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 (P)2015 Simon & Schuster Audio

A more relatable, less rigorous, Coming Apart

This book is filled with fascinating nuggets of data, insights, and explanations for our world. I sometimes felt like the selection of anecdote was a little manipulative. Putnam admits that some examples were chosen that were particularly vivid to make the lesson clearer. When talking about the macro data though, Putnam seems fair, modest, creative, and insightful. The policy recommendations feature unsurprisingly less modest suggestions about the scope of our knowledge, but again he's open about this. An excellent read either in conjunction with Charles Murray's Coming Apart or for those who find lengthy data analysis a struggle to read.

A sobering listen

I think this book sheds light on a problem that a lot of us try to ignore - the growing poor right around our own neighborhoods. I don't have children, but I am nonetheless amazed when someone glibly states "if you want to get ahead, you just need to work a little harder". This book explains just why that no longer really rings true. I found it to be very informative and thought provoking.

Awesome Book - Makes you think!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I would recommend this book to a friend, I wish I could buy a copy for every teacher at my kids' school and have them read it. I think that a lot of this book is about thing that we are all aware of, things that happen, yet haven't quite put words to it. Also, the way we treat some kids and not others, something I believe came on us slowly, and not really consciously intended. He brings it to the surface.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Our Kids?

All the personal stories of the parents and the kids.

Which character – as performed by Arthur Morey – was your favorite?

Arthur Morey was an excellent pick for this book. There are a lot of statistics in this book, yet when he read them it was easy to keep up.

the middle class excusing economic segregation

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Started interesting but turned quickly into an instruction manual for privileged middle class and UMC parents on how to effectively raise their children while ignoring the systemic segregation of the poor and working class in the United States.

Has Our Kids turned you off from other books in this genre?

I've allways been turned off by these types of books that glorify the privileged and wealthy at the expense of the working class.

Have you listened to any of Arthur Morey’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

.???

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The first couple of chapters explaining the reality in America that upward mobility for the working class is almost nonexistent today thanks to neo-liberal policies.

Any additional comments?

Nope.

Where our society is now

From the author of Bowling Alone, this could be seen as the follow up. What has happened to social mobility in this country and why. And he has some ideas on what to do about it. This is an important book for anyone who is concerned by the growing divides in wealth, income, and opportunity in America.

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.

Such an important book

Robert Putnam & his research team have pulled together another incredible text that’s important as a reference as well as a story. The thrust of the narrative - that we should think of other people’s children as our kids as we did not so long ago - is in my opinion the most critical message of our time.

The Chapters

The chapters dont match up with the audio. Like when you click chapter 5, it's not chapter 5

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.

Essential reading on both sides of The Pond.

What has already happened in the US and what is likely to happen in the UK

how, really, to make America great again.

Compulsory reading for those wondering what just happened in America. If the idea that mendacious racists have unexpectedly taken over the country seems unsatisfying to you then you may find Putnam's argument - that there are real demographic and socioeconomic drivers dislocating middle and working class America from the metropolitan elite and they're not the ones the liberal media think they are - pretty compelling. I certainly did.