[lbo-talk] Dispiriting Suburbs?

[Jesse Lemisch]

I've lived in cities (NYC, Chicago, New Haven, etc.) and suburbs (Bayside
when it was a suburb, Amherst NY) and much prefer NYC. But much of this
discussion seems to be proceeding on the assumption that people who choose
to live in suburbs are misguided and beneath contempt. I'm sure that some on
this list must understand the virtues of suburban living. So again, we see
contempt for ordinary people rooted in the assumption that their decisions
are irrational.

Jesse Lemisch

----- Original Message -----
From: "B." <docile_body at yahoo.com>
To: "LBO Talk" <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 11:06 PM
Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Dispiriting Suburbs?


> Carl Remick wrote:
>
> "Yes, 'Little Boxes' radiates contempt -- for the
> houses, the people who live in them, and the pointless
> conformist lives they lead.  What, may I ask, is
> *your* idea of a worthwhile leftist anthem -- a hymn
> to the American Dream?  Seems to me that if one seeks
> a social transformation, the focus has to be on what's
> misguided and demeaning about people's aspirations.
> The revo won't come simply from sucking up to the
> citizenry and telling them to stay the course, so to
> speak.  So once more, with feeling:"
>
>
>
>
> Wow, you're absolutely right. It's honestly pretty
> hard to be "down with the masses" when it seems like
> what most of the masses believe is just so
> insufferable you'd rather slit your own wrists -- and
> to slit them vertically, not horizontally, to make
> sure it really works, that is -- than ape their lowest
> common denominator attitudes or cultural preferences
> to cynically simulate "being with them."
>
> So, while we're at it, song-wise, how about DK's
> "Chickenshit Conformist Like Your Parents" or the
> Descendents' old anti-suburban mantra "Suburban Home"?
>
>
> -B.
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk