[lbo-talk] Jon Johanning on suburba (was: the petro-thusians have their moment)

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Jon
> That's certainly true around Philly. Having lived in both the city and
> the Main Line suburbs, I have to smile at the suburbanites who are
> proud of spending their whole lives without going into the city, and
> are actually scared feces-less when they do dare to venture in and see
> the first graffiti-decorated building. I think racism certainly has a
> lot to do with it, but I don't know exactly what else is involved.
> 
> Partly, it's the ideal picture of American life most people have in
> their minds, with the mini-mansion, the castle that the man of the
> house is supposed to be lord of, surrounded by a huge lawn (which is
> hugely expensive and a lot of bother to keep up, resulting in a lot of
> business for suburban landscaping companies who drive around in the
> spring, summer, and fall with their big trailers toting lawn-mowers,
> etc., tying up traffic). Boy, am I glad I'm not living out there any
> more!

Jon, that is right on the target.  I've seen that behavior a lot around
Baltimore and central PA.

However, I do not think that racism alone is the main engine of it - it
surely plays a big role, but there is also, paradoxically, alienation and a
desire to belong to the mainstream (or tyranny of the majority as Alexis
deTocqueville dubbed it).  

The alienation and loneliness makes people uncomfortable with anything
different than themselves, because they feels threatened by that.  Since
social solidarity has always been the main line of human defense against any
danger, alienation makes people more fearful and more longing for that
solidarity.  The suburbs offer an illusion of that solidarity by project8ing
the image of small town communities - but in reality they only exacerbate
alienation, fear and more desire for community and security- which is
shamelessly exploited by real estate and car dealers.  

US is a really sad, sick, and pathetic society - and if it were not so
violently dangerous and destructive in its spasms of fear and frustration -
I would actually felt a lot of sympathy for its plight.

Wojtek