About two years ago, the folks at Google released a database of 5.2 million books published between 1500 and 2008. You can type a search word into the database and find out how frequently different words were used at different epochs.
The database doesn't tell you how the words were used; it just tells you how frequently they were used. Results can reveal cultural shifts. Somebody typed the word "cocaine" into the search engine and found that the word was surprisingly common in the Victorian era. Then it declined during the 20th century until around 1970, when usage skyrocketed.
I'd like to tell a story about the last half-century, based on studies done with this search engine. The first element in this story is rising individualism. A study by Jean M. Twenge, W. Keith Campbell and Brittany Gentile found that between 1960 and 2008 individualistic words and phrases increasingly overshadowed communal words and phrases.
That is to say, over those 48 years, words and phrases like "personalized," "self," "standout," "unique," "I come first" and "I can do it myself" were used more frequently. Communal words and phrases like "community," "collective," "tribe," "share," "united," "band together" and "common good" receded.
The second element of the story is demoralization. A study by Pelin Kesebir and Selin Kesebir found that general moral terms like "virtue," "decency" and "conscience" were used less frequently over the course of the 20th century. Words associated with moral excellence, like "honesty," "patience" and "compassion" were used much less frequently.
The Kesebirs identified 50 words associated with moral virtue and found that 74 percent were used less frequently as the century progressed. Usage of courage words like "bravery" and "fortitude" fell by 66 percent. Usage of gratitude words like "thankfulness" and "appreciation" dropped by 49 percent.
Usage of humility words like "modesty" and "humbleness" dropped by 52 percent. Usage of compassion words like "kindness" and "helpfulness" dropped by 56 percent. Usage of words associated with the ability to deliver, like "discipline" and "dependability" rose over the century, as did the words associated with fairness. The Kesebirs say these sorts of virtues are relevant to economic production.
Daniel Klein of George Mason University adds the third element, which he calls "governmentalization." Words having to do with experts have shown a steady rise. So have phrases like "run the country," "economic justice," "nationalism," "priorities," "right-wing" and "left-wing." The implication is that politics and government have become more prevalent.
So the story I'd like to tell is this: Over the past half-century, society has become more individualistic. And it has become less morally aware, because social and moral fabrics are inextricably linked. The atomization and demoralization of society have led to certain forms of social breakdown, which government has tried to address, sometimes successfully and often impotently.
This story, if true, should cause discomfort on right and left. Conservatives sometimes argue that if we could just reduce government to the size it was back in, say, the 1950s, then America would be vibrant and free again. But the sociology and moral culture is just not there anymore. Government could be smaller when the social fabric was more tightly knit, but small government will have different and more cataclysmic effects today when it is not.
These shifts in language reflect shifts in culture. We write less about community bonds because they're less central to our lives.
David Brooks writes for The New York Times.