How ironic that what affluence bought was the unworkability of separation. It's graphic example of how, in the big picture, a world based on economics instead of on humanitarian concerns goes off the cliff.
Thanks!! Yes, so ironic. As with many things in life, it seems hard to strike the right balance. My father, who grew up in Italy, feels it's gotten less friendly as it got more affluent. Definitely a conundrum.
I like David Brooks, who is especially visible to me as I am a "member" of the Weave community he essentially founded. But Weave (weavers.org) gets bogged down in lack of tactics, a trend toward chasing grants, and a tinge of misunderstanding what organizing a group "thing" involves. I think David had a vision/epiphany about community, but like so many, he is not sure how to deploy the alternative. It probably helped that he started by pointing out the problems with status quo, as you note so well here.
Interesting to hear that about Weave, I didn't know about its origins or its issues and he made it sound good. It seems like a start, but it's so hard to figure out how to make these things work in the context of the way we live these days. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!!
Right?! We are daily watchers of PBS news (we call it the real news as compared to World News with David Muir). I, also, have seen a shift in David's views. Love your article.
Thanks for the thoughts on community and the nuclear family. The change, it seems, started with our generation - at least in my case. My parents grew up in dense, urban neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens counties in New York City (just as their parents did), in multi-family buildings (2 story) in very ethnic enclaves (Italian in my mother's case, German/Irish in my father's). Lot's of street activity, small stores, high walkability, public transit, etc. But the houses were old and often small, the schools maybe not-so-good, and as my parents married and had kids, they turned their gaze towards the suburbs of Long Island for a large house of their own, with a big backyard, good schools, and safe streets where kids actually ran around barefoot - something exotic and unknown in our experience with NYC streets often too dirty or glass-laden to ever walk without shoes. My parents' siblings all did the same, except most of them chose New Jersey. So we lost that close knit everyone-living-in-the-same-neighborhood community that our families once had. Some things were gained, for sure, but some things were lost too. As to Brooks, he's become almost a moderate Democrat at this point, especially since Trump basically forced conservatives to take sides, and Brooks chose the non-Trump side. I give him credit for that.
Sounds like your parents and their parents had a good life in the city. My parents also grew up in big cities, but it was nothing like that — especially for my father, whose parents moved the family when he was very young to Milan, where they didn't have other family. Of course, it's great having a house and a backyard. Funny that we moved to one to be CLOSER to our community.
As for Brooks, he does deserve credit for being open-minded and growing.
Yeah, I've enjoyed a lot (not all, but a lot) of his cultural commentary in the last few years, too. I worried at first ("what's haaaaappening to meeeeee"), but it's not me, it's him. Good for all of us.
Hahaha! It's not you!! Reminds me of that old cartoon where someone says to the person they're breaking up with, "It's not you, it's me — I don't like you!" 🤣
Doh! Should have read this before our dinner conversation last night! But to be continued...:)
I've just stumbled in here. It looks good!
How ironic that what affluence bought was the unworkability of separation. It's graphic example of how, in the big picture, a world based on economics instead of on humanitarian concerns goes off the cliff.
Thanks!! Yes, so ironic. As with many things in life, it seems hard to strike the right balance. My father, who grew up in Italy, feels it's gotten less friendly as it got more affluent. Definitely a conundrum.
I like David Brooks, who is especially visible to me as I am a "member" of the Weave community he essentially founded. But Weave (weavers.org) gets bogged down in lack of tactics, a trend toward chasing grants, and a tinge of misunderstanding what organizing a group "thing" involves. I think David had a vision/epiphany about community, but like so many, he is not sure how to deploy the alternative. It probably helped that he started by pointing out the problems with status quo, as you note so well here.
Interesting to hear that about Weave, I didn't know about its origins or its issues and he made it sound good. It seems like a start, but it's so hard to figure out how to make these things work in the context of the way we live these days. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!!
Right?! We are daily watchers of PBS news (we call it the real news as compared to World News with David Muir). I, also, have seen a shift in David's views. Love your article.
Thanks so much, Sandy! Hope you are well!
Thanks for the thoughts on community and the nuclear family. The change, it seems, started with our generation - at least in my case. My parents grew up in dense, urban neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens counties in New York City (just as their parents did), in multi-family buildings (2 story) in very ethnic enclaves (Italian in my mother's case, German/Irish in my father's). Lot's of street activity, small stores, high walkability, public transit, etc. But the houses were old and often small, the schools maybe not-so-good, and as my parents married and had kids, they turned their gaze towards the suburbs of Long Island for a large house of their own, with a big backyard, good schools, and safe streets where kids actually ran around barefoot - something exotic and unknown in our experience with NYC streets often too dirty or glass-laden to ever walk without shoes. My parents' siblings all did the same, except most of them chose New Jersey. So we lost that close knit everyone-living-in-the-same-neighborhood community that our families once had. Some things were gained, for sure, but some things were lost too. As to Brooks, he's become almost a moderate Democrat at this point, especially since Trump basically forced conservatives to take sides, and Brooks chose the non-Trump side. I give him credit for that.
Sounds like your parents and their parents had a good life in the city. My parents also grew up in big cities, but it was nothing like that — especially for my father, whose parents moved the family when he was very young to Milan, where they didn't have other family. Of course, it's great having a house and a backyard. Funny that we moved to one to be CLOSER to our community.
As for Brooks, he does deserve credit for being open-minded and growing.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Yeah, I've enjoyed a lot (not all, but a lot) of his cultural commentary in the last few years, too. I worried at first ("what's haaaaappening to meeeeee"), but it's not me, it's him. Good for all of us.
Hahaha! It's not you!! Reminds me of that old cartoon where someone says to the person they're breaking up with, "It's not you, it's me — I don't like you!" 🤣
I too, am not a fan of Mr. Brooks, but this post is making me think a little more about what he says. Thanks!!
Thanks for reading! He's at least showing he's open to growth and new ideas.