>As the discursive metaphor of post-modernity we have the complete
>aestheticization of our political space--as an entirely moral realm of
>ever more refined sensibilities, sensitivities, and judgments, where
>in reciprocity the State becomes the Church.
The state is always (in competition with) the church - hence the public disdain for both institutions. But isn't your view of planning part of a long thread in urban design to turn inward toward the playa. This multi-ethnic culture of the san francisco peninsula seems coherent in largest part and from Starbucks outside of Barnes and Noble to the local Safeway parking lot it seems to be finding it's social center in the shopping malls. Or perhaps it's just that getting out has become too difficult.
Martin