Holding Back the Bread and Circuses: Regaining the Community Life, by Jim Tonkowich

By Jim Tonkowich, The Stream, Oct. 24, 2021

James Tonkowich, D.Min., a senior contributor to The Stream, is a freelance writer, speaker and commentator on spirituality, religion and public life. ..

Now you may join the Elks, my friend
And I may join the Shriners
And other men may carry cards
As members of the Diners
Still others wear a Golden Key
Or small Greek letter pin
But I have learned there’s one great club
That all of us are in

Those lyrics are from a song entitled “The Brotherhood of Man” (the “one great club”) from the 1961 musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

A Time When Associational Life Was Strong in America

Note the date. The musical, the 1967 movie version and the 1952 book on which they are based hail from an era when organizations like the Elks, the Shriners, the Odd Fellows, the Masons, women’s clubs, and garden clubs were past their peak, but going strong. Unions were still large and powerful. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H and Future Farmers of America trained America’s youth in associational life. And, of course, church attendance in America peaked in the late 1950s. …

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