OK, not really. But this report, on how American parents are spending more time with their children, suggests that more attention is being paid to the cultivation and care of our closest loving relationships:
Working parents perpetually agonize that they don’t see enough of
their children. But a surprising new study finds that mothers and
fathers alike are doing a better job than they think, spending far more
time with their families than did parents of earlier generations.
The study, by two economists at the University of California, San
Diego, analyzes a dozen surveys of how Americans say they use their
time, taken at different periods from 1965 to 2007. It reports that the
amount of child care time spent by parents at all income levels — and
especially those with a college education — has risen “dramatically”
since the mid-1990s.
The study is not perfect but certainly suggestive. And I think it does relate to a Confucian principle, that of "cherishing the young." Of course, care of elders is the family duty most often mentioned in the Analects. But I believe that a modern Confucianism would require that parents take time and care in raising their children; it is a principle duty that must be carried out conscientiously. That seems to be happening to a greater degree now in the US.
If we can only get better at the care of elders, then maybe we could say the US is becoming a Confucian society….
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