FROM THE editors September 29, 2003 Issue

Disengaged. A new normal?

Editor

Over the last 40 years in the US, there's been a steady, quantifiable, across-the-board drop in people becoming involved in civic associations, community groups, religious bodies, labor unions—even recreational leagues. People are becoming more and more disengaged, and not simply from old-fashioned organizations. Various surveys have shown that time spent with families has tumbed 30 percent over the past 20 years. Dining-out with friends happens less and less frequently. And as we know, people aren't turning out to vote as often as they used to.

This troubling picture of unraveling connectedness is carefully detailed in Robert Putnam's recent bestseller, Bowling Alone. Mr. Putnam is a professor of public policy at Harvard University and has analyzed dozens of demographic studies, reviews, and personal interviews. The bottom line: Isolation and television watching are replacing most forms of community. Apparently, Americans are content not doing much of anything collectively.

Which raises a sobering question. Is this pattern of disconnectedness subtle enough and pervasive enough that it is silently redefining "normal" life? In other words, are we falling into the trap of thinking that community and cooperation for the common good are unusual kinds of behavior? If so, then it's time to sound an alarm. We're robbing ourselves.

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