I think a lot of people here are missing the psychological effects of the nuclear family because of a focus on housing or community. I think she's right to poi

I think a lot of people here are missing the psychological effects of the nuclear family because of a focus on housing or community. I think she's right to point at the nuclear family, because of what it is: self-sufficient. Income, forming a household, reproducing the structure in the next generation, it's all there. You don't need other people. And when you don't need other people, it's easier to go it alone. It's easier for other people to go it alone. You don't have your friends help you move, instead you hire movers. You don't cook together, at best you host, and then as we dive into modernity we neither host nor cook. We hire people to watch the kids. We don't want to burden other people. We don't actually NEED help, so we don't ask for help. We'll finish it all off by hiring people to watch us die. I see some wisdom in the conservative critique that the state should not replace family, should not replace mutual support, that needing each other is a gift for both the person who needs and the person provides help. But it's not government per se, it's the professionalization of support. It's small, but I have extended family that shares carpooling for the kids. We need to talk about schedules, and sometimes we resent each other, and we take over for each other when someone is sick, and it can be annoying, but I see all these kids regularly, and we can't fall out of contact. I SHOULD invite people over for dinner, except also have them help me prepare for dinner, maybe even clean for dinner. I personally would not be offended to myself receive such an invitation. But I don't do it. It would pierce the facade on our nuclear family, and my wife is not comfortable with compromising that facade. (Being a man I don't place any self-worth in my housekeeping, and so it is admittedly easier for me to expose any failings.)