https://www.theamericanconservative.com/...structing/

Writer argues that we need our institutions now more than ever.

"...In the 1950s, Robert Nisbet predicted our current fracturing in his book The Quest for Community. “[I]t has become increasingly clear to me that alienation is one of the determining realities of the contemporary age: not merely a key concept in philosophy, literature, and the social sciences…but a cultural and psychological condition implicating ever larger sections of the population,” he wrote, adding, “for millions of persons such institutions as state, political party, business, church, labor union, and even family have become remote and increasingly difficult to give any part of one’s self to.”

This alienation, Nisbet argued, stemmed largely from the secularism and individualism of our age. “The modern release of the individual from traditional ties of class, religion, and kinship has made him free,” Nisbet wrote, “but, on the testimony of innumerable works in our age, this freedom is accompanied not by the sense of creative release but by the sense of disenchantment and alienation. The alienation of man from historic moral certitudes has been followed by the sense of man’s alienation from fellow man....""

(08-27-2018 08:04 AM)bullet Wrote:  https://www.theamericanconservative.com/...structing/

Writer argues that we need our institutions now more than ever.

"...In the 1950s, Robert Nisbet predicted our current fracturing in his book The Quest for Community. “[I]t has become increasingly clear to me that alienation is one of the determining realities of the contemporary age: not merely a key concept in philosophy, literature, and the social sciences…but a cultural and psychological condition implicating ever larger sections of the population,” he wrote, adding, “for millions of persons such institutions as state, political party, business, church, labor union, and even family have become remote and increasingly difficult to give any part of one’s self to.”

This alienation, Nisbet argued, stemmed largely from the secularism and individualism of our age. “The modern release of the individual from traditional ties of class, religion, and kinship has made him free,” Nisbet wrote, “but, on the testimony of innumerable works in our age, this freedom is accompanied not by the sense of creative release but by the sense of disenchantment and alienation. The alienation of man from historic moral certitudes has been followed by the sense of man’s alienation from fellow man....""

There's a lot of truth to that.

In today's world (especially for younger people)

1) We don't have family meals where we sit down and just talk. We don't discuss issues any more, heck, many can't make it thru a meal without consulting their cell phone. That connection is pretty much gone.

2) Many of out interactions and relationships are done online via message boards, social media etc. The days of interpersonal connections actually being personal have declined. Friends aren't people who we hang out with or share activities with, they're people who "follow" us.

3) Even with technology, we don't talk anymore. If we wish to communicate to people, even those we know, it's often thru e-mails or text messages. Speaking to each other allows for a certain connection you don't get with 150 characters.

If nothing else, institutions such as political parties or churches gives us the opportunity to meet face to face and associate with people on a personal level. Is it possible that it leads to a bit more "tribalism"? Perhaps, but at least you'd be with people.