The Natural Order Has Become Unordered

In my last blog post I wrote about the fact that almost 50% of the American adult population is now single.

This is undoubtedly the highest percentage in history.

37% of men and 31% of women have never been married. 

Single people are alone a lot more than couples.

Human beings were designed to be social.

Societies from the beginning of time have been built upon families, tribes, groups and human relationships.

For most of history these relationships were a critical element in survival. Those that did congregate and collaborate were at much greater risk.

Large families were a necessary component in all of this to provide for a division of labor so that the family unit could survive and prosper.

This folk art painting depicting a wheat harvest in the 1800's shows the close collaboration necessary to put food on the table in years past.

Credit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/263146467/folk-art-print-primitive-wheat-field

However, as economies and technology advanced, families and relationships have suffered.

Collaboration is still critical for survival. In fact, people in modern society are more dependent on it than ever. They are reliant on a vast infrastructure to provide for their daily needs--food, water, energy, clothing etc. However, it is provided, by and large, anonymously without requiring human interaction or relations to the end consumer.

You now put food on the kitchen table by picking what you want off the shelf in grocery stores selected among aisles and aisles of foodstuffs.

There is no need to even interact with a cashier when you checkout.

Credit: https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-news/2021/02/kroger-tests-all-self-checkout-store.html

Of course, we have now reached the point where you don't even have to enter the store. Fill out your grocery order online and an anonymous person selects your produce and someone else puts it into your car or delivers it to your door.

A lot of human interaction and relationships have been lost.

Why is this important?

Studies have shown that rates of anxiety and depression have increased by 70% over the last 25 years.

The rates have increased most among the young.

For example, this chart is from a study on how rates of anxiety by age groups changed between 2008 and 2018.

Rates of anxiety almost doubled in the 18-25 age group in the decade studied. Rates in the age 26-34 age cohort were up more than 50% while older age groups were relatively stable.

Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395620309250

Here is chart from another study that shows the prevalence of depression by age group cohort.

Our young are most particularly at risk in the impersonal world driven by technology. 

Source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Prevalence-of-Depression-by-Age-Cohort-and-Gender-At-Most-Recent-Survey_fig1_264623036

Notice as well that levels of depression are generally higher in younger females than any other age group.

What do you think the odds are that the significant decline in the number of close friends that people report having has been a major contributing factor in increased levels of anxiety and depression?

Source: https://twitter.com/ReubenR80027912/status/1597303723054665728

Of course, the negative trends on human relationships and socialization were exacerbated further during the pandemic due to the lockdowns, school closures and mandates.

Look at what happened to the hours of who Americans reported they spent time with between 2013 and 2021. 

Time alone was the big winner by far.

Credit: https://twitter.com/DKThomp/status/1597299988626780162/photo/1

Time spent with others plummets followed by a surge of anxiety and depression?

Do you think this is a coincidence?

In this blog over the last few year I have observed several times about the curious fact that there is such a heavy representation of young, single, college-educated white women in the Black Lives Matter, Antifa and other far left movements.

It defies logic.

How is defunding the police or emptying prisons going to make single women feel more secure?

How is allowing a biological male to use a women's restroom going to make her feel safer?

How does allowing biological males to compete with females in athletics advance the opportunities for women?

Is there any group today that feels more lonely, is more misunderstood and wants to belong than young, single, college-educated white women? 

Many have no man in their life. There are no children or likely prospects that marriage or children will occur soon due to the imbalance between male and female college graduates. They live in rental apartments in large cities leading hectic, anonymous lives with little sense of community and huge sums of student loan debt.

The picture below is one that I referenced in these pages in 2021 when I was discussing this issue.

How many young, white women do you see in this picture supporting BLM's calls to defund the police?

How many Blacks do you see in the picture?

How do you make sense of it?

You can't. It is not logical.

The best answer I have seen is from  relationship counselor Suzanne Venker that all of this can be traced to a need to belong in these young women.

These women have a void in their life and are looking to fill it with something that they believe has meaning even if it is antithetical to their own interests, security and future.

The need to belong is more important than facts or logic to these young women.

The need to belong is just that fierce and strong, particularly for vulnerable folks who feel lonely or misunderstood.

It's happening right now with the Black Lives Matter movement. It's not about the fact that black lives matter, with which no sane person would disagree. A simple search of their own website will tell you its goals: to "disrupt the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure" and to "foster a queer‐affirming network."

But doing research or thinking critically about any idea or movement is threatening to what so many people want. These folks aren't interested in the truth. They don't want the facts. What they want is to belong.

Is it also a coincidence that so many young, white liberal females have been given a diagnosis by a healthcare provider that they have a mental condition?

56.3% of 18-29 white liberal females are in that category.

Source: https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/over-50-percent-white-liberal-women-under-30-mental-health-condition

The single, young white females typically vote Democrat at least 2/3 of the time according to most exit polls.

Unmarried women of all ages and races voted 68%-31% for the Democrat in House races in 2022.

Married women overall voted 56%-42% for Republicans.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/election/2022/exit-polls/national-results/house

One final factoid that gets us back to where we started.

Women who are married are much, much happier than women who are single.

Women who have had children are also happier than those who are childless. 

Source: https://ifstudies.org/blog/shrinking-american-motherhood-1-in-6-women-in-their-40s-have-never-given-birth-

Contrast the percentage of women who say they are "very happy" at all ages between those married with children and those unmarried and childless.

Why is it a problem that there are so many single people in the United States today?

Why is it a problem that the birth rates have been dropping for years?

These are both having the effect of further destabilizing our society by interfering with the necessary social and relationship infrastructure.

Human beings are social animals.

They need meaningful human connections and relationships in their lives to thrive.

In families, In friendships. In day to day life.

God established a natural order in his design for humans to live happy and fulfilled lives

Men and Women each bringing their unique gifts to society.

Marriage and commitment between men and women.

Children born of those unions.

Families supporting each other.

Supportive friends and communities built on a bedrock of values, beliefs and faith.

Do you want to know why everything seems off these days?

The natural order has become unordered.

Don't take my word for it.

What do the facts and data say about it?