David Brooks recently wrote a piece with the provocative headline “The nuclear family was a mistake.” The article is thoughtful, and it hits on many important points. The central argument is that our culture has weakened the ties of extended families and neighborhoods.

The result, Brooks argues, is this: “The shift from bigger and interconnected extended families to smaller and detached nuclear families ultimately led to a familial system that liberates the rich and ravages the working-class and the poor.”