Following are additional chapter notes for "The Average American" 

CHAPTER 1: “ALL THAT IS GREAT, GOOD OR BEAUTIFUL”

1                       “all but invented the field of social statistics”: For one, nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale called Quetelet “the founder of the most important science in the whole world, for upon it depends the practical application of every other.” 

2                      “'If an individual of any given epoch of society'”: And in his 1831 text “Research on the Propensity for Crime at Different Ages," Quetelet noted, “If the average man were ascertained for one nation, he would represent the type of that nation.”

4                      "Families consisting of a working dad, stay-at-home mom": More than 50 percent of married couples earn two salaries, although this percentage is decreasing, from a high of 53.4 percent in 1997, to 51.8 percent by early 2008.  Stern, Linda, "When It's Quitting TIme," Time, January 14, 2008.  And, as Deloitte principal Stan Smith reported in 2008, "In 55% of U.S. families, women now earn more than half the household's income."  Smith, W. Stanton, "Decoding Generational Difference," Deloitte Development, 2008.  

4                      “only 7 percent of U.S. homes,” Garrow, David J., “Images of a Growing Nation, From Census to Census,” New York Times, October 13, 2004.

4                      “When a supercomputer was installed”: Figura, Susannah Zak, “Danger Zone,” GoveExec.com, November 1, 1999.

5                     "government agencies and public opinion firms":  In addition, other public and private organizations. 

5                    "one-way trips": The four trips per day is the 2001 total cited by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. 

5                      "pounds of trash": More precisely, 4.4 pounds.  Tobin, Mitch, "Tubs made of corn can go into compost," Arizona Daily Star, February 23, 2004. 

7                      “a senator reportedly argued”: reported in a paper by San Jose State University professor David Mesher, for use in his English 7 course in the summer of 2001. 

7                      “Jefferson declared”: And in a letter to Jefferson, dated February 4, 1790, James Madison wrote that “in every society, the will of the majority binds the whole.”   

7                      “12.7 years of education”: C2. 

7                      "one American has died of mad cow disease":  And that disease was likely contracted in England.  As reported in Florida's Desoto Sun-Herald in 2006, "The only confirmed American death was 25-year-old Charlene Singh of Fort Lauderdale. Even though Singh moved from England to the United States 13 years before she died, health authorities concluded she contracted the disease before she came to this country. Singh died June 21, 2004, only three years after the first symptoms of the condition were expressed.  In humans, the disease is called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Authorities believe Singh ate tainted cow brain in England."  Bowden, Robert, "Alabama mad cow is Florida concern," Desoto Sun-Herald, March 29, 2006.

CHAPTER 2: “OBSCURITY IS FOREVER”

12                   "One of the book's emblematic employers": The employer is Monsanto Chemical Company. 

12                  "'as significant as the invention of drama or the novel'": The quote was cited by The New Republic.  Ventura, Elbert, "Back to the Future," The New Republic Online, August 18, 2004. 

13                    “‘Our greatest heroes are ordinary people’”: Spiers, Elizabeth, “FDNY H.S.,” New York magazine, September 27, 2004.    

13                    “writer credits still rolled”: And such writers are often not writing reality.  The common practice of writers and producers making up their “reality” was explained in Entertainment Weekly: “Reality shows ‘create’ dialogue – and drama – by editing and mixing sound bites in a practice dubbed ‘Frankenbiting.’  Story editor Rebecca Hertz says she did it during the first season of The Swan to falsely illustrate how winner Rachel Love-Fraser was unhappily married.  ‘In a pre-interview, I led her husband to say Rachel looks average but he thought she looked beautiful,’ recalls Hertz.. ‘I cut it down to him saying she looked average so he sounded like a mean, horrible a - - hole.  He was furious when he saw the show.’”  Rice, Lynette, “Writers Bloc,” Entertainment Weekly, July 8, 2005.  Incidentally, that iconic average American scene, American Gothic, Grant Wood’s painting of the farm couple with a pitchfork, is not of real-life spouses.  The two were not married and Wood painted each of the two models separately.  

13                    “Stanley wrote”: Stanley, Alessandra, “TV's Busby Berkeley Moment,” New York Times, January 30, 2005. 

15                    "seventy-six-point-nine years": Arias, Elizabeth, Ph.D., "National Vital Statistics Report," Centers for Disease Control/National Center for Health Statistics, December 19, 2002.   

15                    “raised three children”: Between 1946 and 1964 (when Wally had his children), the average American family had three or more children.  McMahon, Tom, The Daily Nonpareil, “Baby boomers: What were their contributions?” March 14, 2004.

16                    "Finland has also ranked first": In addition, as Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner report in their bestseller Freakonomics (William Morrow, 2005), "In Finland, whose education system has been ranked the world's best, most children do not begin school until age seven but have often learned to read on their own by watching American television with Finnish subtitles." 

16n                 “Pennsylvania’s Normalville”: Nelson, S.B., Nelson's Biographical Dictionary and History Reference Book, 1900.  Nelson writes, “Normalville, formerly Springfield, and also Elm, derives its name from the fact that a summer normal school is conducted there every year.” 

17                   "60 percent of Americans live in the state in which they were born, a qualification": C2. Of course, this eliminated all immigrants.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, immigrants represented 12.4 percent of the national population in 2005.  In 2000, according to the Census Bureau, the states with the highest proportion of residents born in the same state: Louisiana (79 percent), Pennsylvania (78) and Michigan (75).  The lowest percentages: Nevada (21), Florida (33) and Arizona (35).   

17                    “less than 30 percent from this group”: Those who were asked about giving up family time to “get ahead” were from the college classes of 2001 and 2004.  Brier, Noah Rubin, “Y Work?” American Demographics online edition, September 14, 2004. Rubin quotes Harlan Wharman, director of corporate and market research for Northwestern Mutual, who helped create the study: “They're a very family and friend-oriented generation. They don't want to sacrifice their personal relationships in order to advance their career. Their values are more aligned with more traditional values. They're very driven by selfless goals. They want a career that has some core meaning to it. They're not driven by getting the highest pay. Rather, they're driven by positions that give them some overall sense of wellbeing.”

18                    “the Supreme Court… what they meant by ‘community’”: moralityinmedia.org. 

CHAPTER 3: THE MIDDLE WAY

21                    “Wichita Falls, Texas”: Wichita Falls’ governance has certainly been abnormal since September, 2004, the New York Times reports  The police chief quit after being insulted by the new mayor at a city meeting.  “I could have dope-slapped him,” council member Arthur Bea Williams (a woman named for her uncle) said of the mayor. “A man’s ego is about the only thing he has left.” The city manager and administrative director, who have been managing the city since the 1980s, were forced out of their jobs by the city council.  The mayor was recalled from office, and two council members were being pushed toward the same.  “I may be the last happy city employee left,” the fire chief said.  He quit soon after.  Blumenthal, Ralph, “In Nation’s ‘Most Average City,’ Uncommon Turmoil,” New York Times, April 10, 2005. 

22                    “Corona”: The Corona slogan is “Miles Away from Ordinary.”  In 2006, some television advertising for Beck's beer featured the tagline, "Why be average?"  A 2006 promotional email from the Los Angeles Times, touting Canadian tourism, carried this subject line: "Escape the ordinary in Canada".  In 2005 advertising, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus went with the slogan, “Saving the Day from the Ordinary.”  Radisson Seven Seas Cruises' June-December 2005 "Grand Voyages" catalog notes, "'average' simply isn't in our vocabulary" [but there's the word, anyway]. An advertisement in Advertising Age in February, 2004 for the John Caples International Awards (an annual awards show for the direct response advertising industry) proclaimed, “An Invitation to Escape the Ordinary!” In 2005, Domino’s pizza began airing a commercial in which a Domino’s store manager instructs employees to offer a Tuesday special that will “rescue people from the average, the mundane.”  In 2008, Nespresso advertising ran with the headline, "Make the Ordinary Extraordinary."

23                   "the same percentage of at-home workers": C2.

23                   "jumped roughly four points": The going rate is around three points a decade.  Gladwell, Malcolm, "Brain Candy," New Yorker, May 16, 2005.    

26                   "Those who scored in the top 10 percent": Johnson, Steven, "Everything Bad is Good for You," Riverhead Books, 2005. 

26                   "depictions of the average American as being dulled by too much TV": Another study also counters TV's negative image. Conducted by two University of Chicago economists, the research was the subject of a New York Times story in 2006.  The study, according to the Times, shows that "when it comes to academic test scores, parents can let children watch TV without fear of future harm."  The article also notes, "In nonwhite households and those where English was a second language or the mother had less than a high school education, TV's positive influence was more marked."  Jensen, Elizabeth, "Study Finds Test Scores Not Lowered By Television," New York Times, February 27, 2006.

26-27               “‘the way people think’”/”‘a puzzle on your food wrapper’”/“‘you have to know more to be average’”: Abraham, Carolyn, “Researchers find IQs are rising, and TV might be a big reason,” Globe and Mail, January 6, 2001. 

27-28               "91 percent of Americans"/"an improvement from 83 percent"/"high schools now require two years": Brooks, David, Paradise Drive, Simon & Schuster, 2004

28                    “In 1904, only 6 percent”: Sneller, Bob, “Many changes have occurred in our country,” Neosho Daily News, June 11, 2004.

28                    "northernmost New York": Although located within 40 miles of the northern New York border, it is not in the literal most northern section of the state. 

30                    “Ninety percent of Americans marry”: Or "about 90 percent," as indicated in the Palm Beach Post.  Hathaway, Fran, "Wed the Poor to Idea of Marriage," Palm Beach Post, April 22, 2002.   As for the divorce rate, a 2005 New York Times story reported, “The method preferred by social scientists in determining the divorce rates is to calculate how many people who have ever married subsequently divorced.  Counted that way, the rate has never exceeded about 41 percent, researchers say.  Although sharply rising rates in the 1970’s led some to project that the number would keep increasing, the rate has instead begun to inch downward.”  Hurley, Dan, “Divorce Rate: It’s Not as High as You Think,” New York Times, April 19, 2005. 

31                    “most Americans, like Jim and Judith, are parents”: In addition, the U.S. Department of Heath and Human Services reported a Child Trends study which determined that 74 percent of adult (18 and older) females and 65 percent of adult males in the United States have had “at least one biological child in their lifetime.” 

31                    “the Nebraska attorney general”: The attorney general, Robert M. Spire, writing on February 3, 1988 on the subject “Identification and Election Relative to Low-Level Radioactive Waste Facility Site”: “Since neither the Governor’s Statement nor the Commission amendment provide for a definition of ‘community,’ it should be given its ordinary meaning.  Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, defines ‘community’ in part as: ‘Neighborhood; vicinity; synonymous with locality.’”   

31                    “regularly in bed before midnight”: The government’s American Time Use Survey found that, on average, Americans spend 8.6 hours per day sleeping.  The average for weekdays in 8.3 hours, for Saturday 9.0 and for Sunday 9.6. Johnson, Bradley, “Day in the life,” Advertising Age, May 2, 2005.

CHAPTER 4: ORDINARY MAGIC. 

33                   "the last question Judith Baker posed ": Sadly, Judith passed away two years later, on March 13, 2006, from Marfan syndrome.   

33                   "three whitest states - each at 96 percent or more": C2. 

35                    “David Letterman regularly used to”: Letterman has also used the average American as a target of jokes.  On November 1, 1994, his show’s Top Ten List was the “Top Ten Surprising Facts about the Average American.”  Number one: “Hates job.  Hates spouse.  Hates life.  Loves Cheetohs.”     

35                    “the Steve Martin film The Jerk”: Incidentally, another film character was identified as the earth’s most average resident, a New Jersey postal worker named Tommy. In “Zarkorr! The Invader,” a 1996 sci-fi picture, a 300-ton giant lizard with horns comes to earth to search for Tommy.  Zarkorr believes that the most average person is the ultimate person to challenge to a test that will destroy the planet if Tommy loses.  “Tommy is the only hope for the future of mankind,” reads a promotional line from the film.  In the end, Tommy defeats Zarkorr. 

37                    “1.8 children, below the minimum population replacement figure of 2.1”: Lawrence J. Epstein, “The Conversion Solution,” Jerusalem Post, June 27, 2005. 

37                    “the average American vehicle at eight years old”: 8.3 years to be precise, according to the report “Policy Options for Environmental Pollution Control including a Case Study: Road Transport Alternatives” by Keith Roth, Sustainable Energy, ESD166J, May 1, 2001. 

38                    “When compared to the full U.S. population”: “Religion Helps Shape Wealth of Americans, Study Finds,” Ascribe News, September 17, 2003.  The study’s leader was Lisa Keister, associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

39                    “Catholic Democrats outnumber Catholic Republicans by only 3 percentage points”: Zapor, Patricia, “Party affiliation less likely to correlate to religion, poll shows,” Catholic News Service, September 14, 2004.  Reports Zapor, “The fourth National Survey of Religion and Politics found that in the last dozen years Catholics have come close to being evenly divided between the Republican and Democratic parties, at 41 and 44 percent, respectively, up from 38 percent who were Republicans and 43 percent who were Democrats in 1992. The remainder of those surveyed said they were independents.. The survey was conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics of the University of Akron, Ohio.”

39                   "President Gerald Ford": And Bill Clinton has noted, "What we have in common is more important that our differences," a sentence he uttered in 2007 during his commencement address at Knox College and the same year during a guest appearance on CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman." 

41                  "Common People Baptist Church... Georgia": The name of the Georgia town is Cumming. 

43                  "'Look at what we could achieve'"/"'If America had racial equality": Both quotes were published in a guest column by Henry Louis Gates Jr. - the first quote from a talk between Raines and Gates and the second quote from a Raines speech.  Gates Jr., Henry Louis, "Getting to Average," New York Times, September 26, 2004. 

44                  "less than half the population":  In 2001, Gallup determined that 48 percent of Americans believe in the theory of creationism. 

44                    “even the Vatican under Pope John Paul II”: Dean, Cornelia, “Evolution as a taboo subject,” International Herald Tribune (via New York Times), February 3, 2005.

45                   "each under 15 percent": In 2005, Hispanics represented 14.5 percent of the national population and blacks represented 12.8 percent.  CB. 

46                    “this would disqualify 20 percent”: Sider, Ronald J., “The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience,” Baker Books, 2004. 

46                    “told Time magazine”: “Ku Klux Klan: Kleveland Konvention,” Time, June 23, 1924.

CHAPTER 5: YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS

51                    “a sculptor in northern California in 1969”: Schulman, David, “Built for Mediocrity,” Attache (US Airways), April, 2004.  The sculptor’s name was Hobart Brown.  

51                    “told a local reporter,” Carroll, Tynisha, “Inner Harbor,” BaltimoreStories.com, 2003. 

52                    “the premier competitive goal of the professional leagues”: Interestingly, a 2006 Sports Illustrated story by Richard Hoffer, about professional athletes "smack in the middle of the salary scale" was titled, "It's Great to Be Average."  Hoffer, Richard, Sports Illustrated, "It's Great to Be Average," July 31, 2006.  USA Today hands out annual All-Joe honors to NFL players - "the overacheivers, the overlooked, the 'effort' guys who doen't get invited to the Pro Bowl but without whom their teams might founder."  Weisman, Larry, "All-Joe team led by guy named Jones," USA Today, December 27, 2005. 

53                    “a marquee borrowed from”: Scott, A.O., “That Mythic American Hero: The Regular Guy,” New York Times, December 8, 2002.

53                   “we need to relate to them”:  A 2006 New York Observer cover story, about a new female attraction to men with beefy midsections, reports of "the resurgence of more regular-looking guys" among Hollywood’s leading men, such as the aforementioned Giamatti and such stars as Vince Vaughn and Jack Black.  From the story: "'I think the whole face of American cinema is changing,’ said casting director Lisa Beach, whose credits include David Dobkin’s Wedding Crashers… Ms. Beach… said that television paved the way…. [New York casting director Adrienne Stern:] ‘You’ll have a better chance of going [to a movie] if someone is on the screen you can relate to’… ‘If you are trying to get the biggest audience, then you’re looking for the everyman,’ said Ms. Beach.  Jacked-up Arnold Schwarzenegger?  Gone.  Muscle-head Sylvester Stallone?  He is no more.  There’s no more grunge-friendly skinny like the early Keanu Reeves, and no stomach as ripped as Brad Pitt’s circa Fight Club… Tom Cruise… looked like a skinny, crazed teeth-machine." Vilkomerson, Sara, “Man Flab, It’s Fab,” New York Observer, June 26, 2006.   

55                    “more than 30 percent of all Hispanic households”: 30.6 percent, Sacramento Business Journal, June 22, 2001.

57                    “over 99 percent of people who have ever lived”:  More precisely, 99.4 percent. Du Pont, Pete, “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2004.

57                   "Camille Sweeney interviewed": Easterbrook, Gregg, The Progress Paradox, Random House, 2003. 

57                    “average income Americans are better-off financially”: Also of note is the insight from demography historian Ben Wattenberg during his hosting of a PBS special, “The First Measured Century.”  During a segment about Census 2000, Wattenberg said: “On its face, it appears that the wealthiest 5 percent of families not only earned more money than the bottom 40 percent, but that recently their share of income rose dramatically before leveling off. But there is more to the story. There has been a stunning rise in the average income of middle-class Americans over the century. Moreover, the fruits of modernization have been shared across the board. Most Americans, regardless of income, get the same pharmaceuticals, watch the same movies and videos, have the same mode of personal transportation, and share the same Internet… America is indeed becoming the first universal nation.”

57                    “In 1999, American Consumers”: Russell, Cheryl, “Most Households Have Fun Money To Spend,” American Consumers, December, 1999.

58                    “the belief of Oliver Wendell Holmes”: Holmes’ quotes and a more in-depth look at his views on this matter are shared in Jonah Goldberg’s January 7, 2005 National Review Online column, “Cutting the Fat.”  In the column, Goldberg writes in part: “It is mostly thanks to him that we have what lawyers – and the rest of us – call the "reasonable man" doctrine. He didn't invent the phrase, but he's undoubtedly the reason we all know it… How does one determine what is reasonable? By in effect taking a statistical average of the community's standards. Early Pragmatists were deeply enamored with statistical techniques like the law of errors, which held -- sorta kinda -- that you could find the true answer to a problem by averaging out the wrong answers. For example, a room full of people -- any people -- will be better as a group at guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar than any individual in that group over time. Joe Blow may guess better than most, but given a series of opportunities the average answer of the whole group will be more accurate over time than Joe Blow's. The basic rule is that wrong guesses will cancel each other out. For every one that is too high, there will be one that is too low. The average therefore will be very close to accurate… The reasonable man was a composite, a statistical average of the aggregate human decency necessary to sustain a society. The reasonable man's behavior was the group average of moral conduct in a very moral country. Today, all of our arguments are about how much the society must bend to the behaviors and attitudes of the man of the fringe, the outlier, the arrow that sails farthest from the bulls-eye.” 

61                    “69 percent said no”: “Why so few Americans want to be famous,” Jet, October 12, 1998.  The story also reports: “Dr. Paris M. Finner-Williams, a psychologist and attorney based in Detroit, believes that many people are shying away from the limelight because of the loss of privacy that fame brings. ‘People don't want to be judged, they want to relax," Dr. Finner-Williams notes. "They want to be at peace and comfortable with life, and sometimes, if you are famous, it lends to criticism and scrutiny. There are too many cameras on you, too many microphones in your face. You can't be relaxed, you can't be informal. You have to stay on the stage. The curtain is always up for people who are famous.’ Dr. Huberta Jackson-Lowman, Tallahassee, FL-based clinical community psychologist and Southern regional representative of the Association of Black Psychologists, agrees that Americans don't feel that fame is worth their privacy. ‘Usually all of us have some skeletons in our closet, and we don't want to expose those,’ Dr. Jackson-Lowman explains. ‘And once you become famous, everything is up for grabs, including your skeletons, which can be exposed at whatever point your enemy sees fit.’  People are also not interested in fame because of safety and security concerns, she points out. ‘There is an incredible amount of danger associated with being a famous personality. You attract a lot of fanatical kinds of people who may want to come after you to harm you. Some fans stalk entertainers’… Dr. Jackson-Lowman emphasizes that people simply don't want the stress that accompanies fame in this society. ‘When you are famous, you are always on display. There is a loss of freedom of movement. You can't move about as freely as an average citizen. There's always going to be a little stir about your presence. You might not be able to go out in blue jeans because people are going to respond to your presence, and your dress might be unacceptable in their eyes.’”

62                    “not trying to be nationally known”: This criterion is a more concrete representation of the preceding opinion that most Americans prefer to live a life free of fame.  It is the result of a majority opinion and is (as explained in the footnote on page 123) “affirmative” and “earned.” 

62                   "research showing that those who most value image, status, and fame are noticeably less happy than others":  And don't believe the claims that the U.S. is a nation overrun by citizens obsessed with fame.  In its January 22, 2007 issue, Newsweek seriously misled readers by manufacturing a future generation of celebrity obsession, noting in a story teased on the cover that "43.4 percent of teenage girls said their No. 1 career goal was celebrity assistant - just being close enough to smell the carpet had become its own reward."  The story cited a book about fame as the source of the finding, but Newsweek did not give the full story, that, 1) instead of simply “teenage girls,” the respondents were middle-school students in the Rochester, New York, area 2) the “No. 1 career choice” claim is ridiculous because there were only four other job choices allowed, 3) the job choice in question was not “celebrity assistant,” but “the personal assistant to a very famous singer or movie star,” and 4) unlike the other job choices – CEO of a major corporation, president of Harvard or Yale, a U.S. Senator, and Navy SEAL – Newsweek’s cited choice is arguably the one middle-school students can best visualize, and 5) as USA Today had previously reported, the survey was set up by the author.  Deirdre, Donahue, USA Today, “‘Fame Junkies’ is hooked on celebrity behavior,” January 3, 2007. 

63                    “Vanessa Grigoriadis reported”: Grigoriadis, Vanessa, “Celebrity and its Discontents,” New York, July 25, 2005.  Grigoriadis also noted, “Celebrities are twice as likely to develop a serious alcohol problem… Celebrity, as John Updike wrote, is the mask that eats into the face.  A study has shown that pop stars use personal pronouns in their songwriting three times more once they become famous; another study claims that the more famous one gets, the more one checks oneself in the mirror, and the more one’s self-concept becomes self-conscious.  It’s a problem, to be both self-involved and self-conscious.” Of course, a significant percentage of the celebrity-obsesssed media try to lead Americans into believing that celebrities have the most fulfilling lives.   As the New York Times' Virginia Heffernan reported about a 2005 Barbara Walters-hosted ABC special entitled "Heaven - Where Is It? How Do We Get There" (during which Walters interviewed many celebrities), "The implication is clear.  In the American creed - the one articulated on network news programs like this one - heaven is a place where we all get to be celebrities.  At last."  Heffernan, Virginia, "What to Expect When You're Expecting Heaven," New York Times, December 20, 2005.

64                   "opposed to the act of abortion":  The majority of Americans continue to object to the act when offered as all or nothing.  A 2004-2005 Gallup Poll aggregate shows that only 24 percent believe that abortion should be legal under any circumstances.  Newport, Frank, and Saad, Lydia, "Religion, Politics Inform Americans' Views on Abortion, Gallup Poll, April 3, 2006.   

65                   "is in the majority of Americans in that he is pro-choice and supports Roe v. Wade":  This continued into 2006, as The Gallup Poll research conducted May 8-11, 2006 shows that 51 percent of Americans self-identified as pro-choice and when asked, "Would you like to see the Supreme Court overturn its 1973 Roe versus Wade decision concerning abortion, or not?" 55 percent of Americans chose "No, not overturn" (32 percent said yes and 13 percent registered no opinion).   

66                    “‘money decouples from happiness’”: And this from Psychology Today: “Once you earn enough to afford the ordinary pleasures of middle-class life, more money does virtually nothing to lift your spirits.  Middle-class people have more and better free time.  They exercise more; they belong to more clubs, take more vacations and have a more active social life, and all of these leisure habits make them happier.”  McGowan, Kathleen, “The Pleasure Paradox,” Psychology Today, February, 2005. 

66                    “‘they cannot be purchased with cash’”: Easterbrook, Gregg, “The Real Truth About Money,” Time, January 17, 2005.

66                    “In his 2002 book… ‘capacity for love’”: Wallis, Claudia, “The New Science of Happiness,” Time, January 17, 2005.  The quotes in parenthesis are from Wallis. 

67                    "may never be as content as the average American": This sentiment was echoed by Robert Frank in his 2007 bestseller "Richistan," a book about America's new wealthy ("begins at somewhere around $10 million").  Concludes Frank, "In today's Richistan, even billionaires are rarely content.... According to a 2005 study, less than half of today's Richistanis agreed with the statement that 'wealth has made me happier... If Richistans thought money would make their lives simplier, they were mistaken.  It's made their lives far more complicated... Richistans feel they need twice their current fortunes to feel secure, no matter what their wealth... In his book The Virtue of Prosperity, Dinesh D'Souza writes that today's rich 'keep chasing one opportunity after another... they keep at it, hoping to become top dog, awaiting a tranquility that never arrives.'"  Frank, Robert, "Richistan," Crown Publishers, 2007.

CHAPTER 6: GUNS, GAMBLING, AND GIVING IT AWAY

70n                 "the nation's leader primer on demography methodology": The Methods and Materials of Demography, edited by Jacob S. Siegel and David A. Swanson, Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.   

71                    “The goal of the ‘reality’ show”: The name of the show was “Playing It Straight.”  A lot of the show was shot at Red’s Ranch, a guest lodge that the show changed to the name “Sizzling Saddles.”  Harding, Adella, “TV series brings fame, money to town,” Elko Daily Free Press, March 14, 2004. 

71                    “the national average will stay under $300,000”: Maybe even $200,000.  The National Association of Realtors reported that in 2002, the average home value was $158,200.  Having a $158,200 ceiling on this criterion would not have changed the outcome of the search.

72                   "According to 1999 Gallup findings, 67 percent of Americans have fired a gun": In 2007, this identical percentage and category was used in CBS' first national promo spot for the network's game show Power of 10.  On the program, which debuted in August 2007, contestants attempt to correctly guess the percentage of "a nation sample" that answer specific questions affirmatively.  The polling for the show is conducted by Rasmussen Reports.   

73                   “some 22,000 Americans”: “Harper’s Index,” Harper’s Magazine, January, 2005.   

74                    “more than half a trillion dollars”: Scarne, John, “Scarne's New Complete Guide to Gambling,” Fireside Books, 1986.  Scarne notes: “$500 million, a figure which has since been accepted by the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Gambling Investigations, the Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.”  This dollar-figure has risen since the book was published. 

76                    “there are around 5,200 arrests per 100,000 people”: According to an October 25, 2004 FBI press release, this number is closer to 5,100: “In 2003, law enforcement in the Nation's cities collectively reported an arrest rate of 5,109.3 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants.”  

77                    “6 percent of the world’s population, but 59 percent of the world’s wealth”: Jeon, Arthur, “City Dharma,” Harmony Books, 2004. 

CHAPTER 7: SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW

82                     "using the perceived average American couple": And in his legendary Fireside Chats, FDR had said he was speaking for "the average American man."  Ewen & Ewen, "Typecasting," Seven Stories Press, 2006. 

82-83               “The radio division of the Office of War Information… mileage-rationing bandwagon”: The source is J. Fred MacDonald. 

84                    “After reading about the marathon”: I was also intrigued by the fact that on a marathon website, a reviewer from Lawrence, Kansas give the race two and a half stars out of five.  Marathonguide.com, March 31, 2003.

85                    “Saucony had risen”/”Fisher told USA Today”: Jones, Del, “Saucony CEO puts his foot down on loyalty,” USA Today, October 18, 2004.

85                    “celebrating increased sales”: “One-on-one with Jim Davis,” SportsBusiness Journal, December 20-26, 2004.  The magazine reported that the company’s global sales “increased from $210 million in 1991 to $1.3 billion in 2003.” 

86                    “the recreational interests”: New York Times, December 6, 2004.

90                    "predicted that one day, 300 million Americans would speak": Brooks, David, Paradise Drive, Simon & Schuster, 2004 (Brooks uses the word "people," not "Americans").

91                    “ranking twenty-second… thirty-second”: Rombeck, Terry, “Holy Hotcakes!” Lawrence Journal-World, July 27, 2003.  Rombeck reports that when the first calculation is applied, Florida is the flattest state and when the second calculation is applied, Delaware is the flattest. 

92                    “average finish time for community marathons”: average as in median, reported in a press release issued by the USA Track & Field Road Running Information Center on April 11, 2001. 

93                   "heaviest hailstone": The hailstone, 1.67 pounds and 17.5 inches in diameter, fell in Coffeyville on September 3, 1970.  A cast of the hailstone is housed in Coffeyville's Dalton Defenders Museum.

95                    “more than 20 inches of rain per year”: As for the average U.S. rainfall, Jan Null, a former lead forecaster with the National Weather Service, writes that “if an area-weighted average were done for the entire United States, it would be about 30 inches.”  Null, Jan, “Weather Corner,” San Jose Mercury News, November 6, 2001. 

95                    “between 54 and 55 degrees”: separately, cnsnews.com reported that in 2000, the average was 54.1-54.2 degrees. 

96                    “the average American age”:  Forget the notion that the warm-weather states are the havens for older citizens.  Based on 2004 estimates, the states with the oldest median ages are Maine (40.6), Vermont (40.2), West Virginia (40.2) and Montana (39.5).  “The USA’s middle ages at a glance,” USA Today, March 10, 2005.  These states are still below the median age in Japan (42.9) and Europe (40.7).  El Nasser, Haya, and Overberg, Paul, “Youthquakes shake up gray-haired states,” USA Today, March 10, 2005. 

97                   "another Baby Boomer turns fifty": "Did You Know?" San Antonio Express-News, April 9, 2005.

97                    “the nation’s retirement programs and services”: Of note: “The ratio of workers to retirees is shrinking. Just after World War II, there were 16 workers supporting each retiree. Today, that ratio is 3 to 1. By 2030, it will be less than two workers per retiree.” Navarrette, Ruben, “Younger generations can’t afford to ignore crisis,” Dallas Morning News, December 23, 2004.

97                    “a July 2003 front-page story on the report”:  The headline of the article is “Dreaming up demo ammunition.”

97                    "all Three Stooges":  The three most famous Stooges are Moe, Larry and Curly (Shemp, Joe and Curly Joe were also Stooges).  In a separate finding, two out of three Americans can identify all three Rice Krispies characters - Snap, Crackle and Pop.  Grobman, Paul, "Vital Statistics," Plume 2005 (cites April 26, 2002 Chicago Sun-Times report). 

97                    “all three branches of the government”: The three branches of the government are executive, judicial and legislative.  The percentage that does not know all three branches of the government, although in the majority, may not be as high as the 83 percent cited in one study.  The Utah State Courts’ 2003 Annual Report to the Communities cites a national study that concluded, “60% of Americans can’t name all three branches of the government.” And the average American may be more informed than the average U.S. elected official.  On November 20, 2008, AFP reported, "US elected officials scored abysmally on a test measuring their civic knowledge, with an average grade of just 44 percent... Ordinary citizens did not fare much better, scoring just 49 percent correct on the 33 exam questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI)... The exam questions covered American history, the workings of the US government and economics.  Among the questions asked of some 2,500 people who were randomly selected to take the test, including "self-identified elected officials," was one which asked respondents to 'name two countries that were our enemies during World War II.'  Sixty-nine percent of respondents correctly identified Germany and Japan.  Forty percent of respondents, meanwhile, incorrectly believed that the US president has the power to declare war, while 54 percent correctly answered that that power rests with Congress.  Asked about the electoral college, 20 percent of elected officials incorrectly said it was established to 'supervise the first televised presidential debates.'"

97                  "When he takes a shower": And one report, shared by Artie Schultz of WIKZ-FM in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, claims that on average during their lifetime, American men wash their hair some 18,000 times, more than the 15,000 times cited for American women.   

97                  "He eats... animals a year": This simplicity of this statistic was lost in translation, as the source wrote, "The average American eats 20 animals a year."  Swan, James A., "Permissible killing," ESPN.com, March 19, 2004. 

98                   "after the cereal is gone": USA Today, May 2, 2001, cites Gallup. 

98                    The presentation was made by Dr. Richard L. Corsi, a Raymond F. Dawson Centennial Teaching Fellow and Director of the Texas Institute for the Indoor Environment, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Texas at Austin.

98                    "adrenaline rushes": Fine Living/fineliving.com, 2004. 

98                    “six minutes”: According to the February 5-11, 2004 North Bay Bohemian, cites Cosmopolitan.

98                    “most American adults rate”: sexualwellbeing.com, 2003. 

98                    “sex life starts at 16”/“14.3 sexual partners”: Woods, Stacey Grenrock, “sex,” Esquire, November, 2003, cites “2001 Global Sex Survey by Durex condoms.” 

98                    “between 6 and 7 inches”: closer to 6.  In 1948, noted sex researcher Alfred Kinsey found the average length to be 6.21 inches.  A survey sponsored by Durex condoms placed the average at 6.4 inches.                    

98                    “size 36C”: Lexington Herald Leader. 

99                   “80 percent of married men... the same men: 50 percent": Underwood, Kim, "Faces of America," Winston-Salem Journal, July 3, 2003.

99                   “bottomless rattlebag of measurements”: Average American statistics about food are of particular interest to many, such as the fact that on average, Americans consume 1,300 pounds of food per year.  Akron Beacon-Journal, April 10, 2004.  Also, the average American took out 118 meals from restaurants in 2002, a 64 percent increase from 1984.  At home, 53 percent of suppers “actually involve turning on the stove, down from 67 percent in 1985.”  Adler, Jerry, “Takeout Nation,” Newsweek, February 9, 2004.  On average, Americans spend 23 minutes eating lunch.  Grobman, Paul, "Vital Statistics," Plume, 2005 (cites August 24, 2000 Washington Times report).   

99                   "8 batteries": "How to keep rechargeable batteries going, going," The Charlotte Obsever, November 29, 2004.

99                   "In 2002, he consumed... pounds of lard": Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-2005. 

99                    “52 items of clothing annually”: “Harper’s Index,” Harper’s, cites 2002 annual figure

99                    “according to the National Sizing Survey”: National Sizing Survey press release, “SizeUSA National Sizing Data Available,” March 5, 2004 

99                    “He hopes to die at home”: Reuters, April 15, 2004, reported 90 percent of Americans said they prefer to die at home.  According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 25 percent actually do. 

99                    “his soul will travel to a spiritual place after he passes”: According to an August, 2005 Newsweek/Beliefnet poll, 67 percent of Americans said they believe “the soul goes to heaven or hell.”  “Where We Stand on Faith,” Newsweek, September 5, 2005.

99                  "7.4 gallons a year": Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003, cites 2001 figure.

99                   "three pounds of the substance annually": "Americans consume about 3 pounds of peanut butter per person per year," The Food Institute Report, March 18, 2002.      

99                    “PB&J sandwiches at least once a month”: PB&J as in peanut butter and jelly.  According to WFHM-FM in Cleveland, “the average child will have 1,500” PB&J sandwiches before high school graduation. 

100                 "by age fifty he has lost twelve": National Institutes of Health. 

100                  “inappropriate for the F-word to be used on broadcast television”: The Barna Research Group, July 26, 2004.

100                  “he does not properly wash his hands”: Ensley, Gerald, “Carting around more germs than groceries,” Tallahassee Democrat, January 16, 2005.  Ensley attributed the finding of 83 to 84 percent to Chuck Gerba, a University of Arizona environmental-microbiology professor nicknamed “Dr. Germ.”

100                  “research led by a physician at the University of Maryland”: Tanner, Lindsey, Associated Press, November 25, 1997.

101                  “To be clinically overweight by the Quetelet Index”: One colossal problem with the index – long used for insurance industry mortality scales – was explained by Dr. Katherine Flegal, a statistician for the National Center for Health Statistics”: Those scoring 25 or higher on the index are categorized as overweight, yet those over and under the BMI mark of 25 have the highest possibility of decreasing their total life spans.  If you hit 25, the optimal score, you are overweight!  George W. Bush, noted for being in good physical shape, scored a BMI of 26.4, over the “overweight” mark of 25.  Kolata, Gina, “Tell the Truth: Does This Index Make Me Look Fat?” New York Times, November 28, 2004.  The BMI score is calculated by multiplying weight in pounds times 705, dividing by height in inches, then dividing again by height in inches. Revealingly, a 2005 University of North Carolina study found that based on the index, 56 percent of NFL players were classified as obese.  Hellmich, Nanci, “Based on body index, 56% of NFL players are obese,” USA Today, March 2, 2005.  Bo Jackson, perhaps the most revered multi-sport athlete of the past quarter century, was obese on the BMI at the peak of his athletic career.  Malone, Jann, “Why Figuring the Fat is Important,” Richmond Times Dispatch, December 15, 2002.  Also of note: actor Tom Cruise “is clinically obese” on the BMI.  Luik, John, “Junk Science: Obesity,” National Post’s Financial Post, June 17, 2004. The New York Times reports that Dr. Jeffrey Friedman, a Rockefeller University obese researcher (he discovered lepin, a hormone that comes from fat cells), has found that “national data do not show Americans growing uniformly fatter.”  Kolata, Gina, “The Fat Epidemic: He Says It’s an Illusion,” New York Times, June 8, 2004. 

101                  “routinely leave out those under twenty years old”: As for that group, findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey determined that 10 preschoolers are overweight and 15 percent of children between 6 and 19 are overweight.  Dworkin, Norine, “Don’t let your child grow up to be fat,” Family Circle, April, 2004. 

102                  “until 1998… became overweight”: Cain, Herman and Dan Gainor, “A Beef With Media Bias on Obesity,” Investor’s Business Daily, January 7, 2005. Cites USA Today’s Nancy Hellmich and Rita Rubin as source.

102                  “less than 8 percent of American adults weigh more than 250 pounds”: 2004 IHRSA/ASD Obesity Weight Control Trend Report.

102                  “between 145 and 195 pounds”: A National Center for Health Statistics report, based on 2002 figures and released in October, 2004 puts the average weights for the U.S. population higher than one of these marks and lower than the other: 164.3 pounds for women and 191 pounds for men.  Fox, Maggie, “Americans a Bit Taller,” Reuters, October 27, 2004.  Journal of the American Medical Association, October 4, 2000, put the average weight of the American woman at 151 pounds and the average American man at 187 pounds. As it happened, the weight of the most average American also fell between the two spectrums reported above. 

102-103           “‘Competitive cyclists weigh more’”/ “the national smoking rate declined… ‘quite as much as we think it is’”: Kolata, Gina, “Exchanging Cigarettes For Bagels,” New York Times, December 19, 2004.

103                  “110 pounds on average, placing them on the 2 percent fringe”: Women models are also 5 feet 11 on average, significantly above the 5-4 average among all U.S. women.  Jeon, Arthur, City Dharma, Harmony Books, 2004. 

103                  “The Centers for Disease Control was recently forced to admit”: For a detailed account of this news, please see Maureen Martin’s article in Health Care News from May 1, 2005, accessible at: http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=16860.

103                  “jobs that require heavy lifting”: A downturn was also chronicled in Newsweek in 2005: “Physically-active jobs were the norm in 1950, but sedentary employment is now twice as common.” Cowley, Geoffrey, and Springen, Karen, “Designing Heart-Healthy Communities,” Newsweek, October 3, 2005.  Notably, the magazine also reported  that from 1991 to 2001, there was a 23 percent attendance drop in physical education classes. “The Making of a Sedentary Nation,” Newsweek, October 3, 2005. 

104                  “about 75 percent of American snack”: Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, West Virginia), November 28, 2004, cites American Dietetic Association.

104                  “In 2003, Mississippi, the poorest state in the nation, was also the most overweight”: Mississippi was also ranked first in weight in 2004. McNeil Jr., Donald G., “Obesity Rate Is Nearly 25 Percent, Group Says,” New York Times, August 24, 2005.

104                  “earn enough money in thirty-six days… South Carolina”: Charleston Post and Courier, February 8, 2004.

104                  “asked to define themselves”: The Hartman Group market research company.  When publicly posting their looks to potential dates, the majority of Americans likely describe themsleves as not so average.  In Freakonomics (William Morrow, 2005), Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner present results from a study of about 30,000 users of a leading online dating site.  The users were from Boston and San Diego and the median age span was from 26 to 35.  Levitt and Dubner: "As for weight, the men were in line with the national average, but the women typically said they weighed about twenty pounds less than the national average."  As for overall looks, 30 percent described themselves as 'average,' including only 1 percent who went with 'below average,' which, according to Levitt and Dubner, "suggests that the typical online dater is either a fabulist, a narcissist, or simply resistant to the meaning of 'average.'" 

105                  “a better job of portraying beauty”: In the August 22, 2005 Advertising Age, the magazine reported results of another survey –   the magazine’s online poll about whether more marketers “should use ‘real women’ in advertising.” Eighty-seven percent of the respondents said they should.  Two years later, the New York Times reported that in advertising modeling, "right now just might be a golden age for average Joes."  Yeung, Bernice, "He's a Model? Consider the Odds," New York Times, December 2, 2007. 

105                 "against the norm": The majority of U.S. men have a similar view to the women.  Citing "trends in American advertising," The Observer (United Kingdom) reported in 2006, "Last year the advertising agency Leo Burnett researched male attitudes and found that 70 percent of American men felt ads were out of touch with them.  The messages did not portray their everyday reality or attitudes."  Harris, Paul, "The Menaissance," The Observer, July 9, 2006. 

105                  “the campaign’s featured models”: The featured models were advertising Dove’s cellulite-firming products. Also of note is a Nike print campaign that broke in 2005.  As reported in Advertising Age: “In the latest nod to ‘real’ women – and the latest blow to the wafer-thin body image – Nike has introduced a campaign that celebrates women’s big butts, thunder thighs and tomboy knees.”  Thomaselli, Rich,”Beauty’s New, Er, Face,” Advertising Age, August 15, 2005.  Reported New York Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott two days later: “Madison Avenue is increasingly interested in using everyday women in advertising instead of just waifish supermodels.”  Elliott, Stuart, “For Everyday Products, Ads Using the Everyday Woman,” New York Times, August 17, 2005.  Interestingly, the average American woman’s measurements are 37-29-40 but the average department store mannequin is 34-23-34.  Herrmann, Andrew, “What women go through to look slim and busty,” Chicago Sun-Times, September 2, 2004.

107                  “The average America with rural roots”: This was also apparent in an analysis of the first 1,512 American military men and women who died in Iraq: 40.5 percent “were from the suburbs” and 33.3 percent “were from rural areas.”  Korb, Lawrence J., and Holmes, Nigel, “Two Years and Counting,” New York Times (Op-Ed), March 20, 2005. 

107                 "illegal in most U.S. municipalities": Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck, Suburban Nation, North Point Press, 2000.  

107                  “the majority of Americans are suburbanites”: Brookings Review, Summer, 2000: “At the dawn of the 21^st century, most Americans live in suburbs.”  Brookings Institute, Jeffrey M. Sellers, Department of Political Science, USC, Draft Report, June 15, 2003: “During the decade from 1991 to 2001, suburbanites grew to a majority of the U.S. population for the first time.” 

107                  “‘no longer a detectable frontier line’”: Lemann, Nicholas, “A Better Place to Live,” Washington Monthly, September, 1994.

109                  “about 40 percent of the nation’s poor live in suburbs”: According to a Census Bureau report released in August, 2004, the figure was 38.5 percent and rising – up from 20.5 percent in 1970 and 35.9 percent in 2000.  Dreier, Peter, “Poverty in the Suburbs,” The Nation, September 20, 2004.

113                 "acres of farmland are lost to sprawl": And in 2006, citing National Geographic and the EPA report "Population Trends Along the Coastal United States, 1980-2008," Associated Press reported, "More than 1,500 new homes are permitted construction along the U.S. coast every day" and "2,000 acres of farmland are lost each day in coastal counties to development."  "Nationwide coastal growth figures," Associated Press, June 29, 2006. 

114                  “‘it was the average American who was the real source’”: New York Times, March 29, 1969.  A couple Eisenhower middle-of-the-road quotes of note: “The middle of the road is all the usable surface.  The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters”/“Extremes to the right and left of any political dispute are wrong.” 

For Chapter 8 forward, please click here