The Talent Society. By David Brooks. New York Times, February 20, 2012.
Brooks:
It’s
more accurate to say that we have gone from a society that protected people
from their frailties to a society that allows people to maximize their talents.
The old
settled social structures were stifling to many creative and dynamic people
(and in those days discrimination stifled people even more). But people who
were depressed, disorganized and disadvantaged were able to lead lives enmeshed
in supportive relationships.
Today,
the fast flexible and diverse networks allow the ambitious and the gifted to
surf through amazing possibilities. They are able to construct richer, more
varied lives. They are able to enjoy interesting information-age workplaces and
then go home and find serenity in a one-bedroom apartment.
On the
other hand, people who lack social capital are more likely to fall through the
cracks. It takes effort, organization and a certain set of skills to surf these
new, protean social networks. People who are unable to make the effort or lack
social capital are more likely to be alone. As Klinenberg and others have
shown, this is especially likely to happen to solitary middle-aged men, who are
more likely to lack the drive and the social facilities to go out and make
their own friendship circles.
Over
all, we’ve made life richer for the people who have the social capital to
create their own worlds. We’ve also made it harder for the people who don’t —
especially poorer children.
These
trends are not going to reverse themselves. So maybe it’s time to acknowledge a
core reality: People with skills can really thrive in this tenuous, networked
society. People without those advantages would probably be better off if we
could build new versions of the settled, stable and thick arrangements we’ve
left behind.
