Dependency, Decisions, and a Family of Care

Abstract

In American popular culture, the reigning myth is one in which the individual is a cowboy, alone in the wild and capable of sustaining his own life without assistance from others. One thinks of Western movie classics, such as “Shane,” or “The Man with No Name” as quintessentially American. In fact, the good life is the solitary life, one lived alone on the frontier without interference from others. This solitary life as the paradigmatic life can be found even in contemporary American popular culture, for example in movies like “Spiderman” or the Batman series. The hero is solitary, alone in the world, and he alone can protect the society from those who would destroy it. These quintessential American heroes cannot have a family. They can neither love others, nor can they be loved by others; for to be loved and to love leaves them vulnerable to their enemies, who might exploit them and weaken them from the task of creating and protecting the polis.