Letters to the Editor
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A few comments...
As someone who grew up in what might be considered a twisted version of this "rootless" paradigm... I can tell you that all I've ever wanted in my life is a sense of staying still, of having a home base, of getting somewhere and then not having to worry about leaving. By the time I was 6 years old my family had lived in 6 places, courtesy of the military. I had no friends to speak of and summer, for me, was just the time we packed up to move again.
So I don't care what the Economist thinks about moving around. I can tell you from experience that it sucks. Both my parents thought it sucked, too, and my dad was glad to retire the military so we could "put down roots" in a good community. Now both my parents are land-owners and productive members of society. Some people work in jobs where it is more beneficial to stay somewhere for a long time... my mom is an attorney and my dad is a contractor, and both of those professions depend on experience and reputation within your community. And yeah, we own a home and a cabin. And we own them both outright. My dad owns 100 acres in North Dakota too. Clearly the failing economy is our fault.