Observations from Bowling Alone
Some more stuff that interested me in Robert Putnam‘s Bowling Alone:
* Putnam writes, “Fund-raising typically means friend-raising” (p. 121). That’s true for churches as much as for any other organization.
* In passing, talking about various possible causes for the current social disengagement, Putnam throws this in: “The sixties (most of which actually happened in the seventies)” (p. 187).
* It was disturbing to me to read (p. 352) that in 1987, 46% of those surveyed were opposed to interracial dating. That figure dropped to 23% by 1999, but still: Almost half of the people surveyed in the States held this view as recently as 1987! Similarly, in 1963, 61% of those surveyed would have supported laws against interracial marriage. In 1998, however, only 11% did. That indicates some change for the better, but it’s still sad.
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:46 pm
I’ve heard two different arguments:
1) Most of the things the 60s was proud of actually happened already in the 50s (civil rights movement, etc)
2) Most of the things the 60s are known for actually happened from 1969 on into the 70s. (particularly the sex and drugs aspects of it.)