Among the many experiments that the Farm conducted, was the experiment to see if it was possible to form tribal connections among complete strangers that were as strong as blood relations. I believe the experiment was at least somewhat successful, and has had a real impact on the lives of of those of us who were part of the experiment. Family-strength relationships were formed.
It’s part of the hippie realization. There was that brief magical time. It only lasted a couple of years at the most. It was a time when you could trust someone that you met on the road, in a strange town, just because they had long hair. It didn’t last long, and was probably never completely true, but it did happen, I swear.
There is a modern diaspora. Families are scattered. The number of families that still have multiple generations living close to each other is dwindling. I am separated by thousands of miles from my children and grandchildren. I can afford to go to see them about once a year. I don’t have any relatives older than me. No cousins that I am in touch with, no uncles or aunts, no grandparents, no parents.
But what I do have are people who I know, who are older than I am, younger than I am, and much much younger than I am, and they occupy those slots of parents and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, cousins and siblings to some extent. They are my family as much as my real family in some ways, almost, but not quite.
Is this OK? I don’t know. I hope so because this is a real modern dilemma. The old family thing is not happening like it was, for more and more people. Are robots really the answer?