What Happens When We Show Up

In Pueblo, Colorado, a community screening of Join or Die asked what we’re losing when we stop showing up—for each other, for our towns, for democracy itself.

The weather didn’t make it easy. April 19 brought snow, the kind that’s wet and dulls your enthusiasm for leaving the house. But inside the Sangre de Cristo Art & Conferencer Center, chairs unfolded and people showed up. Not for a blockbuster or a lecture, but for a documentary about civic decay and the stubborn hope of repairing it.

Join or Die, a recent documentary co-created by Rebecca Davis and Pete Davis, builds on the work of political scientist Robert Putnam, whose book Bowling Alone examined the unraveling of American civic life. The film doesn’t simply revisit Putnam’s thesis, it updates it. Charting how the decline of face-to-face engagement, whether through unions, neighborhood groups, or hobby clubs, has continued into the 21st century. The concept of “social capital” may come from academia, but its absence is tangible. Fewer people are voting, volunteering, or trusting the people who live next door.

The screening was organized by the Pueblo Star Journal, as we, like many others across the country, are experimenting with new roles in the civic landscape. The event also served as the formal launch of ClubCon.org, a new website built to catalog and connect Pueblo’s clubs, advocacy groups, and civic organizations. In an age where even community participation is often filtered through national politics or online discourse, the platform is trying to offer something simpler. A way to find other people who care about the same things you do, and maybe even meet them in person.

Co-creator Rebecca Davis, an Emmy Award winning journalist and filmmaker, joined virtually for a post-screening conversation with attendees. Reflecting on her own realizations while making the film, she also fielded questions about how we bring people in, how we organize when we barely know each other, and what participation looks like now.

No one offered easy answers. But that wasn’t the point. What made the afternoon meaningful wasn’t resolution, but the fact that people came, and they stayed. Some had been involved in local clubs for decades. Others had not. But the shared mood for something better was unmistakable.

It is easy to romanticize the past when it comes to civic life. But the film doesn’t do that, and neither did the screening. The point wasn’t nostalgia. It was a reminder that the basic mechanics of democracy — trust, cooperation, shared purpose — do not emerge from policy alone. They are built, day by day, through connection and community, through the mostly invisible work of being present.

Putnam’s original thesis that we are “bowling alone” landed in 2000 with the force of revelation. Nearly twenty-five years later, its insights feel more like a diagnosis. Loneliness, political polarization, and institutional mistrust are not just symptoms of the new age. They are the downstream effects of disconnection, of opting out.

In that sense, Join or Die is about resistance. It advocates for the revival of civic habits that may seem outdated, like joining a gardening club, attending city council meetings, or organizing a neighborhood cleanup. These are the things that remain essential to building community. These small acts may not solve everything, but they are necessary.

The film is now nominated for two Emmy Awards, one for writing and another for graphic design. That recognition feels fitting, not just because of the film’s craftsmanship, but because of its message. Join or Die asks us to look at the spaces we no longer occupy, the habits we’ve let fade, and the people we’ve stopped showing up for. And then it invites us to try again.

Maybe that’s exactly what we need right now. Not necessarily a sweeping solution, but something slower and more human. A seat at the table, a name on a signup sheet, a conversation that keeps going after the credits roll.

Click here to donate online:

Make checks payable to:

Pueblo Star Journal,
301 N. Main St., Suite 101,
Pueblo CO 81003