Some favourite turns of phrase from Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
"'[New York] is a splendid desert - a domed and steepled solitude, where a stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race,' wrote Mark Twain in 1867. 'A man walks his tedious miles through the same interminable street every dat, elbowing his way through a buzzing multitude of men, yet never seeing a familiar face, and never seeing a strange one the second time'". [p207]
"The outside world has become an abstraction filtered through television, just as the weather is an abstraction filtered through air conditioning". [p224, quoting James Howard Kuntsler]
"...found that TV watching has such a powerful impact on civic engagement that one hour less daily viewing is the civic-vitamin equivalent of five or six more years of education". [p238, my emphasis]
This is a great first wave book, incidentally. A solid foundation, comprehensively argued with masses of research. What will be fascinating is the second wave of arguments that takes this knowledge presupposed.
Some favourite turns of phrase from Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community.
"'[New York] is a splendid desert - a domed and steepled solitude, where a stranger is lonely in the midst of a million of his race,' wrote Mark Twain in 1867. 'A man walks his tedious miles through the same interminable street every dat, elbowing his way through a buzzing multitude of men, yet never seeing a familiar face, and never seeing a strange one the second time'". [p207]
"The outside world has become an abstraction filtered through television, just as the weather is an abstraction filtered through air conditioning". [p224, quoting James Howard Kuntsler]
"...found that TV watching has such a powerful impact on civic engagement that one hour less daily viewing is the civic-vitamin equivalent of five or six more years of education". [p238, my emphasis]
This is a great first wave book, incidentally. A solid foundation, comprehensively argued with masses of research. What will be fascinating is the second wave of arguments that takes this knowledge presupposed.