I am a very conservative person. And that means something. It means that I want to conserve what has been. But sometimes that means undoing the recent past to get closer to the things that matter. I believe remote work can be that. Sometimes working remote is not possible. It’s hard to do factory work in a living room. But where possible, working from home is a good thing.
This week our governor said she was ending remote work in Arkansas. And the President did something similar months ago. But I don’t believe it’s conservative to do what other people that call themselves conservative are doing. It’s conservative to move toward values that built our society. I don’t think forcing everyone into an office is that.
The modern world has done something insidious to the household. It’s made it a place to flop and not central to the growth and development of the family. A family today feels like they’re doing pretty well if they’ve carved out an hour to spend with each other. A variety of studies and surveys have shown that the average American family spends around 6 hours together per week. So, one hour per day would be above average.
That’s not enough. But that’s what happens when the home becomes a place to flop rather than being where the family center.
A Look Back
One can see how this happened with a little thinking about the past.
Before factory work most jobs were a family affair. In fact, the vast majority of jobs were agricultural, so, family farms. And the ones that were not were artisans or craftsmen. And these jobs were often located with the home. A candlemaker lived upstairs and made and sold candles downstairs. The household was central to the economic well being of the family.
Some lament the fact that if father was a candlemaker, it meant you would be as well. But this way of life kept family units and households together. And the household worked together to provide for their selves. The whole family endeavored together.
In the 1600’s America had schools, but they were not disassociated from the beliefs of the people that sent them to school. The local community made every decision about the school. Here in America, these schools were very Christian in their beliefs and practices. This was the case because society was itself very Christian. But even so, the number of children in these schools was quite limited. Most children were educated at home, but even when sent to school it was akin to an arm of the home and community that they lived in. In other words, education was very connected to the household. These schools cooperated with the households they resided in. In some sense, this continued for a long time. It wasn’t until around the mid 1800’s that States took over school districts. And it wasn’t until the early 1900’s that every State in America had State run schools.
As Americans we see this clearly. The tearing of the fabric of the household has been many faceted, but we decided to just beat up on education.
Efficiency seems to have ruined this sort of household economy and education.
Today
Consider this. Factories made manufacturing things efficient. Factories pulled men out of their homes, and often children. Father and son would go work in the factories together. Rich and powerful men pulled eight year old boys away from home to work for little pay. And they did the same for men. After half the family spent long hours at the factory, it was time to eat and go to bed so that the next day could be spent at work. The household was becoming a place to flop, but women within society seem to have been able to hold things together through tremendous effort.
This remains with us today. Men still go away from the family to make money. But now, so do women. Currently around half of all households see mother and father leave for work. The economy of the family comes from outside the home. And both Mom and Dad leave to get it. They go to different locations and the children are completely removed from it.
Education has followed a similar path. It is no longer dictated by the community one lives in. Nor, for the most part, is it directed by the family. Most American children are sent out of the household to a State run school. The days of a community directing education are long gone. The State and Federal government gives that direction. They create the education standards for the teachers and students. They will dictate what is studied, what is tested, and how these things are enforced.
Sure, the community has some say. But run aground of federal regulations and you lose federal dollars. If you want state funding, then comply with state standards. That’s how this thing works. If a school decides to reject state standards then funding is gone and the school won’t be able to exist.
In the past, the home was central to everything a family did. The family produced something and received their wages for it. The family educated their selves or directed the education of their children. The household was more than a place to flop, it was central to the life of the family. The whole family worked together as a household to survive. And the education received was either from the household or approved by the household. Now Mom and Dad both work away from home and the vast majority of children are educated in a system that does not look to local households for approval. And all this is done while the family spends less than one hour per day together.
Now Back to Remote Work
God created the household. We speak often of the institute of marriage, but not much of the household. But the fact is that God created the household when He created marriage. Not only did God order marriage, but He ordered families.
God gave the mandate to go forth, multiply, and fill the earth (Genesis 1:28). And man and woman come together to do these things. Man and woman are to be married and produce offspring. They are to have children. It’s simple. We have seen this play out through all history.
When the people of Israel made it into the Promised Land, the clans were allotted land (Numbers 26). And then it was further divided to families. The families worked together to “subdue the earth”, which is part of that creation mandate, and sustain their lives from it. The household worked together to live. It is a life similar to that found in our society before the Industrial Revolution.
When parents had children and were to educate them in the Lord, it was done with parent and child together. They were in a household that functioned as the hub for home economics and education. And industrialization and efficiency changed that for us.
How do we think about life today, which has been organized in a way that it has torn this apart? A way of life that existed for thousands of years was upended by the efficiency of the factory and education. What do we do?
This is, in my opinion, a wisdom issue that every family leader must deal with. They must think through it and give effort to it as they do so. These aren’t easy decisions.
But I do believe remote work can factor into this. Some people can work remotely and move the economic activity back to the home.
This is one of the reasons that I try to cheer on self-employed folks. They are moving the economy back to the home. It is often a whole family affair. They are working and spending more time with the family.
Remote work is not exactly making candles together, but it is closer to that than spending 8 hours in an office and an hour or so traveling to and from work.
To me, it seems to be a step in the right direction.
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