and rant hatred towards gays, but when the congregation has gone home, they take their pick of the choirboys for their sexual gratification (forcibly as well). Double standards there lol I thought god made man in his image anyway, so technically hes bisexual.....................:-)

Answer 5

I don't know if this is ever going to gain more popularity than it has now. People who homeschool their children are usually hardcore fundamentalist Christian right-wingers... I think most people think like Ren - we recognize how important it is for kids to socialize and have friends.

As for working from home, most companies provide laptops so people have the ability to work from home, but are discouraged from doing it often. I see their point - people aren't as productive working from home as they are in the office, managers can't keep an eye on you, and face to face meetings are always better than conference calls. And I think a lot of people (like me) don't really want the laptop and the blackberry - all it means is extra work. When I call in sick, I don't do any work all day. When my boyfriend calls in sick, he's receiving emails on his blackberry and working from home on his laptop. Who the hell would volunteer for all that extra responsibility?

Answer 6

Because cottage industries can involve and empower so many types of people in so many ways and at so many levels, the forecast of benefits is very good.