More and more women, who used to be the caretakers of community while the men pursued opportunities in the larger world, now find it necessary to work outside the home as well. Neither women nor men feel they have much time to maintain the ties of mutual support. Not that many decades ago, relatives and neighbors helped each other give birth at homes and eventually die there. They nursed one another to health, took in orphaned children of brothers and sisters who died young, and gave up personal ambitions to carry on the family business or to care for an aging parent. Today, institutions and professionals have taken over many of these roles.
People go to hospitals, schools, and nursing homes to receive health care and education.
The question is whether any enterprise other than war can tap that yearning. Father's war against Satan and his dream of the whole world being blessed and living in condominiums will accomplish this. I dream'd that was the new city of Friends. The founder of Harbor Sweets, a Massachusetts candy company, insists that his diverse work force operates on total trust, with no time clocks, no efficiency measures, and no secrets. After twenty-two years with the company, he cannot imagine leaving.