I’ve been reading a book by Robert Putnam, a professor at Harvard. The book is called "Bowling Alone," and in it, he documents the decline in community life in American over the last four decades. The title comes from a trivial but telling example: the percentage of adults who belong to a bowling league today is only about ¼ of what it was in the 1960’s. Other examples:
· The percentage of people who volunteer in a political campaign - stuffing envelopes, making phone calls, going door to door - is today about half what it was in the late 1960’s.
· Active membership in local clubs and organizations, like the PTA, has dropped by about half, percentage-wise, since the 1970’s.
· People
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