The Period of Transition and the American Dream

The conclusion of Our Patchwork Nations tries to find something that unifies the different community types of the United States.  After looking at the economic, political, and cultural differences between all the community types, this seems unlikely, yet when analyzing American optimism and the belief in the American dream, there was something that stood out. […]

What About Those Guys?

While reading the chapter about the economics of the United States and how the twelve community types were impacted by economic change, I felt that I mostly agreed with the analysis put together by Chinni and Gimpel.  However, for some of the analysis I believe that the authors left out some important information.  When reading […]

Is One County Really Enough?

While reading Chinni and Gimpel’s book it was interesting to see the differences between the counties that were represented by the twelve community types that they described.  Whether it be income, education level, voting patterns, or racial makeup there was a clear distinction between each of the twelve communities.  However, while reading each section on […]

A Modern View of the Many Americas

While reading the beginning of Our Patchwork Nation I noticed that the authors are quick to point out that there is not one place that defines America and the American way of life, but rather there are “several different Americas within the United States” that all have similar “experiences and shared realities” (12).  This is a […]

Something’s Missing

The report presented by Pew Research looks at the various divides that exist between the different demographics in the United States.  The demographics that were particularly looked at were those of race, sex, party affiliation, income, education, and religiosity.  It appears as though the divide in the United States has remained pretty consistent between most […]