My own political upbringing and present views were also formed by my time at New Mexico's Boys State. If there are any parents reading this, the American Legion puts on a great civics- and government-oriented event for young men (the Legion Auxiliary puts on a similar Girls State), so keep an eye open for this opportunity if you have a high school-age kid.
For folks looking for ways to engage locally, I'm currently working my way through Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community", which is a sociological account of the decline of civic participation and community engagement in the latter half of the 20th century. It's an approachable academic book that does a good job describing the extent of the social malaise in a manner that is actionable (you don't always get this part from academic books):
While this is a review from 2000, keep an eye open for his 20th anniversary edition, which incorpotates updates from the last 20 years, notably social media and the Internet. (I can't comment on these sections as I'm still working my way through the book.)
I'm also heartened to hear that the Racket crew is making it through the vaccination sequence. I'm still waiting for my turn in Chicago, and am too busy to play the website-refreshing game that reminds me of buying Cubs tickets at the beginning of the season.
I don't share your disdain for Mr. Trump but I did enjoy the story. It's good to read about different points of view. I never really had any childhood introduction to politics except I did share my dad's dislike of taxes and labor unions which was a paradox because he graduated from high school in 1931 when his dad was losing his drug store. He was not a pharmacist and could not afford to pay one. My dad was the oldest and was able to help support his family of seven by working in a CCC camp. He thought FDR was a savior. My mom thought that no democrat could do anything wrong. The only congressman I ever met wanted me to accept a a nomination to West Point or Annapolis but I wanted to go to engineering school. I decided I was mostly conservative because the newspaper columnists who appealed to me the most were William Buckley and Walter Williams.
My own political upbringing and present views were also formed by my time at New Mexico's Boys State. If there are any parents reading this, the American Legion puts on a great civics- and government-oriented event for young men (the Legion Auxiliary puts on a similar Girls State), so keep an eye open for this opportunity if you have a high school-age kid.
For folks looking for ways to engage locally, I'm currently working my way through Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community", which is a sociological account of the decline of civic participation and community engagement in the latter half of the 20th century. It's an approachable academic book that does a good job describing the extent of the social malaise in a manner that is actionable (you don't always get this part from academic books):
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/06/25/reviews/000625.25talbott.html?module=inline
While this is a review from 2000, keep an eye open for his 20th anniversary edition, which incorpotates updates from the last 20 years, notably social media and the Internet. (I can't comment on these sections as I'm still working my way through the book.)
I'm also heartened to hear that the Racket crew is making it through the vaccination sequence. I'm still waiting for my turn in Chicago, and am too busy to play the website-refreshing game that reminds me of buying Cubs tickets at the beginning of the season.
I don't share your disdain for Mr. Trump but I did enjoy the story. It's good to read about different points of view. I never really had any childhood introduction to politics except I did share my dad's dislike of taxes and labor unions which was a paradox because he graduated from high school in 1931 when his dad was losing his drug store. He was not a pharmacist and could not afford to pay one. My dad was the oldest and was able to help support his family of seven by working in a CCC camp. He thought FDR was a savior. My mom thought that no democrat could do anything wrong. The only congressman I ever met wanted me to accept a a nomination to West Point or Annapolis but I wanted to go to engineering school. I decided I was mostly conservative because the newspaper columnists who appealed to me the most were William Buckley and Walter Williams.