Article Title: Worry Less About Crumbling Roads, More About Crumbling Libraries
Article Summary
Talking about America’s dwindling social infrastructure this article says that the govt. should worry less about crumbling roads and more about crumbling libraries. America’s social infrastructure is falling apart, and it’s hurting democracy. The article starts on the note that social infrastructure refers to the physical places that allow people’s relationships and network bonds to develop. When social infrastructure is robust, it fosters contact, mutual support, and collaboration among friends and neighbours; when degraded, it inhibits social activity, leaving families and individuals to fend for themselves. Public institutions, such as libraries, schools, playgrounds, and athletic fields, are vital parts of the social infrastructure.
The article further mentions that different kinds of social infrastructure play different roles in the local environment, and support different kinds of social ties, for example, playgrounds and athletic fields help us connect because they’re places where people linger and talk to strangers. Based on the author’s research the one place that has consistently promoted a modern ideal of mutual respect and enlightenment is the local library. The unfortunate part is that President Trump, through proposed funding cuts his administration has attacked the places where Americans of all stripes gather—our libraries, our schools, our parks, our arts and culture organizations. The conclusion states that these moves can only deepen our divisions and degrade our public life. Our vital systems are crumbling, and so too is our democratic culture. The question before us is what we will do tomorrow.
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Words to learn from this Article:
Crumbling: break or fall apart into small fragments, especially as part of a process of deterioration.
Congregate: gather into a crowd or mass.
Linger: stay in a place longer than necessary because of a reluctance to leave.
Disposition: a person’s inherent qualities of mind and character.
Spiteful: showing or caused by malice.
Shovel: a tool resembling a spade with a broad blade.
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Reading Motivation
- To believe a thing impossible is to make it so.
- So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.
