better

 The breakdown of the traditional family has had a detrimental effect on American society. That's what I think. When Dad was the breadwinner, mom kept house and raised the children. Those children then went on to marry and raise children of their own, usually in the same town. It wasn't unusual for several generations to live in the same home. Children literally walked in their parents footsteps. They also walked in the footsteps of those they admired in the community and occasionally did take the wrong path. But they were surrounded by community, surrounded by the familiar. From birth to death, life was a continuation of the familiar. 

 Today all of that is unusual. The family can be any grouping. That is why we use the term, traditional, when we wish to indicate what was expected a generation or two ago. A family unit was a man, a woman, and their progeny. It isn't what is necessarily expected these days, at least, not by the younger folks. Same sex couples, interracial couples, blended families, are all, if not expected, not surprising. And the family does not stay together like they used to do. In the search for the American dream the children roam far and wide. They are ever in search of a better place, a more profitable place, a willingness to just leave it all behind. The same applies to relationships. If the relationship doesn't satisfy your immediate needs or wants, just move on. Out with the old and in with the new. 

 It is my thinking that is part of what is causing all the unrest, the division we are seeing. We are being separated from our roots. I know that is a bit of a cliché, but I do think it is an apt description. We could also say it is the expending of the residuals. Residuals are what is left after expenditures are subtracted. Nostalgia is a longing for a return of those residuals. By leaving all that behind, walking away from hearth and home, we expend whatever residuals we have. I do believe there is an unknown force or influence in the place of our childhood. It's a comfort, a familiarity to walk those paths walked by our forefathers. There is an energy there, something that can be tapped in times of need. Strange places, foreign places hold no such power to us and can leave us lonely. 

 I am one that resists change. I always have. If something isn't broken don't attempt to fix it. In my experience changes are usually made for one of two reasons, speed or to make something easier. Man has always attempted to make things easier, we don't like to work very hard. I'd say it was human nature and I expect animals are no different in that regard. If there is an easier way, let's do that. And then there is the matter of speed. We want to get things done faster. The problem with speed is that it usually involves sacrificing quality. Makes little difference if it involves material things or emotional things. Speed usually is a degradation to quality. That is why hand crafted, hand made objects are prized. Modern man does that as a hobby now, having sped up the process of producing all manner of goods. Faster and cheaper to produce is the goal! 

 Each generation experience change. That is inevitable. It is only the amount of change that defines each generation. Sometimes the changes are much greater, like the industrial revolution. It could be argued that was the beginning of the end of the traditional family. Switching from a mostly agricultural society to one of manufacture it did uproot families. The child went off to the manufacturing centers to make the big money, a steady income, one not so dependent upon the weather. A new, faster paced way of life. You could now work for eight or ten hours in a day and just relax afterward. There were no "chores" to be done seven days a week and in the evenings. At first it wasn't that much time freed up, but still, no cows to milk, no chickens to be fed, no livestock to concern yourself with. The connection to the land was severed. That was a big change. 

 A generation is generally considered to be twenty years. When we are children we are experiencing our parents generation and in some cases our grandparents generation as well. You could say that by the time we become young adults we have experienced three generations! Think of scenarios like the Waltons television show. The children did hear about the past generations, had to abide by some of those traditions. The whole premise of the show revolved around that theme, old and new. Now I find myself with grandchildren that are young adults. For me, you could say I am witness to the fifth generation of change. I had grandparents, my parents and myself. That's three. I have children of my own, that's number four. And now the grandchildren, which aren't children anymore, which makes five. A lot of changes. 

 It is an old idiom, time marches on. I'm sitting here this morning, already five days into another year. I'm thinking what changes may be coming down the road. Now, not only have traditional families become something people talk about, something remembered from the old days, but other traditions are being abandoned, like marriage. Couples with children today may or may not be married to one another depending upon economic situations. It is becoming more a legal contract, than a promise. What do you hear? It's only a piece of paper. A piece of paper that is a legal contract, though that part isn't mentioned in the "I love you" portion of the narrative. Trust me, is the unspoken part of that. You could say it is risk management. A modern change on a traditional concept. If I had it my way, we would all just go home. Have the changes made things better? Or is it just faster and easier to reach the end. I've discovered that time doesn't just march on, as you get older, it begins to sprint!