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Image-Only Documentary Review: Join or Die

Lessons from a Documentary on Civic Engagement in Pictorial Form

The Problem: Now that I’m not posting something every day, I’m now building up an annoying micro-library of content that’s growing less and less useful each day. But two weeks ago, I watched a great documentary about the state of community in our modern society, and I want to tell you about it.

The Other Problem: My posts are way too long for anyone to keep up.

The Idea: Last night I watched Illinoise on Broadway and they were able to convey a great story without a lot of words.

The Solution: So here is, in pictorial essay format, my top takeaways from Join or Die.

Here’s how I made this:

  1. I opened my notebook from notes I took during the film.

  2. I wrote prompts in ChatGPT to generate image in DALL-E based on the notes I took.

  3. I added some light narrative.

Ready? Let's go.

Remember? Our democracy was built on the idea of self-organization.

The documentary starts with a look back at old school membership clubs, dating back from Ben Franklin's Junto, the California Coast Girls, and the Odd Fellow Lodge, with the provocative claim that the future of our democracy depends on people joining clubs.

If only there were a way to prove that community mattered...

We learn that in Italy back in the mid-1900s, the government was broken up into 20 new economic and geopolitical regions, which presented a unique opportunity for American political scientist Robert Putnam to analyze each region to see if he can learn what factors contribute toward more civic engagement.

Observation: Civic engagement is directly correlated to social capital.

Suddenly this political scientist realizes that it's not wealth or population density or anything else that is correlated with strong civic engagement -- it's the idea of social capital.

Idea! You can measure social capital by counting clubs.

Robert Putnam comes up with the idea about measuring social capital based on how many clubs exist in any neighborhood by studying a choir; in the movie theatre, I write, "MARCHING BAND" in big letters in my notebook.

Observation: People are having fewer picnics

Putnam observed that in 1975, people went to 5 picnics a year; by 1992, people only went to 2 picnics a year. Things like dinner parties and attendance at club meetings was also way down in the United States.

Observation: People aren't join bowling leagues, now they bowl alone.

Bowling Alone: The iconic book title of Putnam's book on the topic of how people are generally convening less, and why it's generally a bad thing all around.

But! Clubs teach people valuable leadership skills.

People gain a lot of interpersonal and leadership skills by learning how to run meetings, interact with different types of people, and feel connected to their local community.

And also! Diverse social interactions contribute toward economic mobility.

Did you know that kids are more likely to rise out of poverty if they grow up in an area where people in low and high incomes interact more regularly? Here's a related study I found.

So why are we still so lonely?

COVID didn't do us any favors with regard to membership in local clubs and communities.

Step up for your community. The fate of our democracy depends on it.

"The most important things in our democracy are often the most invisible. American democracy is only as strong as what the people are willing to give to it."

That's it. That was where the documentary ended.

Did you like this content form factor today? What else could be fun to play around with?

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