[lbo-talk] Professor Lisa at Tortilla Flats

[Josh Narins]

> Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
> 
> >Good observation, but it makes me wonder what is the cause and what is the
> >effect.  Is it that people moved to suburbia because they rejected
> >cosmopolitanism, or they rejected cosmopolitanism because they moved to
> >suburbia?  I am inclined to think it is the latter.  Aside my obvious
> >preference for a materialistic model of behavior (the being determines
> >consciousness thing), the flight to suburbia occurred at a high point of
> >cosmopolitanism in the popular culture   (cf. _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ 
> >which
> >is explicit embracement of cosmopolitanism and a rejection of the 
> >home-grown
> >folksiness). 
> >
> But wait the only thing they embraced about cosmoplitanism was the 
> enhanced consumption patterns. But cosmopolitanism is more than just 
> about getting Brie at your local supermarket chain; it's precisely about 
> enjoying a diversity of cultures; it's about wanting to understand and 
> learn from people who are different from you; it's about being 
> interested in how diverse cultures evolve when differences are tolerated 
> rather than repressed or excluded.

NYC was at a low point, in terms of dirtiness and crime (guessing) 20-25
years ago.

The "super-predator" was in the news weeklies as a new way to get people
to fear young dark skinned men.

I can't wait to get back to Manhattan.