Chapter 568: Inheritance
Not long after the new security system, covering everyone from birth to death, was implemented, people began to ponder the meaning of having children now.
Behind the society-wide comprehensive security system lay the disappearance of the concept of inheritance.
The System provided everyone with sufficient means of survival—work, housing, and education were all rationed—but as a trade-off, their descendants could not inherit anything from their kin.
Once a person died, apart from a small number of personal mementos, all other assets would be fully reclaimed, no longer inherited by relatives as they once were.
...
On the other hand, whether it was class rigidity or the emergence of powerful clans, all were rooted in the existence of inheritance rights. The advantages accumulated by one generation were wholly received by the next.
With the accumulation of successive generations, the strong only grew stronger, eventually opening an unbridgeable gap between themselves and everyone else.
But once this foundation of inheritance rights was lost, all concepts built upon it likewise collapsed.
And this was precisely a major reason why the high-ranking individuals on Earth had no desire whatsoever to remain in the Land of White.
...
Without a family legacy to inherit, and without the need to rely on children for old-age support, more and more people began to choose to abandon the idea of raising children themselves.
Because this lengthy process was simply too arduous, too exhausting.
Life offered so many wonderful things; why waste time on suffering?
...
The trend began with a small segment of new parents.
Lacking the ability to raise children, they performed too poorly on the parental suitability test and consequently lost custody of their offspring.
Yet, these unqualified parents soon discovered that, after losing custody, they actually led much easier lives.
Nurseries, supervised by the System, brought together virtually everyone in society who genuinely loved children. Furthermore, with ubiquitous supervision, there was no possibility of abuse; aside from being slightly militarized in management, children lived better than if they were cared for by parents who knew nothing.
While these parents had lost custody, they still retained visitation rights, able to meet every few days, perfectly realizing "cloud parenting."
The joy of shirking responsibility quickly spread through social media, propagated by these irresponsible individuals. While it sparked immense controversy, it also inspired more people to imitate them.
At least in the minds of a few, it was no different from sending children to a full boarding school in the past—still seeing them once a week, but now even more reassured with the System's care, just that they were sent off a bit earlier.
Eventually, the System directly formulated rules, initiating a unified education plan in the form of decrees.
According to the plan, all newborns would be raised by professional institutions arranged by the state, with all subsequent educational stages also coordinated and arranged by the System.
Birth parents, apart from two visitation times per week, no longer held any other rights of influence.
...
Originally, such an anti-humanitarian regulation would have provoked extremely strong protests from the majority of society.
After all, the generation that grew up during the Spirit River Autumn had still received a relatively traditional values education. Under suitable circumstances, parents raising their own children was still considered absolutely morally correct.
Parents raising their children, and then children supporting their parents in old age, was the most fundamental logic of society for millennia.
However, uncommonly, the populace of the Land of White this time did not exhibit much resistance; in fact, many even expressed support for this decision.
...
Naturally, behind these anomalies lay Bai Mo's active promotion.
The God Body network, which connected everyone, still retained his original intention of an ideal social experiment at this moment. However, its core function had now yielded to confronting Daoization, the greatest challenge.
Through the spread of the God Body network, Bai Mo consciously partially transferred the pressure of Daoization's erosion on his own emotions and personality to other nodes.
Thus, specifically manifested in the society of the Land of White, there was a reduction in some human instincts among most members, an entry into "sage mode," and an increased opportunity to execute the logic of pure rational egoism.
Bai Mo carefully controlled the amount of Daoization power transferred, ensuring that ordinary people in the network wouldn't have their personalities instantly erased, but would instead be Daoized at an extremely gentle rate, precisely equivalent to the rate of natural lifespan's passage.
When a node's life ended, that would be the day they completely lost emotions and transformed into a machine devoid of desires.
...
"'If things continue like this, perhaps families really will cease to exist.'" After hearing his sister's words, Lin Yuedong suddenly felt a terrifying chill upon closer thought.
Absorbed in his own world, he had never once considered marriage, let alone having children. Ordinarily, he paid no mind to such social issues, but now, the more he pondered, the more alarmed he became.
"'I remember reading a book many years ago that said humans formed families to cooperate with each other and raise the next generation together, because it was too difficult for a mother to raise a child alone.
But now, when we don't even need to raise children, and there's no need for marriages of convenience, does family still have any meaning?
Once the family is gone, it will be time for monogamy to exit the stage of history.'"
"'Your imagination is running wild, isn't it...'" Lin Xianglan couldn't help but retort. "'After all that talk, you end up concluding that monogamy should exit the stage of history? Have you been poisoned by too many harem dramas?'"
After more than ten years of immersion, Xianglan, this little cat, had shed her animalistic logic and almost entirely adopted human values, believing monogamy to be the natural order.
Especially as she identified with the role of modern human females, she could not disagree more with his view.
"'No, when I say monogamy won't exist, I mean that the marital relationship itself will cease to exist. Humans will no longer have any necessity or reason to marry.
Think about it, why do people marry?
Some marry to raise children.
Some marry for benefits, to climb the social ladder.
Some marry for long-term security.
...
But now, none of that is needed.
Children don't need raising.
No need to compete for benefits, no more rich women or sugar daddies to latch onto.
As for security, the state will support you until death.'"
"'Have you suddenly been possessed by a philosopher? You don't look like you have a single ounce of muscle on you.'"
"'Just a sudden burst of inspiration.'"
"'Honestly, for a moment there, I thought you weren't yourself.'"
"'I've always been myself.'"
...
Ni Lu watched the two of them, their philosophical debate slowly turning into playful banter, and smiled without a word.
Yet she also felt that Lin Yuedong, when he had first begun speaking, seemed to lack something important. But that absence was only for a fleeting moment, and he quickly returned to normal.
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