Given that, why should we return to the world where the father had great influence rather than abandon all the memes and ideas that remain that rely on that power disparity?
Well, firstly, there are all the fully general Burkean arguments. Not sure if those Burkean arguments can’t likewise apply to the more established aspects of the “modern” family, though—it often fails, but it works even more often. E.g. traditionalists complain—loudly—both about single motherhood and two working parents… yet the second innovation doesn’t seem to directly wreck anything.
I think Konkvistador’s point was that the disconnect between formal and informal rules meant that some change was going to happen. At that point, I’m not sure that Burkean arguments tells us anything about which way to jump.
But it’s possible that I’m misinterpreting Burkean reasoning, which I’ve always understood as saying “Don’t court change for its own sake.”
Well, firstly, there are all the fully general Burkean arguments. Not sure if those Burkean arguments can’t likewise apply to the more established aspects of the “modern” family, though—it often fails, but it works even more often. E.g. traditionalists complain—loudly—both about single motherhood and two working parents… yet the second innovation doesn’t seem to directly wreck anything.
I think Konkvistador’s point was that the disconnect between formal and informal rules meant that some change was going to happen. At that point, I’m not sure that Burkean arguments tells us anything about which way to jump.
But it’s possible that I’m misinterpreting Burkean reasoning, which I’ve always understood as saying “Don’t court change for its own sake.”