>--making the streets safe for kids to play in
There was a piece in yesterday's NYT about how suburban parents keep their kids under lockdown because they're afraid of dangers lurking outside. Additionally, no one knows any neighbors, so there are no naturally occurring friendships among kids who live near each other. Plus, play is a distraction from the work of preparing the kids for hypercompetitive worklives. Only organized playdates, and lots of educational events.
If this isn't a sad story of the sickness of American capitalism. People are frightened of their surroundings, alienated from their neighbors, andterrified of economic failure. Man, that's fucked up.
Doug