This conversation with Tim Carney, editor at the Washington Examiner and a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, explores the subject matter of his 2019 book, “Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse.”

Today’s episode is a rebroadcast that originally aired in March of 2019, but holds incredible relevance to conversations we’re still having today.

To the extent that the “American Dream” is fading away in parts of the country, the problem isn’t pure economics. Nor is it a case of stubborn old white men falling behind because they refuse embrace progress. Carney argues that the root cause of our problems – crumbling families, despair, and political dysfunction – is the erosion of community and local, civil institutions, most especially church. The result of a secularizing country is a plague of alienation for the working class, as people struggle to build families and improve their lives without the support structure they need.

 

Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse – Tim Carney

 

Video: Tim Carney On The Threat To Liberty From Big Business

 

More churches, more flourishing: The secret to success in middle America – Joseph Sunde

 

Lyman Stone on the decline of religiosity in the United States – Acton Line

 

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