Aren t some forms of social capital increasing? [Things like youth soccer, evangelical religion, etc.
Yes, some things definitely are increasing and youth soccer and evangelical religion, for example, are among them. But it has always been true at any given period that some forms of social capital and social connectedness are increasing while others are waning. The question is what is the net impact on social capital when you add up what s increasing and what s decreasing. And all the examples proffered are small compared to other declines in those same subject areas. For example, evangelical religion is increasing dramatically, but mainline Protestant and Catholic church-going and social capital is declining even more rapidly. Similarly, while youth soccer is growing, most other forms of youth athletic participation are on the decline. And counter to popular myth, youth soccer has not made up the decline in bowling. Bowlers ranks are roughly triple the size of soccer parents.
