Santa Paula Blog

More from Minneapolis....this morning's keynote speaker was Robert Putnam. He wrote a book a few years ago called "Bowling Alone" which described the decline of people's involvement in their community. He also refers to this decline as the "loss of social capital." The findings from the book are interesting and are summarized on its website. Perhaps even more interesting is what to do about it. Alas, as what usually happens at these conferences, he didn't spend much time talking about how to address it. But of course, there is another book,"Better Together" which also has its own website. The website talks about how communities and individuals can increase social capital. All good stuff. Just wish Putnam had more time to discuss solutions at session this morning.