Putnam's Bowling Alone did a very good job of citing the changing attitudes in America that have caused a shift in our values, away from the associations De Tocqueville adored so much when he visited. He does a good job of citing facts; all of the associations he mentions have a documented decline in participation. He cites counter trends, and notes the differences in attitude (from a community to more of a ragtag recognition that others do believe in the same goal). And then he provides his details. All of it makes sense, but something is... missing. He proposes explanations, but none of them really dig deep into why the American psyche has changed. Yes, people are more mobile, which makes organization participation difficult, but why are people more mobile? Why are Americans watching more television? It's a fantastic blend of information but it's missing something solid at the core. (This could all be a "chicken or the egg?" style of thinking; which came first, the change in attitude or the trends Putnam cites?)
I might be expecting too much from his article; a deep analysis like I expect would take a dissertation or dissertations, not a twelve page long article. The most frustrating part is that I feel like I am treading on an answer. This feels like a topic I've covered in my other classes, I just can't pull the reasons up from the depths of my consciousness. With some discussion to fish out the details, and synthesis of information from multiple subject areas, I think we may begin to approach the answer as a class.
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