In my view, David Brooks is one of the preeminent op-ed writes in the US. Brooks constantly gets “it” right and his latest piece, “The Great Seduction”, published on June 10 in the New York Times talks about the startling economic reality in the US.
Here’s snip it from the piece: “a typical US household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income!” Read the full article here and then go and read some his books, including “Bobos in Paradise”, “On Paradise Drive”
For another interesting take on US culture and community see Putnam’s brilliant book, “Bowling Alone.”