A love these posts...

Firstly, if the FAMILIES are getting a day of celebration, then the next social group to get one should be the people on Facebook. We'll have a Facebook day, and if you're not on it, stay at home - the whips are ready...

'Can't the Facebookers have a day without other people being there? Three days... is that too much to ask?'

Racism? My driver told me I might not get into Villagios on Friday... being single. Well, in the end I walked straight in, but they didnt let the Sri Lanka guy through who walked in at the exact same moment as me. So, yeah, no racism there.

ALEXA - what a moment, I agree with you! :) Fancy that.
It is essentially capitalism but I think we're going to have to go the long way round to demonstrate it.

The prominence and the promotion of the family unit is a form of class control.

Any high school sociology student will tell you that if a worker has a family to support, (using the word 'worker' to describe all people earning a wage - that includes the carpet factories with rows of people staring at computer screens) then that worker is more likely to do what his boss demands, and less likely to strike.

A worker who is single has more strength at the workplace because they are only responsible for themselves - if they walk out, the family doesnt starve.

Where religion is a key weapon of the ruling class (where religion is a dominant force in a society: e.g. Catholic/Islamic societies) the family is promoted with senseless prohibitions such as safe sex outside of marriage.

Qatar is a rigorously-controlled society - that's right, a dictatorship, remember. That's why the family is such a big deal here - to control all the people.

I can imagine how people might respond to this, if any answers surprise me, I'll reply.