Chuck Darwin<p>Social scientist and author <a href="https://c.im/tags/Bob" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bob</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Putnam" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Putnam</span></a> has pointed out that<br>❇️ the Gilded Age ended only when a spirit of progressive reform <br>“began in ordinary small towns in the middle of America and then spread from there.” </p><p>Simply put, we cannot wait for someone else to bring Trump, Musk, Zuckerberg, and their ilk to heel. </p><p>Putnam reminded us: <br>“What we learned from [the Gilded Age] is that history is not determined by something outside. </p><p>We think that the critical factor is really citizen agency<br>—that the choices that individual people make will, in fact, determine whether we end up on one path or another.” </p><p>He urged: <br>⭐️“Don’t be cynical. Don’t think that this is all determined by somebody else. <br>Working with others, you can make a difference because people exactly like you, people of the same age as you, changed things the last time.”</p><p>Our task to recapture democracy begins in earnest today.<br>-- <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://masto.ai/@JenRubin" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>JenRubin</span></a></span> <br><a href="https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-new-progressive-era-a-conversation-with-robert-putnam-and-shaylyn-romney-garrett/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-</span><span class="invisible">new-progressive-era-a-conversation-with-robert-putnam-and-shaylyn-romney-garrett/</span></a></p>