&gt;The community takes a back seat to economic needs, it seems. Something like that. I&#x27;m not sure.<p>This is actually a phenomenon which, according to Karl Polayni&#x27;s <i>Aristotle Discovers the Economy</i>, roughly began in Greece shortly after the inventions of the alphabet and coinage which helped lay the framework for a more global economic system.<p>Traditionally tribal or &quot;uncivilized&quot; economies produced goods and services primarily for the local consumption of the clan, community, or family.<p>But soon after, <i>production for consumption</i> shifted to <i>production for exchange</i> as such societies became less &quot;tribal&quot; and more &quot;civilized&quot; via increasing literacy and &quot;the market system&quot;.<p>With this phenomenon began the shift from the tribal values of <i>family and community over the individual</i> to civilized societies&#x27; value of the <i>individual over the community.</i><p>Aristotle warned that this dynamic would destroy the autonomy and connectedness of the family and community and create a dangerous dependence on foreign goods.