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Timothy P. Carney

Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse Hardcover – February 19, 2019

by Timothy P Carney (Author)

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Now a Washington Post Bestseller.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump proclaimed, “The American Dream is dead,” a message that resonated across the country. Washington Examiner editor Timothy Carney traveled Middle America, pored over county-level maps and data, and sorted through sociological studies, and had a startling revelation: Donald Trump is right, but the death of the American Dream is a social phenomenon, not an economic one.

In some parts of the United States, life seems to be getting worse because citizens are facing their problems alone. These communities have seen declines in marriage, voting, church attendance, and volunteer work. Even when money comes back to town, happiness does not return if people there do not reengage. The educated and wealthy elites, on the other hand, tend to live in places where institutions are strong, or have enough money to insulate themselves.

Carney visits all corners of America, from the dim country bars of southwestern Pennsylvania to the bustling Mormon wards of Salt Lake City, and provides the most important data and research to explain why failing social connections are responsible for the great divide in America. Alienated America confirms the conservative suspicion that these places can’t be fixed with job-training programs or more entitlement spending, and backs up the liberal belief that new Trump voters aren’t coming to his rallies for the corporate tax cuts and Obamacare repeal.

Tim Carney will change the way you look at the challenges facing modern America and present a framework for leading us out of the wilderness.

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper
Publication date

February 19, 2019
Dimensions

6 x 1.17 x 9 inches
ISBN-10

0062797107
ISBN-13

978-0062797100
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Tim Carney knows what the social scientists know, but he brings the numbers to vivid life for the nation as a whole—Hillbilly Elegy with a panoramic lens. This book transcends politics. In fact, it’s especially for those who don’t understand why people voted for Trump but are willing to try. “ -- Charles Murray, author of Coming Apart

“The American Dream is rooted not in Washington, but in family, church, and community. Alienated America is a fascinating blend of first class reporting and studious research. Pundits on the left AND right should read this book to understand America. It explains how Trump understood the people he now serves.” -- Jason Chaffetz, author, The Deep State

“Tim Carney delivers a masterful contribution to the debate about what is driving our society’s growing divisions. Rejecting purely material or demographic explanations, he shows that the deepest disparity facing Americans today is one of community. Clear and compassionate, Alienated America offers a roadmap for the restoration of our nation.” -- Arthur C. Brooks, New York Times Bestselling author of The Conservative Heart

“America’s real challenge lies far deeper than its political polarization and class division. In losing our connections to each other, we’ve lost ourselves. In this powerful book, Tim Carney not only identifies the causes of our drifting apart, he shows us the places across the nation where people are coming together and reknitting their social fabric to thrive.” -- Richard Florida, author, Rise of the Creative Class

From the Back Cover

Should you be more worried about a church closing in your town than a factory closing?

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump proclaimed, “The American Dream is dead,” a message that resonated across the country. Washington Examiner editor Timothy Carney traveled Middle America, pored over county-level maps and data, and sorted through sociological studies, and had a startling revelation: Donald Trump is right, but the death of the American Dream is a social phenomenon, not an economic one.

In some parts of the United States, life seems to be getting worse because citizens are facing their problems alone. These communities have seen declines in marriage, voting, church attendance, and volunteer work. Even when money comes back to town, happiness does not return if people there do not reengage. The educated and wealthy elites, on the other hand, tend to live in places where institutions are strong, or have enough money to insulate themselves.

Carney visits all corners of America, from the dim country bars of southwestern Pennsylvania to the bustling Mormon wards of Salt Lake City, and provides the most important data and research to explain why failing social connections are responsible for the great divide in America. Alienated America confirms the conservative suspicion that these places cannot be fixed with job-training programs or more entitlement spending, and backs up the liberal belief that new Trump voters are not coming to his rallies to support corporate tax cuts or Obamacare repeal.

Tim Carney will change the way you look at the challenges facing modern America and presents a framework for leading us out of the wilderness.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper; Illustrated edition (February 19, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0062797107
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0062797100
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.18 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.17 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #260,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #295 in Poverty
- #400 in Civics & Citizenship (Books)
- #574 in Sociology of Class

Customer Reviews:
220 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		63%
4 star		18%
3 star		10%
2 star		4%
1 star		5%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Mary Baptist

Enlightening. Thought provoking. Even practical.

Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

Carney gives rigorous political and social analysis a heartbeat and human warmth that is inspiring. I feel like I understand my own community better after reading his book. I take my social connections less for granted and feel more committed to my book club and girls nights. He shows how human connections make America and, more importantly Americans, more prosperous and happy. If you are worried about pervasive, hateful rhetoric on the internet or polarizing news coverage and want to know how things could actually get better, read this. Seriously.

126 people found this helpful

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Misses the Boat

Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2019

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The book Alienated America is made for elites and the political power hungry class. Instead of assuming the half of Americans who voted for Trump had logical reasons to vote for Trump, Carney, like the elites in Washington, assumes there is something wrong with voters. What social ills would cause people to vote for Trump? You can probably guess the typical derogatory answers. Ultimately, the problem is they lack social interactions and networks (social capital). The issue is not campaign statements, "Here is what I plan to do, may I have your vote?" The issue is, "Why did you vote for Trump and how can your problem be fixed?" Carney's book is steeped in superficial research data bits which outweigh and bury honor and respect for human thought. For example, research data indicates the Hajj makes people in Bangladesh feel better than those who don't get to go on a Hajj. Therefore, Americans might feel better by participating in some religious undertaking like a Hajj. The answer to the problem of Trump country is to join a church or club. If Trump voters joined churches and Rotary Clubs, they might vote for Romney next time. If you like a book that talks down to you, this book is for you.

111 people found this helpful

Helpful

J. Bayley

A well written and serious look at a serious problem

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2019

This book is not a political polemic designed to excite either red team or blue team fevers. Rather, it is a serious attempt to understand what has been happening to a new emerging underclass that is easily missed by those of us fortunate enough to inhabit reasonably healthy communities. Carney calls on a rich combination of current and classic research and observations and combines them with his reporter’s skill for the concise interview and the illustrative anecdote. The alienated subjects of this book are found in the precincts, towns and counties that voted strongly for Trump in the early Republican primaries. Carney compares them with equally conservative areas that, while they may have voted for Trump against Hillary, decidedly favored his opponents when they had a choice of other Republican candidates. In essence, the early pro-Trump precincts are generally characterized by a lack of social capital: the absence of strong “middle institutions” such as churches, service organizations and sports, as well as low rates of marriage and family formation. It is in these precincts that the Trump message of “Make America Great Again” and it’s corollary, “the American Dream is dead” resonated. In contrast, the non-Trump Republican precincts tend to be cohesive communities with strong families and the high social trust that accompanies abundant middle institutions where the American Dream would seem to be alive and well.

The obvious starting point in looking at the alienated communities is: “the factory closed”. Well, yes it did, but the problem is not entirely economic. The problem appears to be that when the factory closed the surrounding area could no longer support the diners, the churches, the service organizations and even some schools—places where people could come together and interact in a meaningful way. This is the headline, if you will. Carney dives into how it happened over time (it wasn’t instant – factories have been closing for decades) and he addresses the micro- and macro- level causes and effects. He does this without looking for villains and victims—he just seems to be looking for facts and trends. A couple of examples: When working class generations of males (in particular) lose their factory jobs, they lose more than the paychecks; "[The] skills of the unskilled factory job are the skills of marriage and fatherhood." By this he means consistency, reliability and patience. On a more macro level, neighborhoods are far less economically diverse than they were a half century ago as what Charles Murray describes as “the college sorting machine” has worked to concentrate potential community leaders in upscale neighborhoods, depriving many working-class neighborhoods of these talents.

Conservative, liberal and libertarian readers will each find one or more of their sacred beliefs challenged by the research here and that is probably a good thing. For example: the conservative likely won’t care for the debunking of the notion that the poor behaviors of the working class are due to character flaws or the documentation of the decline in class mobility; the liberal won’t appreciate the discussion of the role of government in crowding out the middle institutions; and the libertarian will not be comfortable with the discussion of the role of “hyper-individualism” in upending the socially cohesive belief in “serial immortality” (which is why a soldier sacrifices for country and parents sacrifice for their children).

This book needs to be approached with an open mind, capable of setting aside prejudicial notions and biases. Books like this are especially valuable for the thoughtful way in which they dissect and present the elements of our current dysfunction. That said, Carney does point out some very high functioning communities and models—some wealthy, some not. Throughout he demonstrates the critical nature of the middle institutions and the manner in which they currently define what we like to call “American Exceptionalism”. They always have done so. The book includes some insightful quotes from Alexis de Toqueville’s “Democracy in America” (which a shockingly small number of Americans have even heard about, let alone read—although they should). Among them, from 185 years ago: "There is nothing, according to me, that deserves more to attract our regard than the intellectual and moral associations of America."

The solution chapter is the shortest, as is common with objective books like this. It is the partisan tomes that claim to have all the answers. Many readers across the partisan spectrum will not be comfortable with Carney’s “solution” which focuses heavily on the use of religious institutions to rebuild the social capital of alienated communities. He knows he will be challenged on this and steps out of his narrative to literally ask such critics: “What else do you got?” (I’m not sure where that bit of syntax came from, but there it is.) This book’s primary value is that it identifies and defines a serious social decay among the working class. A parallel would be Haidt and Lukianoff’s “The Coddling of the American Mind” which dialed in on an intergenerational problem with the upper middle class and above. Another complementary volume would be Michael Tanner’s “The Inclusive Economy” which is a more broad-based look at the structures that work to keep the poor in poverty.

My hope is that if enough people read and think about books like these, we can begin to stop vilifying each other and have some constructive dialogue leading to positive behavioral and social change—one small group at a time.

100 people found this helpful

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Joseph R. Marshall

A great read!

Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

You don’t have to be a political analyst or a politics junky to get a lot out of this book. Carney has spun all of those clunky statistics into a moving story and opened a window into a world that many of us struggle to understand.

51 people found this helpful

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A. Boyum

not worth it

Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

Nothing brilliant here. The writing is tolerable, but this just struck me as the kind of fodder writing you'd find laying around a church lobby. No real substance to it beyond decrying how people don't go to church anymore and all of us heathens are getting our due.

45 people found this helpful

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Mike

Save your money and watch cnn and get this perspective for free.

Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2019

Verified Purchase

Reading this just proved to me that some people are still clueless about why Trump won. Carney talks about tight knit communities and their churches from a DC perspective. I’m sure these are very inclusive institutions, Sodom and Gomorrah should appeal their sentence. People might not be going to church because it’s church in name only, God hasn’t changed despite our enlightened class saying He’s more tolerant now. We still help our neighbors, just not with big banners and publicity so everyone can see how great we are, ever heard of the Cajun navy. I saw Carney worked at the Washington Examiner before I bought the book, I should have followed my impulse and saved my money because there’s no doubt he lives in the swamp and writes from that perspective. I’m an electrician and didn’t go to any of the elite colleges but I do know that the money this country is in the hole for will never be paid back and there is a reckoning coming, Trump and the republicans are adding another trillion a year to our debt, and that oft quoted 22 trillion figure is just the tip of the iceberg. Tough times are coming. I’m sure Carney won’t get the point but I voted Trump because he wasn’t another scumbag politician and told the truth, and just as I expected nothing will get fixed in the end.

43 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

GLM

Understanding how Mr Trump became President Trump

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2019

Verified Purchase

Whilst staying in Millbrook, NY earlier this year, a friend gave me J. D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" (2016) to read, to make me more aware of the USA that I am not familiar with - that large chunk between the North East and West Coast - and to help explain why a man that, I feel, makes no attempt to be a Commander-in-Chief or Head of State and dislikes politicians, could become President.

Good as Mr Vance's book is, I wanted to read more and by chance saw Timothy Carney being interviewed on a BBC News programme in which he mentioned his new book.

"Alienated America" presents a much broader and more in-depth perspective to what is happening in America and gives a clear insight into the places that voted for Trump, not when he was close to being last man standing for the Republican nomination but where he came first (or did very well) in the early primaries. Essentially, Trump did best in the areas where the "American dream" is dead or fast dying and faired badly where people feel they are still living it and that America is still great, even if, comparatively, they are not rich. Some, many, really conservative areas voted for other Republican nominees in the primaries but did not vote for Trump, or voted for Hilary in the Presidential election.

Mr Carney, through numerous interviews and extensive research, argues that the main cause of Trump supporters' negativity, is a breakdown of community and civic society which no amount of central or "big" government can cure. In communities where such bonds are still strong, the President found little support.

This book should be a must for those interested in the USA, its people, sociology and current affairs.

Larry Sylvester

Inciteful

Reviewed in Canada on April 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

Timothy Carney gives us a sophisticated analysis of Trump's America, why he was elected and a more considered perspective on what is needed to make America great again. An excellent read.

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