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We are bowling alone. More Americans are bowling than ever before,
but they are not bowling in leagues.
Quitting smoking or joining a club, it's a tough call which
would improve your life expectancy more.
Joining one group cuts your odds of dying over the next year
in half. Joining two groups cuts it by three quarters.
The Internet didn't cause our civic disengagement. We were
well on our way to civic disengagement when Bill Gates was in
grade school.
We're not experiencing a Springtime of volunteering, but an
Indian Summer, propped up by our nation's seniors -- who have
been more civic throughout their lives.
Each 10 minutes of additional commuting time cuts all forms
of social capital by 10 percent--10 percent less church-going,
10 percent fewer club meetings, 10 percent fewer evenings with
friends, etc.
The best predictor of tax evasion is the number of times annually
that one gives the finger to another driver and social capital
is the best variable to successfully predict levels of tax compliance
province-by-province.
TV is the only leisure activity where doing more of it is
associated with lower social capital.
If you had to choose between 10% more cops on the beat or
10% more citizens knowing their neighbors' first names, the
latter is a better crime prevention strategy. If you had to
choose between 10% more teachers or 10% more parents being involved
in their kids' education, the latter is a better route to educational
achievement.
All the net growth in female employment over the last two
decades is due to more women working because they have to financially;
none of it is due to more women working for reasons of personal
satisfaction.
DECLINING FACTOIDS...
Family dinners and family vacations or even just sitting and
talking with your family are down by one third in last 25 years.
Having friends over to the house is down by 45 percent over
last 25 years.
Participation in clubs and civic organizations has been cut
by more than half over last 25 years.
Involvement in community life, such as public meetings is down
by 35 percent over last 25 years.
Church attendance is down by roughly one third since 1960s.
Philanthropy as fraction of income is down by nearly one third
since 1960s.
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