Join, or Die: Why You Absolutely Should Not Be Bowling Alone
At the 2024 White River Indie Film Festival
“Everyone has a feeling that something is wrong, but then he’s got charts . . .”—comment from Join, or Die
“He”is Robert Putnam, author of the much-touted book, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. And we can claim him as a neighbor to the Upper Valley, as he’s living in Jaffrey NH. The film, Join, or Die, (which was edited in Montpelier VT, and mercy, isn’t that a tough title) was just screened at the White River Indie Film Festival last Saturday.
Bowling Alone is not a new book—it has a snazzy new edition to celebrate its 20th anniversary of publication—and even you haven’t read it, you have probably heard about it. Putnam has devoted his life to researching what makes some societies thrive and others sink, and has hit upon the concept of “social capital.” The more that people come together, know one another’s names, build trust with one another, the better not just for the individuals involved, but for the entire society. And that is understating it, as the film’s title Join, or Die asserts. No more “I’m not much of a joiner” attitude. Your life, and the life of your community, is at stake.
To be honest, I avoided reading Bowling Alone when it first came out because 1) I really dislike bowling, and 2) I had (wrongly) assumed that Putnam had just decided that it would be nicer if we all got along, which seemed evident to me but not very profound. The film, however, enlightened me. It shows Putnam’s extensive research, starting with his study of different parts of Italy to determine which regions were successful and which were not. He found that the answers that seemed most likely—educational levels, economic development, urban or rural, turnover of populations—did not explain anything. What he came to call “social capital” did.
Returning to the United States, he discovered that social capital was not just waning, but plummeting, with fewer people attending houses of worship, civic groups, the PTA, and even simple dinner parties. He came upon an owner of a bowling alley who was facing an economic crisis: numbers of individual bowlers were actually up, but once-popular bowling leagues were becoming extinct. (As the owner put it, the camaraderie of the bowling league meant members stuck around the bowling alley longer, buying more beer and pretzels. The individual bowlers? Not so much. Hence the lack of social capital led to, among other ills, the economic woes of the proprietor.)
The film introduces the viewer to all of Bob’s research with an entertaining tone and killer graphics, and shows him as a deeply earnest worrier about the country’s future. Years ago, Bob convened a learned and diverse group of thinkers at what he called the Saguaro Seminar, to try to figure out how to turn people into joiners again. One member, a young kid whom they teasingly referred to as “the governor” because they saw him—just maybe—as a future political leader, ended up becoming president of the United States. His name was Barack Obama. Many years later in 2012, then-President Obama slipped a ribbon around Bob Putnam’s neck to honor him as a recipient of the National Humanities Medal. The scene in the film where Bob tells the lump-in-the-throat story of his visit to the White House, which also features his youthful memories of JFK, is worth the price of at least two admissions.
Bringing it home, the talkback following the film at Briggs Opera House included representatives from Upper Valley groups like the White River Junction and Lebanon Rotaries, the Norwich Women’s Club, the Upper Valley Young Professionals, Bugbee Senior Center, and Hartford Parks and Recreation. Some, like the Young Professionals, appear to be thriving. Others are keeping on, but hoping for more of us to show up.
Join, or Die will surely cross a screen again, maybe even on a streaming platform. I highly recommend it. Meanwhile, the film trailer, above, does a pretty good job of whetting your appetite. We could have discussions about whether Putnam‘s prescription of “more joining in” is the panacea that he believes it to be. What of the introverts, or the merely weary? Despite a misgiving or two, I admit, as I ponder the dreary state of the nation, I have yet to come up with a better idea.
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word..