From Chapter 5
What Are We Trying to Produce?
What does it mean to raise a good, capable, responsible human being?
Working draft · Subject to change
What are we actually trying to produce?
Not what degrees do we want them to earn. Not what professions do we hope they enter. Not how much money do we want them to make.
What kind of human beings are we trying to send into the world?
I think that question sits near the center of parenting, and maybe near the center of this entire book. If the home really is the first institution most of us experience, and if every other institution eventually receives the people formed there, then we should be clear about what the home is trying to accomplish.