“Destroy the family and you destroy society." These chilling words describe Vladimir Lenin’s devious plan to carry out such a sinister plot. For most of human history, the family — defined as one male and one female parent and their children— has stood as the central unit of society.

In Europe, Asia, Africa and, later, the Americas, people lived, and frequently worked, as family units. Today, in the high-income world and even in some developing countries, there has been a shift to a “new and improved” social model. Increasingly, family no longer serves as the central organizing feature of society. An unprecedented number of individuals, approaching upwards of 30% in some Asian countries, are choosing to steer clear of child bearing altogether, and often marriage as well.

The post-familial phenomena has been most evident in the high income world, most profoundly in Europe, North America and particularly, wealthier parts of East Asia. Yet it has bloomed also in many key emerging countries including Iran and other Islamic nations. The reasons for this shift are complex, and vary greatly in different countries and cultures.

In some countries, such as those in East Asia, the nature of modern competitive capitalism often forces individuals to choose between career advancement and family formation. As a result, these economies are unintentionally setting into motion a wave of destructive forces to their future workforces, consumer bases, and long-term prosperity.

The widespread movement away from traditional values found in Hindu, Muslim, Judeo-Christian, Buddhist, and Confucian worldviews, has also undermined familialism. The new emerging social philosophy encourages more secular values that prioritize individual personal socioeconomic success as well as the personal quest for greater fulfillment.

Conservatives, including the Weekly Standard’s Jonathan Last, regularly cite declining birth and marriage rates as a result of expanding government. This is a direct threat to the right’s political survival. Meanwhile, progressives have labeled attempts to commend a committed couple with children as inherently damaging and needlessly condemnatory to the new social order.

Societal norms, which once virtually mandated family formation, have begun to morph. The new norms are reinforced by cultural influences that tend to be concentrated in the very areas with the lowest percentages of married people and children—dense urban centers. A majority of residences in Manhattan are designed exclusively for singles, while Washington D.C. has one of the highest percentages of women who do not live with children, at 70%. Similar trends can be seen in London, Paris, Tokyo and other cultural capitals of the world.

A society that is increasingly single and childless is likely to be more concerned with serving their current needs than addressing the future-oriented necessities of children. Since older people vote more than younger people, and children have no say at all, political power could shift towards non-childbearing people. We are tilting more into a ‘now’ society, geared towards consuming or recreating today, as opposed to nurturing and sacrificing for tomorrow.

The most noticeable impact of post-familialism lies with demographic decline. It is already having a profound impact on fiscal stability in Japan and through southern Europe. With fewer workers contributing to cover pension costs, even prosperous places like Singapore will face the same crisis in the decades to come.

A diminished labor force and consumer base also suggests slow economic growth and limited opportunities for business expansion. For one thing, young people tend to drive technological change, and their absence from the workforce will slow innovation. For many people, the basic motivation for hard work is reinforced by the desire to support and nurture a family. Without a family to support, the very basis for such a work ethic will be changed, perhaps irreversibly.

Seeking to secure a place for families requires us to move beyond reminiscence for the long-departed 1950s era and focus on what is possible given globalization, urbanization, the ascension of women in a competitive capitalized society. In Europe, Asia and America, more and more young people do not express the same desire to have families as previous generations did. Amidst all the social change discussed above, a basic desire for family needs to be fostered and encouraged by our wider society.

My purpose here is not to judge people about their personal decision to forego marriage and children. Instead, I seek to initiate a discussion about how to create or maintain a place for families in the modern world. In the process we must ask some tough questions about our basic values and the nature of the cities and societies we are now creating.

It is impossible to deny that gay marriage causes the decay of families. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage contribute to the breakdown of the family unit and violate the natural structure of marriage established over thousands of years. One doesn’t have to be a person of faith to recognize that gay marriage should not be legally sanctioned in this country.

An article in the Weekly Standard described how the introduction of authorized gay unions in Scandinavian countries is destroying the institution of marriage, where half of today’s children are born out of wedlock. Social scientists have been warning that if this fractured family problem continues, there will be many kids with several “moms” and “dads,” six or eight “grandparents” and even dozens of “half-siblings.”

Is there a problem with the decay of families and a fractured family unit? Yes; psychologists contend that a union between a man and woman in which both spouses serve as good gender role models is the ideal environment in which to raise well-adjusted children. Sadly, the breakdown of the family unit is not the sole problem here.

Civil rights activists who are in favor of same-sex marriage maintain that no one has the right to vote on someone else’s marriage or interfere with someone else’s happiness. If legal marriage between homosexuals continues to expand to other states, the family will comprise of little more than someone’s interpretation of “rights”.

Allowing homosexuals to marry will open the door for those who think they have the “civil right” to get married to more than one person because it makes them “happy” and “doesn’t hurt anybody”. I must make it completely clear that to be against same-sex marriage is not hatred or discrimination towards homosexuals. It is the refusal to accept their immoral attitudes and actions. If the major faiths, history, psychology and nature all argue in favor of marriage being between a man and a woman, why is there even such a controversy today?

On the same twisted side, many Democrats praise the rise of “single-ism” demonstrated by the increasing number of women in their 40s who never had children. This demographic has more than doubled since 1976. Pollsters like Stan Greenberg applaud single women as “the largest progressive voting bloc in the country” and essential to the continued growth of the left.

Perhaps the largest threat from collapsing fertility is the aging of society. Consider “the dependency ratio,” which measures the number of people in the workforce compared to retirees. In other words, how many working people are needed to support those over age 65? In 1960, before the decline in birthrates, that ratio was 9 percent in the 23 most developed countries. Today, it is 16 percent across these advanced countries. By 2030 it could reach as high as 25 percent.

Countries with the longest history of declining fertility face the biggest fiscal crises. By 2050, Germany and Singapore are predicted to have roughly 57 people above age 65 for every 100 workers. In the United States, this ratio is expected to rise by 50 percent to roughly 35 per 100 workers, even if the current decline eventually reverses.

If birthrates continue to decline, Western nations may devolve into impoverished and lethargic nursing homes. Without the foundational support of strong families, children are likely to be more troubled and less productive as adults.

These changes are not theoretical or insignificant. Europe and East Asia, pioneers in population decline, have spent decades trying to push up their birthrates and regenerate aging populations while confronting the resulting political, economic, and social consequences. It’s time for us to consider what an aging, increasingly child-free population, growing at a slower rate, would mean for the United States.

As younger Americans individually avoid families of their own, they are contributing to the growing imbalance between older retirees and working-age Americans, potentially propelling both into a spiral of mounting entitlement costs and diminished economic robustness, while creating a culture marked by hyper-individualism and dependency on the state.

Crudely put, “the lack of productive screwing could further be screwing the screwed generation.” In the coming decades, success will ensue to those cultures that preserve the family’s place as a social unit essential to a fruitful society. It’s a vital case we need to make as a society, rather than counting on nature to take a disgraceful course.

Michael Loffredo is a sophomore in the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning. He can be reached at mjl343@cornell.edu