Have you ever been in an hotel room with your family, feeling like no one can find you, and hoping no one will ever do so, and thought: "This is everything I need"?
In recent decades, there has been a lot of lamentation about the dissolution and separation of extended families -- that people are no longer living in close proximity with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. It is a great loss. In wailing about this loss, we may lose sight of how brilliant the nuclear family is. It is partly because of the atomic family's unique luminescence that we are not more aggressive in preserving a larger familial network. The atomic family does not suffer from poverty, even though the extended family contributes to its wealth.
The smallest units in society are pairs of parents and their children. Edmund Burke called them "little platoons."
How incredibly useful these little troops are.
When the sh*t comes out (like during a pandemic, for example), the atomic unit can become a self-sustaining, mobile unit that is ready to navigate.
The atomic family is independent and idiosyncratic. When society's ways appear stale and dumb, or wrong-headed, it can cultivate a distinctive culture that pits us against the world.
When the trenches become weary and life becomes a struggle, the atomic families can be the center of the family.
When the world is cold and indifferent the atomic family provides a place of comfort and affection.
Salute these merry bands, my fellow compatriots!
Salute these rogue battle buddies.
These crews are the best. They hold it together even when things fall apart.
All hail our little platoons.
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