Sometime during the 1960s, however, these trends reversed, leaving us in todayвЂ™s disarray.In a sweeping overview of more than a century of history, drawing on his inimitable combination of statistical analysis and storytelling, Robert Putnam analyzes a remarkable confluence of trends that brought us from an вЂњIвЂќ society to a вЂњWeвЂќ society and then back again. However as the twentieth century opened, America becameвЂ”slowly, unevenly, but steadilyвЂ”more egalitarian, more cooperative, more generous a society on the upswing, more focused on our responsibilities to one another and less focused on our narrower self-interest. During the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarized, and deeply fragmented, just as it is today. The starting to the Ending Gene Worm,its just a kick ass time.But weвЂ™ve been here before. Read what our users had to say about Half-Life: Opposing Force for PC at Metacritic.com.

It was an open question as to whether securing liberty and equality by means of a constitution and a participatory government would, or could, succeed.Tocqueville traveled widely in the newly formed nation, taking detailed notes filled with observations and insights that only an outsiderвЂ™s perspective could yield. At the time the United States was a fledgling democracy, barely half a century old, and many nations looked to it as a bold experiment. Engaging, revelatory, and timely, this is PutnamвЂ™s most ambitious work yet, a fitting capstone to a brilliant career.Chapter 1: WhatвЂ™s Past Is Prologue 1 WHATвЂ™S PAST IS PROLOGUEвЂњвЂ¦ whatвЂ™s past is prologue, what to come, in yours and my discharge.вЂќIn the early 1830s a French aristocrat named Alexis de Tocqueville traveled to America at the behest of his government, with a mission to better understand the American prison system.

Keenly aware of the dangers of individualism (a term he coined), Tocqueville was inspired by what he saw in America: Its citizens were profoundly protective of their independence, but through associating widely and deeply, they were able to overcome selfish desires, engage in collective problem solving, and work together to build a vibrant andвЂ”by comparison to Europe at that timeвЂ”surprisingly egalitarian society by pursuing what he called вЂњself-interest, rightly understood.вЂќ 1Though far from perfect in its executionвЂ”indeed, this was an America built upon the genocide of Native Americans, the enslavement of African Americans, and the disenfranchisement of women, and Tocqueville was well aware of the evils of slaveryвЂ”what Tocqueville saw in our nationвЂ™s democracy was an attempt to achieve balance between the twin ideals of freedom and equality between respect for the individual and concern for the community. But he also observed the coming together of people for mutual purposes, in both the public and private spheres, and found that a multiplicity of associations formed a kind of check on unbridled individualism. Above all, he noted a fierce commitment to personal liberty among the descendants of rugged pioneers who had fought so hard for it.

A wide variety of goods priced for mass consumption as well as innovative new forms of entertainmentвЂ”all made available in increasingly convenient waysвЂ”have improved the daily lives of nearly everyone. Increasing educational opportunities have made strides toward leveling the social and economic playing field. Huge advances in communication, transportation, and standards of living have brought to almost all Americans a degree of material well-being unmatched in our history. 2Were Alexis de Tocqueville to travel to America once againвЂ”further on in our national storyвЂ”what might he find? Would America fulfill its promise of balancing individual liberty with the common good? Would equality of opportunity be realized, and indeed produce prosperity for all? And would shared cultural values, respect for democratic institutions, and a vibrant associational life be the promised antidotes to tyranny? LetвЂ™s look at an end-of-century balance sheet.On the broad question of prosperity, things could hardly be better. Though there were blind spots still to be addressed, and dangers lurking in some of its flaws and features, democracy in America, Tocqueville felt, was alive and well.

Corporate monopolies have hoarded profits and gained unrivaled economic influence through a wave of mergers. AmericaвЂ™s rugged individuals struggle against the loss of identity, autonomy, and mastery as they are subsumed into the anonymous labor of hyper-consolidated corporate machines and forced to pool meager wages to make ends meet. Corporate conglomerates are replacing local and craft economies in almost every sector, including agriculture.

And women still struggle to participate equally in a society that manifestly favors male wage earners. Slavery has been abolished, of course, but the still ruthless reality of structural inequality condemns many people of color to a life of intergenerational poverty, and in some ways the situation of black Americans is actually worsening. But these gains have come mostly at the price of long hours in insecure low-wage work. Corporations search at home and abroad for ever-more-vulnerable populations to employ at ever-lower wages.In important ways, life is much improved at the bottom of American society, which makes some commentators optimistic that things will only get better.

The rights and cultures of the native peoples who inhabit and hold those lands sacred are pushed aside in favor of business interests. And while large portions of the country have been set aside as public lands, their fate is vehemently debated, as business interests pressure the government to open protected areas for mining, grazing, and fuel extractionвЂ”citing the need for natural resources to feed a voracious economy.

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