[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [xmca] book "Going Solo"

Deeply disturbing indeed.
As I see it, the size of households is one aspect of a wider and deeper social crisis. Have you read "Bowling Alone," a deeply flawed, but nonetheless rightly famous study of sociality in the US, following up the author, Robert Putnam's seminal study of democracy in Italy?
The underlying issue, the transformation of the structure of social relations in late capitalist society, described by Marx with the words "all that exists melts into air," has been the central problem of my work for the past decade. 

Andy

Larry Purss wrote:

Andy,
How do you make "sense" of this from a historical perspective. What trends are being expressed and are these trends going to continue in this direction. Do the trends reach a point of *no return* in our ability or desire to share our lives in shared homes? I've wondered if, as we move in this direction, if we loose the capacity or ability to know how to live together & share our lives. We may discuss this trend, analyze it, and critique it, but as a phenomena it seems to have a trajectory that is deeply disturbing. [at least from my perspective] Larry On Tue, Apr 3, 2012 at 9:53 PM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net <mailto:ablunden@mira.net>> wrote: 

    and not just America, Larry! The same thing is happening in Australia.

    Andy

    Larry Purss wrote:

        A new book is describing some statistics that I find amazing.

        I watched the author interviewed on the Charlie Rose show.
         Here is the link to the book
        http://books.google.ca/books?id=cz6wrxjEimAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=going+solo+klinenberg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5c97T_qGIuOwiQKXmMAy&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=going%20solo%20klinenberg&f=false
        <http://books.google.ca/books?id=cz6wrxjEimAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=going+solo+klinenberg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=5c97T_qGIuOwiQKXmMAy&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=going%20solo%20klinenberg&f=false>

        I'm extremely critocal of his point tof view but in this case
        "statistics"
        seem to be pointing to what I personally believe is a
        disturbing phenomena.
        Klinberg states 28% of all residences in the USA are now
        occupied by a
        single person.  In the large cities the percentage is 40% of all
        residences. In the largest cities such as New York fully half
        of all
        residences are occupied by a single occupant.

        This *fact*, if it can be verified, suggets something profound
        [and I think
        profoundly disturbing] about *trends* in America.

        Larry
        __________________________________________
        _____
        xmca mailing list
        xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
        http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca
-- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
    *Andy Blunden*
    Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
    Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/ <http://home.mira.net/%7Eandy/>
    Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608461459/

    __________________________________________
    _____
    xmca mailing list
    xmca@weber.ucsd.edu <mailto:xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
    http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca




--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1608461459/

__________________________________________
_____
xmca mailing list
xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
http://dss.ucsd.edu/mailman/listinfo/xmca