Gor Mkrtchian is a research assistant at the Free Market Institute and a PhD student in the Department of Political Science at Texas Tech University. He received a BA in political science and theater studies from Yale University.
Extended families have long functioned to provide alternatives to the state in terms of risk sharing and mutual aid. Other economic benefits include the refinement of human capital and economies of scale.
Government policy now ensures that the benefits of children are socialized, while the cost of raising children remains private. If you wanted to reduce families, you couldn’t think of anything better.
By supplanting the family in caring for the young and the old, not only does the state increase the role it plays in society here and now, it also erodes the competency of the family in the long term.
Even if the idea of democracy were a good one, there is a myriad of problems that come with translating the will of the voters into "representation" in political institutions.
