Special interest group politics and related social, economic, and political developments have redefined America’s social and moral landscape. The fractures and fissures in contemporary social structure which express widespread mistrust based on envy, isolation, and uncertainty reflecting race, gender, age, and social class are increasingly surfacing. The decline and reconfiguration of a social life in America has profound implications for morality in America. Regular, frequent, and meaningful interaction beyond the narrow confines of family and friends – the “intermediate structures” of voluntary association – are basic to broadening the vision of their members through turning their attention to the “bigger picture,” the larger society. In societies characterized by a rich and broadly based associational life, social norms and networks can function to extend our awareness, identification, and concern with wider collective issues. Through this process, the core of social morality – ideas, beliefs, and expectations represented in the minds of individuals from various strata of society – is nourished. In this manner, intermediate structures foster the collective aspects of consciousness, the source of all that is moral.
