Markets, Trust, and a Culture of Responsibility: Implications for a Family-Friendly Health Care Policy

This paper explores the way in which a family-centered community should approach markets and market interactions and the role of markets in promoting a culture of responsibility. After making a case for the compatibility of markets and families, the paper then looks at one particular family-centered community, the Amish. The Amish are a useful example not only because of their success in creating self-reliant, family-centered communities, but also because they provide a focal point for theoretical attacks on strong, independent families and communities by those proposing alternative regimes. In particular, this paper looks at the attack against the Amish in the political theory of students of John Rawls and demonstrates the incompatibility of family-centered societies and Rawlsian ideas. It then draws parallels to the thought of Habermas and the case of Germany. The paper concludes by drawing some implications for a health care policy designed to nurture a family-centered culture of responsibility.