My review of the Robert Putnam phenomenon Our Kids runs on TGC this morning. Oh, and in addition to the phenomenon, I also review the book:

The content of the book is less important to these discussions than the symbolic importance of the fact that one of the major intellectual heroes of the American Left is arguing that the breakdown of the family destroys the poor. I wish I could write two reviews: one of Our Kids the book—the actual words printed on the pages—and another of Our Kids the public phenomenon. The latter is much better than the former.

See here and here for the past debate on HT over whether the core institutions of American society are waking up to these problems. Our Kids the phenomenon reinforces my belief that they are. Our Kids the book shows how far they are from being able to understand the nature of the problem and the needed solutions:

Putnam’s list of solutions is full of magical thinking. Vocational education must be radically expanded, but without creating a two-tier education system; day care for children must be radically expanded, but without displacing the role of parents in children’s lives. He even urges us not to champion marriage. Instead we should hand out an endless river of condoms, and pour enormous amounts of money into the exact same welfare and educational programs that have failed consistently for 50 years. School choice is of course out of the question, even though Putnam’s own data show it works; no doubt this is because it increases the power of the family against the state.

Although Putnam emphasizes that family and community structures are more effective than government programs, because of his economic determinism virtually all his proposed solutions involve expanding government programs. The possibility that these programs are becoming a substitute for family and community structures, so expanding them will make the problem worse, is not raised—not even when (as with day care) it seems blindingly obvious. For Putnam, that thought would be unspeakable blasphemy.

There’s also a fascinating mini-case-study in the tension between the Left’s economic determinism and its desire to fight racial injustice. Check it out and let me know what you think!