DeepSummary
Ryan Cooper and Alexei the Greek welcome Pete Davis, the author of 'Dedicated' and the new documentary 'Join or Die', to discuss the importance of civic associations and community for democracy and human flourishing. Pete explains how Robert Putnam's research found a decline in people joining clubs, unions, and community groups over the past few decades, which has negatively impacted governance, health, and social movements.
Pete delves into Putnam's study in Italy that linked high social capital and civic engagement to better government performance. He also discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted civic life and how restoring community infrastructure is crucial for countering individualism, corporate control, and technocracy in an age of advancing technology like AI.
The discussion touches on the role of material conditions, workplace dynamics, and ideological shifts in shaping community bonds. Pete emphasizes the need for pluralistic associations that foster shared vulnerability, transformation, and a renewed sense of purpose beyond hyper-individualism.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Civic associations, such as clubs, unions, and community groups, play a crucial role in fostering democracy, governance, social movements, and human flourishing.
- Robert Putnam's research found a significant decline in people joining civic associations over the past few decades, which has negatively impacted social capital and civic engagement.
- The COVID-19 pandemic further disrupted civic life and highlighted the importance of community infrastructure for countering individualism and fostering a sense of shared purpose.
- Addressing material conditions and meeting basic needs is a prerequisite for fostering civic engagement and community participation.
- Reviving civic associations and community infrastructure requires a collective effort and a renewed sense of purpose beyond hyper-individualism.
- Technology, such as AI, can be shaped by the dominant cultural context, making it crucial to rebuild community infrastructure to counter corporate control and technocracy.
- Pluralistic associations that foster shared vulnerability, transformation, and cross-cultural connections are essential for rebuilding social capital and strengthening democracy.
- Meaningful change requires both a critical mass of public support and a dedicated minority actively working towards that change.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “There's a history lesson here, but there's also a theoretical insight here. And, yeah, I think there's a lot to learn from this conversation.“ by Alexei the Greek
- “The goal of making the government not just trust in government, but making the government trustworthy is also a thing that requires joining because, you know, there's also a bureaucratic civic culture if, you know, we don't have a lively, public spirited bureaucracy where there's a revolving door and people think that's normal, and people don't, you know, have the Kennedy hunky dory sense that when they're working in government, they're working for the people when they feel like it's just for themselves and we don't have that spirit, that's gonna make a worse government, too.“ by Pete Davis
- “If you have crime in your neighborhood. The social capital literature says if you had to choose between 10% more cops on the beat or 10% more neighbors knowing each other's first names, it is so clear in the social capital literature to choose the latter that is doing so much more work than the brute force of some bureaucratic institution.“ by Pete Davis (quoting Robert Putnam)
- “If you strip away kind of like at the material conditions level, if you strip away the ability for people to survive or thrive materially, or conversely, if you provide the ability to have a living wage and health care and housing and all these things, then of course people are more able, inclined and have opportunity to join and extend themselves beyond just their kind of navel gazing selves.“ by Alexei the Greek
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Episode Information
Left Anchor
Ryan Cooper & Alexi the Greek
3/30/23
Today we're talking again with Pete Davis, author of Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing, about his film Join or Die. It's a documentary about Robert Putnam and the accelerating decay of social institutions like clubs, unions, churches, and so forth. Pete explains why those are so important, and what might be done about it.