Love and Economics : Why the Laissez-Faire Family Doesn't Work

by Morse, Jennifer Roback

• ISBN13: 9781890626433
• ISBN10: 1890626430
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-09-01
• Publisher: Spence Pub

Summary

We come into the world not as rational adults but as babies -- helpless, self-centered, and impulsive. The family must care for children while leading them, as a side effect of loving them, to be trusting and trustworthy -- qualities without which neither individuals nor societies can be truly free. So-called substitutes for the family -- single parents, government programs, and daycare -- cannot fill this role.-- What did adopting a badly neglected orphan teach Dr. Morse about love and politics?-- Do "single parents" and "quality daycare" exist?-- Why is cohabitation harmful?

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Prologue: The New "Problem That Has No Name."	p. 3
Introduction Home Economicus and the Noble Savage	p. 11
The Baby and Society	p. 25
The Prisoner's Dilemma	p. 38
Contracts in Libertarian Thought	p. 53
Why Marriage Is Not a Contract	p. 62
The Irreplaceable Family	p. 83
The Mother of All Myths	p. 89
Big Brother and Big Daddy	p. 113
Institutionalizing Childhood	p. 137
The Personal Ethics of a Free People	p. 161
What Is Love?	p. 167
The Cost of Love	p. 178
Why the Decision to Love Is Reasonable	p. 199
Conclusion: A Civilization of Love	p. 221
Notes	p. 235
Bibliography	p. 253
Selected Bibliography on Attachment Disorder	p. 264
Index	p. 267
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