The murder rate in Britain fell by around a hundredfold from the middle ages to the mid-20th century. This fall is powerful testament to the ways in which, for the most part, people in modern societies have learnt to get along with each other.
But across nations, many of the traditional organisations and habits that helped us to live side by side are vanishing. Claims about their decline are familiar, but its sheer scale and rapidity merits repeating. In 1950, around three in four newborns were baptised, and their parents were regular churchgoers. This has fallen to around one in six, and in ten years the practice of baptism is expected to have almost completely disappeared in Britain.
Political parties face a similar scale of decline. In 1950, one in ten people were members of political parties. Today it is closer to one in 100 and falling. Similar trends can be picked out for many other traditional organisations, from the Women’s Institute to—less precipitously—trade unions.
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