[workerbee]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I hear you saying is that the larger society offered “something”, even if only an ideal, that an individual could aspire to, no matter how bad their own particular situation was....?

[Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I think it helps immeasurably for people have something to aspire to. Of course, nothing can replace faith in God, and many Americans are totally irreligious these days too.

So many Americans are cynical and faithless.