--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: marriages are viewed as (short-term)…" description: "\"“marriages are viewed as (short-term) contracts subject to a cost/benefit analysis, children become consumer goods or accessories, family bonds are wea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/charles-j-chaput-16023_children_marriages-are-viewed-as-short-term-contr_2864810.jpg" --- # marriages are viewed as (short-term) contracts subject to… ![“marriages are viewed as (short-term) contracts subject to a cost/benefit analysis, children become consumer goods or accessories, family bonds are weakened and our bodies are treated like so many raw materials to be mined and exploited for manufacture and pleasure. Those individuals rendered…” quote by Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/charles-j-chaput-16023_children_marriages-are-viewed-as-short-term-contr_2864810.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/charles-j-chaput-16023_children_marriages-are-viewed-as-short-term-contr_2864810.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b72/charles-j-chaput-16023_children_marriages-are-viewed-as-short-term-contr_2864810.jpg) > ““marriages are viewed as (short-term) contracts subject to a cost/benefit analysis, children become consumer goods or accessories, family bonds are weakened and our bodies are treated like so many raw materials to be mined and exploited for manufacture and pleasure. Those individuals rendered worthless as producers and commodities by obsolescence—the old and infirm—are discarded (warehoused or euthanized) and the nonproductive poor (the homeless, the unemployed, the irresponsible, the incompetent) are viewed as a threat.28”” [Charles J. Chaput](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-j-chaput/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society treats people as marketable assets, eroding familial and communal bonds. **In simple terms:** People are seen as commodities, harming relationships. Key Takeaway Prioritize human dignity over profit. Themes materialism family human dignity Mood concerned critical Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - policy debates - community building - family counseling Key Concepts commodification social inequality Questions to Reflect On - What values can counteract commodification? - How can communities reinforce intrinsic worth? A Different Perspective Economic pressures can make change difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Family bond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family-bond/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Relationships](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/relationships/) ## Related quotes > [I grew up in a strong family; we had strong family bonds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-howard/i-grew-up-in-a-strong-family-we-had-strong-family-bonds/) [John Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-howard/) > [“Hypothesis: Brothers and sisters forge family bonds through a complex byplay of accusations and insults.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-korman/hypothesis-brothers-and-sisters-forge-family-bonds-through-a-complex/) [Gordon Korman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-korman/) > [“There are friendships that are greater than family bonds, but they are very rare”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/there-are-friendships-that-are-greater-than-family-bonds-but-they-are/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [“that’s the hallmark of a true southerner. Family bonds.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juliette-poe/that-s-the-hallmark-of-a-true-southerner-family-bonds/) Juliette Poe > [Against the long years when family bonds make up all that is happiest in life, there must always be reckoned those moments of agitation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-oliphant/against-the-long-years-when-family-bonds-make-up-all-that-is-happiest/) [Margaret Oliphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-oliphant/) > [... It is not my desire to wound the feelings of any person with whom I am connected in family bonds. I may be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-is-not-my-desire-to-wound-the-feelings-of-any-person-with-whom-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [What interested me most about the Kennedys was the family situation. 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