Chapter 7. Wealth and Family: From Survival Unit to Psychic Sustenance

 

The family is the association established by nature for the supply of man's everyday wants.

 
 --Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE)

The family has long been considered the bedrock of society. It may still be so, but the traditional definition of “family” is being challenged in the 21st Century. The domestic images depicted in the 1950s sitcom Father Knows Best, popular just a few decades ago, seem quaint today, and the family on The Waltons seems like ancient history. Families have not only grown smaller with prosperity, but also their composition, function, and raison d’etre have changed radically. As people progress through the Biological, Material, and Experiential stages, what they ...

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