>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2004/0401.florida.html
>
>Creative Class War
>How the GOP's anti-elitism could ruin America's economy
>
>By Richard Florida
>
>-------------------------
>
>i know that doug (and others from both the left and right) don't have much
>use for florida's brand of analysis but i'm not entirely certain that he's
>entirely off the mark.
I think he generally overestimates the economic influence of the "creative class," but more broadly, I think the provincialism, paranoia, and general cretinousness of the Bush regime is very damaging, even in the bourgeois sense. Meanness and stupidity are going to make it more and more difficult to reproduce the labor force.
When I was coming back from London, I was sickened by the Homeland Security signs, notifying foreigners they had to be photographed and fingerprinted. I sailed through immigration & customs; the non-citizens had to cope with what looked like a 30-minute line. One of the more admirable things about the U.S. has been its relative openness to foreigners (yes, I know there's lots of hypocrisy here, but still, it sure beats a lot of other attitudes). The Bushies have pretty much strangled that, and I can't imagine it becoming a serious political issue right now.
Doug