O declinio dos valores tradicionais

A Strange Form of Social Collapse, por Paul Krugman:

Reading Charles Murray and all the commentary about the sources of moral collapse among working-class whites, I’ve had a nagging question: is it really all that bad?

I mean, yes, marriage rates are way down, and labor force participation is down among prime-age men (although not as much as some of the rhetoric might imply), But it’s generally left as an implication that these trends must be causing huge social ills. Are they?

Well, one thing oddly missing in Murray is any discussion of that traditional indicator of social breakdown, teenage pregnancy. You can see why — because it has actually been falling like a stone: (...)

And what about crime? It’s soaring, right? Wrong: (...)

So here’s a thought: maybe traditional social values are eroding in the white working class — but maybe those traditional social values aren’t as essential to a good society as conservatives like to imagine.

Background da conversa:

• The Great Divorce, por David Brooks
• Wages and Values e Jobs and Values, por Krugman
• An Optimist's Take on Charles Murray's Coming Apart, Murray's Blind Spots e Being Single is a Luxury,  por Bryan Caplan
• David Brooks on Charles Murray e Kling on Charles Murray, por Arnold Klin
• Whence comes this sudden wave of economic determinism?, por Tyler Cowen

Alguns leitores poderão interrogar-se "o que nos interessa uma discussão sobre o declinios dos valores morais tradicionais entre os brancos de classe trabalhadora nos EUA?" (é esse o tema da polémica), mas penso que grande parte da discussão e dos argumentos de parte a parte têm relevância universal.