In 1998, only 8 percent of all Americans said that "the honesty and integrity of the average American" were improving, as compared with 50 percent of us who thought we were becoming less trustworthy. (Bowling Alone, page 25).This sentence stuck out to me because in my opinion, it really speaks volumes as to where we are headed as a society in America. Whether or not people are truly becoming less trustworthy is debatable, but in my opinion an issue that is just as big is that people think that we're becoming less trustworthy. It's no wonder why people aren't participating in the community groups and clubs that they used to; nobody trusts each other. Participation rates in things like bowling leagues or book clubs are a great indicator of that.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Bowling Alone MIS
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I would think a lot of people's actions are caused by self-fulfilling prophecies. Because people might expect the community to be dishonest, they will react to their own thoughts as if they have seen dishonesty in action, therefore discouraging participation in social venues. Even if people were extremely sincere in today's society (and perhaps they may be) skeptics and cynics are shaped by the paranoia and fear of failure inherent in recent negative trends involving fraud, economic struggles, and general unease. Once a person has become cynical, he or she will refuse to trust anyone, and thus honest intentions will be filtered and ignored. The proliferation of this kind of negative cycle may be what is driving America into perceived dishonesty.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you took a simple statistic and delved into a deeper basis for its origins and future impact with your post, Jeremy.