NOWADAYS men often feel that their private lives are a series of
traps. They sense that within their everyday worlds, they cannot
overcome their troubles, and in this feeling, they are often quite
correct: What ordinary men are directly aware of and what they
try to do are bounded by the private orbits in which they live;
their visions and their powers are limited to the close-up scenes
of job, family, neighborhood; in other milieux, they move vicariously
and remain spectators. And the more aware they become,
however vaguely, of ambitions and of threats which transcend
their immediate locales, the more trapped they seem to feel.
Underlying this sense of being trapped are seemingly impersonal
changes in the very structure of continent-wide societies.
The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success
and the failure of individual men and women. When a society
is industrialized, a peasant becomes a worker; a feudal lord is
liquidated or becomes a businessman. When classes rise or fall,
a man is employed or unemployed; when the rate of investment
goes up or down, a man takes new heart or goes broke. When
wars happen, an insurance salesman becomes a rocket launcher;
a store clerk, a radar man; a wife lives alone; a child grows up
without a father. Neither the life of an individual nor the history
of a society can be understood without understanding both.
Yet men do not usually define the troubles they endure in
terms of historical change and institutional contradiction. The
well-being they enjoy, they do not^usually impute to the big ups
and downs of the societies in which they live. Seldom aware of the
NOWADAYS men often feel that their private lives are a series oftraps. They sense that within their everyday worlds, they cannotovercome their troubles, and in this feeling, they are often quitecorrect: What ordinary men are directly aware of and what theytry to do are bounded by the private orbits in which they live;their visions and their powers are limited to the close-up scenesof job, family, neighborhood; in other milieux, they move vicariouslyand remain spectators. And the more aware they become,however vaguely, of ambitions and of threats which transcendtheir immediate locales, the more trapped they seem to feel.Underlying this sense of being trapped are seemingly impersonalchanges in the very structure of continent-wide societies.The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the successand the failure of individual men and women. When a societyis industrialized, a peasant becomes a worker; a feudal lord isliquidated or becomes a businessman. When classes rise or fall,a man is employed or unemployed; when the rate of investmentgoes up or down, a man takes new heart or goes broke. Whenwars happen, an insurance salesman becomes a rocket launcher;a store clerk, a radar man; a wife lives alone; a child grows upwithout a father. Neither the life of an individual nor the historyof a society can be understood without understanding both.Yet men do not usually define the troubles they endure interms of historical change and institutional contradiction. Thewell-being they enjoy, they do not^usually impute to the big upsand downs of the societies in which they live. Seldom aware of the
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