Our Kids

The American Dream in Crisis

By: Robert D. Putnam

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A groundbreaking examination of the growing inequality gap from the best-selling author of Bowling Alone: why fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility.

It's the American dream: get a good education, work hard, buy a house, and achieve prosperity and success. This is the America we believe in - a nation of opportunity, constrained only by ability and effort. But during the last 25 years, we have seen a disturbing "opportunity gap" emerge. Americans have always believed in equality of opportunity, the idea that all kids, regardless of their family background, should have a decent chance to improve their lot in life. Now this central tenet of the American dream seems no longer true or, at the least, much less true than it was. Robert Putnam - about whom The Economist said, "[H]is scholarship is wide-ranging, his intelligence luminous, his tone modest, his prose unpretentious and frequently funny" - offers a personal but also authoritative look at this new American crisis. Putnam begins with his high school class of 1959 in Port Clinton, Ohio. By and large the vast majority of those students - "our kids" - went on to lives better than those of their parents. But their children and grandchildren have had harder lives amid diminishing prospects. Putnam tells the tale of lessening opportunity through poignant life stories of rich and poor kids from cities and suburbs across the country, drawing on a formidable body of research done especially for this book.

Our Kids is a rare combination of individual testimony and rigorous evidence. Putnam provides a disturbing account of the American dream that should initiate a deep examination of the future of our country.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2015 Robert D. Putnam. All rights reserved. (P)2015 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

A Must Read for Anyone Who Cares!

Finally, a research-based complete look at the good, bad, and ugly in the Educational System in America. Forcing a wide-eyed look at what is really happening in the US and reminding the reader that it is just to easy to blame it on the educators! Well worth reading--let's hope there will be action by many!

Good companion to Coming Apart by Charles Murray

good companion book to Coming Apart by Charles Murray and Dream Hoarders by Richard Reeves

Required reading

This book should be required reading for anyone concerned with education in the US. Let me expand on the terms of that statement. By anyone, I mean teachers, administrators, parents, politicians, volunteers, and activists. By education, I mean K-12 and higher ed. Though the most salient points of this research cry for action at the K-12 level, there are important implications for higher ed as well, particularly with regard to the role of community colleges and the proprietary sector. There's nothing less at stake than the future of our economy and our democracy and that elusive conception we term "the American Dream."

well thought out, wish there were more stats

very effective use of narratives to illustrate points. but being a nerd, I wish there were a few more nationwide statistics to support the story. I also really like these fact that he addy least *tried* to talk about solutions. so many of these books point out the problem but then have no real solution to it. hopefully a politician somewhere is listening.

A Must Read to Understand the Growing Wealth Gap

Putnam did a great job explaining how in the 1950s everybody had similar opportunities, but how recent developments have focused opportunities for Success on the children of wealthy kids. it's very telling about the causes of the continued loss and lack of opportunities for poorer kids to achieve success in life.

Some have commented that's only if progressives would understand the issues of this book. I agree, because only progressives actually want to improve upon the situation and the issues we have in this country. Others choose to try to maintain the status quo or regress to a time where people had a lot less right and America was more business friendly (i.e. workers have no rights).

Concerning and worthy of action

As an audible, the only negative is that some of the statistical information can be missed. However, the inclusion of pdfs for the Audible is pretty amazing.

As a book, it is a challenge. Once you see the problem, you cannot unsee the problem. And, the standard solutions typically given by either side of the political spectrum feel paltry and insincere. If we are called to love our brother, we appear to be failing.

Excellent book raised some troubling issues...

Really fascinating portrayal and explanation of what is happening with advantaged and disadvantaged kids in today's America, and why all of us should care and should take action!

Everyone should read this

All the kids in America are "our kids" and it is our responsibility to help them and give them opportunities that they wouldn't otherwise have. If you don't believe that, read this book and it will change your life.

Must read for every American parent today.

I only wish a sequel will come out with more stories from American kids. But best ever would be to catch up with the study participants in 5 years, 10 years.....etc.

A compelling case for action before it's too late.

A thorough and thoroughly heartbreaking treatment of declining social mobility in the U.S. Nonetheless, it convincing identified its causes as well as potential cures. Must-reading for both conservatives and liberals alike.