Ep 112: What is the purpose of fathers?

The Mindcrime liberty show discusses, what is the purpose of fathers? Are fathers merely sperm donors? Are fathers merely breadwinning money cows to be milked by children and wives? Are fathers a cultural killer app, to use the Niall Ferguson term? Do societies with involved fathers do better than those which don’t? Is there a tension between the idea of an involved father and a successful one? Being successful at anything seems to require a significant number of hours. As Musk jokes, nothing worthwhile was ever accomplished on 40 hours a week, let alone “part-time.” Most fathers in the nuclear family model in the industrial world work outside the home and so are functionally away from their families for much of the time. In the past the number of hours worked was even higher. Even though in death bed confessions people say they want to work less, their revealed preference and necessity seem to dictate otherwise. Why is that and can this tension be resolved? Finally, should the clergy or priestly class be single without any entangling ties of the family?