Putnam article

· The importance of social capital is that crime is lower when neighbors know each other

o Tangible examples of social capital: bowling club, marching band

· The “problem of leisure” came up in the 1960s

o It was defined by as “the most dangerous threat hanging over American society is the threat of leisure,” and that “Americans face a glut of leisure.”

o It was a problem because Americans were combining in numbers (at bowling leagues) and then getting their way from their public servants (like new roads, etc.)

§ People were becoming political activists

· Putnam says that the change in social interactions came from how people interacted

· “Frequent interaction among a diverse set of people tends to produce a norm of generalized reciprocity,” and “when economic and political dealing is embedded in dense networks of social interaction, incentives for opportunism and malfeasance are reduced””

o Putnam gave examples of the firefighters fundraisers that said “Come to our breakfast, we’ll come to your fire”

o People also thought that people were becoming more “trustworthy,” so they interacted more with strangers