Authors set for Kansas City event say that when it comes to political divisions, we've been here before

By Steve Kraske,

Published October 1, 2021 at 2:50 PM CDT

Ways To Subscribe

In "The Upswing" Robert Putnam (above) and Shaylyn Romney Garrett say there are lessons to be learned from a previous time of emphasized individualism in America.

The Gilded Age saw an America much like today. Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett examine how the country recovered then and how it can do so again.

The end of the 19th century was a time of robber barons, monopolies and exploited workers. It focused on the individual to the detriment of the community.

Harvard professor Putnam and writer Romney Garrett highlight the lessons learned from those who rebalanced the country then that can be applied to the situation that exists today.

Those include strong moral character, groups in small towns working on the issues, finding new ways to come together and looking to the young for new solutions.

Robert D. Putnam, Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and co-author of "The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again"
Shaylyn Romney Garrett, writer, social entrepreneur and co-author of "The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again"

Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett are the featured guests at American Public Square's "Evening on the Square" at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5. This is a virtual event and ticketsare required.