"Think about caregiving less as a bundle of services and more as a web of relationships that encourage human flourishing." In The Atlantic Anne-Marie Slaughter and Hilary Cottam describe a "Caregiving Economy" that contrasts with the mostly-paid "Caretaking" system for supporting children, the elderly, and the disabled.

A LOOPY causal flow cartoon illustrates connections among their concepts. It's all about relationships – affection, consideration, and respect – that lead to growing, learning, thriving, and making the best of life. The coaches and guides who help catalyze that journey are special. They need support and solidarity. (And besides building better outcomes, they save the System money!)

Slaughter and Cottam conclude: "Care jobs help humans flourish, and, properly understood and compensated, they can power a growing sector of the economy, strengthen our society, and increase our well-being. Goods are things that people buy and own; services are functions that people pay for. Relationships require two people and a connection between them. We don't really have an economic category for that, but we should."

_{(sketch thanks to LOOPY, an ultralight tool for systems thinking ©2021 MITRE Corporation ...) - ^z - 2021-09-30}