For almost two decades now some critics have warned about the culture of individualism engendered by our capitalist system, attacking it and advocating in its stead the sense of community inherent in participatory or democratic racial nationalism. Until recently, the establishment media and academic elites have almost unanimously (except for a few Marxist professors) heralded the virtues and wonders of capitalist individualism. But now cracks have begun to appear in the once solid wall of academia, which bodes well for the long-term prospects of racially conscious nationalists.
A core of sociologists led by Harvard professor Robert Putnam is now lamenting the decline of “social capital,” namely allegiance to community, which has occurred in America over the past three and a half decades. In his recent book Bowling Alone, Putnam admits that “social capital is to some extent merely new language for a very old debate in American intellectual circles. Community has warred incessantly with individualism for preeminence in our political hagiology.” But his work is a comprehensive and compelling study that demonstrates that the social fabric of the country is fraying to the point of tearing apart.
Despite the Revolution of 1776, America has always been an Anglo-Saxon capitalist culture with an innate tension between the desire to serve one’s own interests and the conflicting desire to do good―that is, to serve our society as a whole, which usually requires some self-sacrifice, and sometimes requires the ultimate self-sacrifice. Alexis de Tocqueville wryly described the American “synthesis” in response to this problem:
Americans enjoy explaining almost every act of their lives on the principle of self-interest properly understood. It gives them great pleasure to point out how an enlightened self-love continually leads them to help one another and disposes them freely to give part of their time and wealth for the good of the state.
But of course a truly self-interested person does not really care whether the pursuit of his own goals benefits the state or not, so why constantly be mentioning it? It is easy to understand de Tocqueville’s amusement, but this fundamental flaw in our ideological thinking has allowed a corrupt leadership to draw us down a path that can only lead to our destruction as a cohesive people and culture. Putnam sees that cohesion as being solidified by the Second World War, and sees each succeeding generation since then as less committed to community and more committed to self.
To make its point, Bowling Alone reviews the available sociological data that describe social activity in every sphere of civic participation, and in every sphere of ordinary social interaction, which Putnam calls schmoozing, using the Yiddish term for getting together with others in such things as bowling leagues, or card clubs, or just evenings spent with friends. Fortunately, as sociology has grown into a real social science, long-term survey data tracked over the decades are now available to be analyzed. In short, Putnam found that from about 1970 on there has been a dramatic and steady decline in all the ties that bind―what he calls social capital; and no doubt he calls it that because he is trying to get the leadership of the country, the capitalist elite, to recognize that there is a problem, and to do something about it.
He starts with voter turnout and finds a 25 percent decline since 1970, and an even steeper decline in the attendance at political party meetings and functions. Even the writing of letters to the editor and the signing of petitions have declined. Perhaps most important is the decline in trust of government. “Trustworthiness lubricates social life,” writes Putnam; it is what makes cooperation and efficiency possible. And Americans no longer trust their government:
In the 1990s roughly three in four Americans didn’t trust the government to do what is right most of the time. A single comparison captures the transformation: In April of 1966 with the Vietnam War raging and the race riots in Cleveland, Chicago and Atlanta, 66 percent of Americans rejected the view that “the people running the country don’t really care what happens to you.” In December 1997, in the midst of the longest period of peace and prosperity in more than two generations, 57 percent of Americans endorsed that same view.
But it gets worse; yes, Americans do not trust their leaders, but they also do not trust one another. In 1952, about half of all Americans believed they lived in a morally upright society; this number declined to about 25 percent by 1998. About half of those born prior to the Second World War now say that they trust most people, but only 20 percent of their grandchildren say the same. Now a half is not that impressive, but then again ours has never been a nationalist society, and a 50 percent trustworthiness rate is starting to look awfully good.
Is it this lack of faith in the goodness of our fellow citizens that has caused the decline in social participation that Putnam tracks―the failure in ever increasing numbers to join civic and community service organizations, to volunteer as coaches for youth sports teams, to attend PTA meetings, to go to church, and to help out its support groups? Is this why the average age of bridge club members is in the seventies, and why we are bowling alone when we once bowled in leagues? Or rather is it the reverse: that we no longer trust because we no longer associate ourselves closely with one another in the myriad of organizations that are available to us? Or is it something else that has caused both the loss of faith in one another and the loss of the desire to join organizations that are ostensibly working to make society better?
Putnam reviews the usual suspects in trying to determine the causes of the decline of social capital, and here he struggles. He concludes that:
Obviously the book is weak here, and gets even weaker when Putnam pretends to be optimistic about the future; he unconvincingly attempts to draw an analogy between the present and the Progressive Era of a century ago, which saw the birth of thousands of new civic and ethnic organizations that worked for the common good to counter the evils of industrialization.
In light of the above, what is the right thing for nationalist activists to do right now? The key is that small is good―small schools work better than large schools, small businesses are more manageable and efficient than large businesses, and small communities work better than large communities because responsibility for running clubs, associations, and operations is widely spread and most everybody is expected to participate. Get into a small community and sink local roots by joining the PTA if you have a child in school, or coach a youth soccer team, or join the Rotary or one of the myriad other community service organizations. Here you can have a real impact on real people who will come to respect you. Do not get overextended, but rather do a good job in each organization you join. You will find that soon you will be leading the association. Later you may turn this cache into votes when you or another you support run for a small local office and you build politically from there.
In The Rise and Decline of Nations, economist Mançur Olson tells us that elites destroy their nations over time by aggressively pursuing policies to concentrate more and more wealth and power in their own hands, which restricts competition and undermines economic efficiency. Putnam and Duncan describe the social consequences of the same process, concluding that where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer the unity necessary for cooperation is undermined and economic prosperity ultimately fades. In Britain and in America, the increasing concentration of wealth has proceeded apace since the end of the Second World War, and this must inevitably present us with political opportunities. We must be prepared to exploit them, since whichever side does this best when the crash finally comes will be the creator of the next era in human history. We must always remember that most people do not wish to live in the cutthroat manner of capitalism, and that only we offer a warm-blooded, human alternative.
Robert D. Putnam Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2001, 544 pp.).
─── Making Democracies Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994, 280 pp.).
Cynthia M. Duncan Worlds Apart: Why Poverty Persists in Rural America (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000, 256 pp.).
Mançur Olson The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1982).