At 1990s decline rates, American clubs faced extinction within twenty years

Evidence

In community life, as in the stock market, past performance is no guarantee of future performance, so it is hazardous to assume that trends over the next several decades will mirror those over the last several. Nevertheless, the down-trend shown in figure 11 has been more or less uninterrupted for more than a quarter century, and if the current rate of decline were to continue, clubs would become extinct in America within less than twenty years. Considering that such local associations have been a feature of American community life for several hundred years, it is remarkable to see them so high on the endangered species list. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 197

Categorization

• CANDY: The stark line about clubs being on the endangered species list is a memorable, tweetable juxtaposition.
• QUESTION: Worth checking: two decades later, did the extrapolated extinction actually occur, or did decline plateau as Putnam hedged?
• XREF: connects to: Civic organizations across America faded dramatically in the late twentieth century. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 22