And he affirms Chesterton's idea that suicide is not a crime against oneself, but against the whole world. Family life is happy, but not peaceful. It is serene, but not safe. Children are a delight and a disturbance. Papas are excitable, like mankind.
Uncles are stupid, like the world.
There is a paradoxical mix of independence and interdependence. Traditions are honored. When one of their clients moves into his new home, the Baileys are there with a ceremony of bread and wine. And they defy the Monster of Capitalism, personified by greedy and crippled Mr. Potter. But the evils of capitalism are also depicted in a more practical and vivid way.