The Push and Pull of Social Patterns

From the late colonial period on, Americans have been advocates and captives of the need to move, get out of town, to end up far from the spot where they began. At the same time, a reverse pattern was taking shape, one that encouraged Americans to settle down, domesticate themselves and forge a cohesive identity.


Centrifugal Force	Centripetal Force

The first pattern we could call centrifugal because it thrusts outward and cared little for boundaries and centers. The second pattern we could call centripetal because it favored instead boundaries and centers and cultivated a sense of place.

Until the 70s, these two opposing patterns have worked together; pushing and pulling yet creating a kind of equilibrium or tension that created a dynamic and vital America. But the balancing act changed as the ease of mobility and the rapid-fire speed of modern communication favored the centrifugal forces of motion over the gravitational patterns of settled communities.

As an increasingly rootless society always on the move, we live longer, earn more money and in some sense, have broadened our cultural perspective embracing new cultures across the globe in shared economic pursuits.

But torn from the nurturing habits of community, we often lead emptier lives. All too often, the “business” of America has kept Americans absent from their children's lives, absent from their communities and country, and willing, more than ever, to delegate to others—by choice or necessity—those responsibilities they once carried out themselves.

Based on the book “Country of Exiles: The Destruction of Place in American Life” by William R. Leach
Fair Use Notice