Dear Commons Community,
In the past week, there have been several articles and reports regarding the waning of marriage as a social institution in this country especially among young adults. David Brooks weighs in with a column entitled, The Talent Society. He credits this transformation to individualism as follows:
“We can all think of reasons for this transformation. Affluence: people have more money to live apart if they want to. Feminism: women have more power to define their own lives. The aging society: more widows and widowers live alone. The information revolution: the Internet and smartphones make it easier to construct far-flung, flexible networks. Skepticism: more people believe that marriage is not for them.
But if there is one theme that weaves through all the different causes, it is this: The maximization of talent. People want more space to develop their own individual talents. They want more flexibility to explore their own interests and develop their own identities, lifestyles and capacities.”
This strikes true to me and my own observations and relationships. Brooks concludes:
“Today, the fast flexible and diverse networks allow the ambitious and the gifted to surf through amazing possibilities. They are able to construct richer, more varied lives. They are able to enjoy interesting information-age workplaces and then go home and find serenity in a one-bedroom apartment.
On the other hand, people who lack social capital are more likely to fall through the cracks. It takes effort, organization and a certain set of skills to surf these new, protean social networks. People who are unable to make the effort or lack social capital are more likely to be alone…
Over all, we’ve made life richer for the people who have the social capital to create their own worlds. We’ve also made it harder for the people who don’t — especially poorer children.”
I don’t see the above changing anytime soon. Those of us involved with education have a duty particularly for students who do not come to school or college with social capital, to work as hard as we can to give them the skills to succeed.
Tony
