The Purpose Social Capital is to Spend It.

One of the ways I use this blog is to think through ways to reverse the decline of social capital. I'm starting to think my approach has been putting the cart before the horse. In order to increase social capital, there has to be a need for it.

What if the reason social capital and the strength of community have declined is because the market has gotten so efficient? What if the reason people played card with friends and family, went to church, joined civic groups, and volunteered in their community had less to do with selflessness, and more to do with selfishness?

In other words, people partook in these activities to build up goodwill and social capital in case they needed to ask a favor. The more people like you, the more likely they are to help you. 

People today ask fewer favors, which is a good argument for the effectiveness capitalism or government programs.

I want there to be more social capital and civic engagement. I want a stronger community to balance out the overwhelming growth of state and market. But to do so, I'd probably have to change the incentives for why people build social capital in the first place. 

Lately, I've become less convinced that, through policy, you can increase social capital and the strength of the community. The incentive might have to come about on its own through the weakening of the market or the state.

Here are possible scenarios that might create the incentive for more social capital.

Pandemic-related scenarios:

• The homeschooling movement and pandemic pods require coordination between families who work remotely. 
• The closure of many bars and restaurants, unable to survive covid-19 regulations, creates a need for social interaction that neighbors fill by hosting meals more frequently. 
• Limitations on school busing leads to families working together to coordinate rides to school.

Market-failure reasons:

• automation puts more people out of work, so they rely on social capital and the help of neighbors to help them for networking or basic sustenance.
• protectionist policies, a lack of innovation, or debt-fueled inflation leads to a shrinking economy and a need for community support for sustenance/basic needs. 

Government-failure reasons:

• due to the decline in fertility and tight immigration policies, social security runs out of money. Senior citizens move back in with their kids since they can't afford to retire.
• Increasing debt leads to the devaluation of the dollar. Eventually, the government must balance its books via slashing spending on social security and medicare/medicaid, plus raising taxes. This not only shrinks the economy, but puts senior citizens in a bind, who then turn to family for support. Without access to a public healthcare option, people will return to the old model of negotiating with private insurers through local civic organizations.
• Even after a COVID-19 vaccine is widely available, parents who switch to homeschooling find that they like it better than public schools and continue to coordinate their pods with local families, leading to smaller but tighter friendships. 

Unfortunately, all of these scenarios require something bad to happen before social capital can increase.