Monday, August 5, 2013

Crumbling American Dreams - NYTimes.com

An intersection in Port Clinton.Dramatic narrative of the decline of a blue collar manufacturing town - Port Clinton,Ohio. - GWC 
Crumbling American Dreams - NYTimes.com:
by Robert D. Putnam
   The crumbling of the American dream is a purple problem, obscured by solely red or solely blue lenses. Its economic and cultural roots are entangled, a mixture of government, private sector, community and personal failings. But the deepest root is our radically shriveled sense of “we.” Everyone in my parents’ generation thought of J as one of “our kids,” but surprisingly few adults in Port Clinton today are even aware of R’s existence, and even fewer would likely think of her as “our kid.” Until we treat the millions of R’s across America as our own kids, we will pay a major economic price, and talk of the American dream will increasingly seem cynical historical fiction.... 'via Blog this'

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