I believe that burghers who build up the burgh, and love the
polis, are the happiest and most developed humans.
Jefferson believed that yeoman farmers developed an independence of
character that was essential to a democratic nation. The burgher in the city and the yeoman on the farm are clearly different ideals of what the modal, and model, citizen is.
A modern nation consists mostly of urban people, but also draws from (and vitally depends on) the farm.
The small town, run by voluntary associations, has been the best compromise. The new urbanists envision making the city livable through a conjunction of small town neighborhoods.
The real problem for all of these ideals, though, is that the economy is dominated by large corporations, which are not responsive to small town citizen associations, yeoman farmers, or even urban burghers.
2 comments:
The interesting thing is the the large corporations and interests are able via political soundbite ads and simplistic solgans to influence and manipulate the relatively unsophisticated yeoman farmers and urban dwellers. Thus they remain in control
I am, in many ways, a product of small towns, and I don't know the solution: only the frustration.
Post a Comment