KURT VONNEGUT ON THE NEED FOR BUILDING EXTENDED FAMILIES
Kurt Vonnegut loved to speak to college students. He believed, if I may paraphrase here, that “we should catch young people before they become CEOs, investment bankers, consultants, and money managers (and especially hedge fund managers), and do our best to poison their minds with humanity.”
John Bogle • "Enough"
How many non-family friends could you rely on in a time of need? If there is one – or, even better, a few – then you have something to truly treasure.
Laurence Endersen • Pebbles of Perception: How a Few Good Choices Make All The Difference
Humans have always known we cannot survive alone, and that to protect ourselves, we need to persuade others to care about us. We cultivate trusting reciprocal pacts with other people – blood relatives, but also friends and neighbours - through which reassure ourselves we can both care and be cared for, if the necessity strikes. These ties can have ... See more
"It took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
Kurt Vonnegut • The Sirens of Titan: A Novel
can human beings come to understand their own well-being as linked to that of others, in wider and wider circles, beyond family and tribe?