Despite the title, it’s reasonable. Are we in decline, and just fighting over the spoils?:
‘Or consider the secular vote, which has been growing swiftly and tilts heavily toward Democrats. The liberal image of a non-churchgoing American is probably the “spiritual but not religious” seeker, or the bright young atheist reading Richard Dawkins. But the typical unchurched American is just as often an underemployed working-class man, whose secularism is less an intellectual choice than a symptom of his disconnection from community in general.
What unites all of these stories is the growing failure of America’s local associations — civic, familial, religious — to foster stability, encourage solidarity and make mobility possible.’
Are we leading ourselves down the garden path towards old Europe? Which ideas will lead the way, at least in our politics?
Related On This Site: I find myself attracted to the slow decline, realism model, whether or not it’s correct: Ross Douthat At The NY Times: ‘Washington Versus America’ The NY Times op-ed writer and a practicing Catholic? William Saletan and Ross Douthat At Slate: ‘Liberalism Is Stuck Halfway Between Heaven And Earth’…Douthat’s The Grand New Party…Ross Douthat At First Principles: ‘The Quest for Community in the Age of Obama: Nisbet’s Prescience’
Charles Murray is trying to get virtue back with the social sciences: Charles Murray At The New Criterion: ‘Belmont & Fishtown’…Charles Murray Lecture At AEI: The Happiness Of People
Still reliving the 60′s? With all these drivers of change, with what we are replacing the Church and civic associations…a belief in Reason, and progress…where can that lead?: A Few Thoughts On Robert Bork’s “Slouching Towards Gomorrah”….Update And Repost- From YouTube: Leo Strauss On The Meno-More On The Fact/Value Distinction?’
