Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam worried about the negative impact on society and individuals from weakening social institutions that once stitched American communities together.
“Connectedness really matters,” he once said at a White House event.
His examples included the decline in bowling leagues, Elks Lodges and union membership. You don’t need to be a scholar to know social ties have eroded even more since Putnam chronicled the trend 25 years ago in his book “Bowling Alone.”
In later work, Putnam warned that the current generation of older Americans had fewer close ties than their parents’ generation. A growing body of research linking loneliness and social isolation to shorter life spans, cognitive decline, physical deterioration and depression justifies his concern. Too many people age alone.
The good news is Minnesota is full of efforts to push back against loneliness at every age. Public libraries, community groups and more work to build bridges. Individuals are also taking the initiative. Which brings me to a recent Wall Street Journal profile of Charlie Munger’s final years, a story that reads almost like a manual for staying connected with age.
Munger was Warren Buffett’s indispensable business partner. Celebrated for his intellect and dry wit, Munger drew insights from various fields, ranging from physics to history.
“I paid no attention to the territorial boundaries of academic disciplines,” he once said. “I just grabbed all the big ideas I could.”
His last years weren’t easy as he neared 100. He lost his wife in 2010, lived with health problems and outlived many peers. He refused to let hardship harden into isolation. If he couldn’t go out, he invited people in, and when reading became difficult, he asked others to read aloud. His home buzzed with conversation, Korean fried chicken and In-N-Out burgers shared with visitors.
