I recently
read Alienated
America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse by Timothy Carney
(2019).
In this
book, TC dissects voting trends in both the primary and general elections
of 2016 to try to make sense of why large collections of American voters felt/feel
disenfranchised. TC not only carefully
disaggregated the numbers via statistical analysis, he also followed up with
qualitative interviews/observations to delve more deeply into the causes and
effects of political, social, and economic disparity.
Some of my
biggest takeaways:
Ø Ease of mobility in America has had
the effect of creating pockets of self-segregated “elites” (affluent and/or
educated) from the “non-elites,” resulting in the polarization of worldviews.
Those are not “merely differences of income, wealth, or education; they are
differences of health, hope, and opportunity.” (p. 62)
Ø When people are afflicted with
“idleness” – nothing to do – traditional social institutions begin to collapse.
Ø To truly understand others we must
engage them where they are – in their
communities. Simply crunching data sets
does not effectively tell the whole story.
Ø Trust is a requirement of healthy
community; it allows us to lower our defense shields.
Ø The dissolution of family and houses
of faith are at the root of America’s social and economic problems.
Ø Loss of civility is directly
proportional to the collapse of traditional social institutions (e.g., family,
church, book clubs, bowling leagues, service organizations, etc.)
Ø Secularization is the effort to force
religion into being solely a private experience, depriving it of the
self-actualizing effects of service for the greater good of the community.
Ø A continuum: Total regulation & low trust <---> Low regulation &
high trust. (Community health is low on
the left end and high on the right end.)
Ø Family strength is a powerful
predictor of the potential for upward mobility for children.
My favorite
quotes:
“Strong
communities function not only as safety nets and sources of knowledge and
wisdom, but also as the grounds on which people can exercise their social and
political muscles. These are where we find our purpose.” (p. 12)
“Bad
economics can help kill a community, but good economics cannot, alone, rebuild
one. And if you’re not building community, you’re not getting close to fixing
what ails us.” (p. 282)
A very
insightful examination of our national “health.” Thanks for the recommendation, TM.
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