Just seen one of the pithiest epithets for the generation I belonged to
in the middle of the 20th Century –
“We were poor, but we didn’t know it.” In fact, however, in the breadth and depth of the social support we enjoyed, all my classmates (whom I have contacted recently) described our youth in strikingly similar terms – “we were rich, but we didn’t know it”.
It’s from a
short piece - Crumbling
American dreams - penned a couple of years ago by Robert Putnam (of “Bowling
Alone” fame) about his home town into which he was born in 1941.
He’s now expanded his thoughts into a book - Unhappy
Days for America. The link is to a NYRB review which is less than enthusiastic
in its assessment……
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