and as robert putnam, author of the classic of social capital bowling alone argues, isolate asian is isolation is political, extremism thrives and exurbia is a region of isolation, both in the in the or all in physical sense, the socioeconomic sense, but also in the sense in that they're not they're not getting the that could introduce some reality to their increasingly paranoid. well that leads me a question. you know, you mentioned bowling alone. there's i want to talk about nostalgia here and there seems to be kind of a paradox nostalgia in the book which is the one hand there's a sort of maga back before pre-civil rights free women's movement pre lgbtq. on the other hand, they seem very comfortable with a world that's nothing like it was, that's full of box stores and megachurches and no sidewalks and an you know that in which the way things used to be is just no longer, even accessible. and then kind of the way you weave your own stories in the kind of you have this, it's not i'm not trying to both sides is a different kind of nostalgia but you do write about a vanished when the

the data says the best year for american social health was 1964, right out of robert putnam, the mostperson who studied this data. we have had incremental decline for 60 years. for me, when you hate people or have mistrust of people, that is something you are learning in your daily life. i think our choices in politics -- our reaction to politics -- our obsessive nature with politics is because other avenues for us to contribute, to enjoy life, to play a role in the stage that is our lives have declined. politics has become more important, therefore politics become more zero-sum. i would say that if you look at the health, our relationships and how much we dig with each other in specific places, it is 60 years of decline. i'm not saying i have a formula to change that but if we put our finger on the problem and begin to see what people are doing that can make a difference we can learn how to restore the social fabric. without a stronger social fabric i don't think we can deal with the divisive nature of our politics. host: utah, bob, democrats line. caller: good morning. i would say t

the data says the best year for american social health was 1964, right out of robert putnam, the mostamous person who studied this data. we have had incremental decline for 60 years. for me, when you hate people or have mistrust of people, that is something you are learning in your daily life. i think our choices in politics -- our reaction to politics -- our obsessive nature with politics is because other avenues for us to contribute, to enjoy life, to play a role in the stage that is our lives have declined. politics has become more important, therefore politics become more zero-sum. i would say

night, your poker give way to online world, online gambling, social isolation, bowling alone, as robert putnam put it right, that we become more distrustful of our neighbor. we don't we don't trust them. we need somebody else. and so we need new associations. we need new affiliations. and we find them at the state. we find them at the state level. and he said he feared for us that we might all become a timid flock of sheep looking for a shepherd and i'm not saying we're there yet, but you do have to wonder when young people today, a third of them will say it's not particularly important to live in a democracy when people can't name the three branches of government and don't know why they're there, when more and more americans report that the people in the opposing political party are not just wrong. fair enough. fair enough. but that they're evil. right. it's one thing to debate and disagree. we have to be able to do that democracy that that's that is, again, the wisdom of the masses, the idea that we can all debate, disagree, decide, and then on. but when we when we don't just disagree but ha

connected to, if not caused by this addiction to the screen so i was happy to see you cite the work of robert putnam bowling alone made an impact on me. the discussion of social capital of the state. i'm sure the rotamer enjoyed and park ridge, right participation belonging, volunteerism. that is so missing today, you cite johnathan height, you cite jean 20 here's what disappoints me and it's not about you, madam secretary. i'm shocked that no person, no republican, no democrat is championing this issue. the social sciences so clear the political sciences so clear. our fabric is frayed as a nation. our kids are disconnected too much time behind closed doors on devices and not enough time replicating the experience of their parents and grandparents. so what do we do about it? what do we do about it for your grandkids well, michael, there are people who are championing it, but it's been a long and difficult road to get anything done actually, we can look at the state of california, the state of on new york. >> i think some other states have also taken action, but we need national action. and sadly, ou

but also there's the robert putnam story of those who go to church are also far more likely to have higher degrees of social capital. they have friends in church. they have much, you stronger networks. and it's the ones who are feeling isolated that might actually be more drawn to trump. yeah, i think that's a great point and that's what we're we're sort of hitting on the role that religion might be playing in this. right, is when people like a lot of reactionary today is anti-system politics is people saying i don't trust the the elites are operating anymore so it's populist right. and though it's not reducible to populism, populism is important part of their political style. and so, yeah, i a decline in religion and declining media against intuitions is part of what made people vulnerable to this to becoming reactionaries in the first place. so i think that's an important part of the story. that's that's a great i have two more questions that i'm going to be going to the audience. so i encourage you all to start thinking questions that you can ask. i'm also going to be encouraging you to

when i was an au student, and robert putnam wrote an essay that we read a lot in those days, i graduated in 1999. the thought was low voter participation is the first symptom of the collapse of our civic life. if you look at the book he wrote later, bowling alone, that is what he said. well, since he wrote that book, we have had the three highest voter participation elections in american history. the highest was the last election in 2020, had the highest voter participation rates since before women can vote. i am not sure that i would say that therefore i think we are in a healthier place than we were 20 years ago. because there is a way in which intense engagement in politics can be a sign of trouble, too. we have to look for more complex kinds of indicators of civic health than just that simple measure of whether people are voting. i think by a lot of important measures, we are in some trouble. but yeah, some civic literacy is a place to start, certainly. >> thanks for speaking tonight. i've another question about the preamble. we have seen some waves of populism in america, right and

the data says the best year for american social health was 1964, right out of robert putnam, the most famous person who studied this data. we have had incremental decline for 60 years. for me, when you hate people or have mistrust of people, that is something you are learning in your daily life. i think our choices in politics -- our reaction to politics -- our obsessive nature with politics is because other avenues for us to contribute, to enjoy life, to play a role in the stage that is our lives have declined. politics has become more important, therefore politics become more zero-sum. i would say announcer: we take you live now to new york city where former president donald trump is holding a campaign rally in madison square garden with just nine days to go before the 2024 general election. you are watching live coverage here on c-span. [cheers and applause] >> man is it good to be home in new york city. you know, usually i've got a lot to say but this one is special to me. i was born in brooklyn, new york. in new york, we refer to msg as the mecca. we refer to it as the center of

the data says the best year for american social health was 1964, right out of robert putnam, the most famous person who studied this data. we have had incremental decline for 60 years. for me, when you hate people or have mistrust of people, that is something you are learning in your daily life. i think our choices in politics -- our reaction to politics -- our obsessive nature with politics is because other avenues for us to contribute, to enjoy life, to play a role in the stage that is our lives have declined. politics has become more important, therefore politics become more zero-sum. i would say that if you look at the health, our relationships and how much we dig with each other in specific places, it is 60 years of decline. i'm not saying i have a formula to change that but if we put our finger on the problem and begin to see what people are doing that can make a difference we can learn how to restore the social fabric. without a stronger social fabric i don't think we can deal with the divisive nature of our politics. host: utah, bob, democrats line. caller: good morning. i wou

the data says the best year for american social health was 1964, right out of robert putnam, the most famous person who studied this data. we have had incremental decline for 60 years. for me, when you hate people or have mistrust of people, that is something you are learning in your daily life. i think our choices in politics -- our reaction to politics -- our obsessive nature with politics is because other avenues for us to contribute, to enjoy life, to play a role in the stage that is our lives have declined. politics has become more important, therefore politics become more zero-sum. i would say that if you look at the health, our relationships and how much we dig with each other in specific places, it is 60 years of decline. i'm not saying i have a formula to change that but if we put our finger on the problem and begin to see what people are doing that can make a difference we can learn how to restore the social fabric. without a stronger social fabric i don't think we can deal with the divisive nature of our politics. host: utah, bob, democrats line. caller: good morning. i wou

when i was an au student, and robert putnam wrote an essay that we read a lot in those days, i graduated in 1999. the thought was low voter participation is the first symptom of the collapse of our civic life. if you look at the book he wrote later, bowling alone, that is what he said. well, since he wrote that book, we have had the three highest voter participation elections in american history. the highest was the last election in 2020, had the highest voter participation rates since before women can vote. i am not sure that i would say that therefore i think we are in a healthier place than we were 20 years ago. because there is a way in which intense engagement in politics can be a sign of trouble, too. we have to look for more complex kinds of indicators of civic health than just that simple measure of whether people are voting. i think by a lot of important measures, we are in some trouble. but yeah, some civic literacy is a place to start, certainly. >> thanks for speaking tonight. i've another question about the preamble. we have seen some waves of populism in america, right and