Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

by Yuval Noah Harari

In order really to break the power of family and community, they needed the help of a fifth column. The state and the market approached people with an offer that could not be refused. ‘Become individuals,’ they said. ‘Marry whomever you desire, without asking permission from your parents. Take up whatever job suits you, even if community elders frown. Live wherever you wish, even if you cannot make it every week to the family dinner. You are no longer dependent on your family or your community. We, the state and the market, will take care of you instead. We will provide food, shelter, education, health, welfare and employment. We will provide pensions, insurance and protection.’ Romantic literature often presents the individual as somebody caught in a struggle against the state and the market. Nothing could be further from the truth. The state and the market are the mother and father of the individual, and the individual can survive only thanks to them.

This is one of the mind blowing thoughts that helped me coalesce my own thoughts about my relationship with friends and family and the need for self-sufficiency I've always valued. We are weak as individuals, but strong as a tribe as long as the tribe is not based on politics or religion, but on making sure everyone in the community is doing well. Maybe it really does take a village to raise a child?