We walk around the hollowed out remnants of our old downtowns and wonder, “How did this happen? How could generations past have done this? How did they tear down all those wonderful 19th century buildings? Didn’t they know?” Yet I also wonder, will we ourselves bring the same thing into being? It’s common for us to note the moral failings of the past. It’s less easy for us to imagine how future generations might find us wanting. Leslie Poles Hartley famously wrote, “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” This … [Read more...]
Archives for 2010
It Falls From the Sky
"When the well’s dry, then we know the value of water" - Benjamin Franklin"Whiskey’s for drinkin’; water’s for fightin’" - Western aphorism It used to be that people and policymakers in the eastern portion of the US (roughly east of the 100th meridian, which is the western boundary of the main body of Oklahoma) didn’t worry about having enough water. After all, that part of the US has abundant rainfall, mighty rivers, relatively frequent floods, and infrequent severe droughts that always end before the lakes go dry. Under such circumstances, … [Read more...]
The Giant Sucking Sound
"Nearly all rich and powerful people are not notably talented, educated, charming, or good-looking. They became rich and powerful by wanting to be rich and powerful." - Paul Arden"But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." -I Corinthians 1:27 This is the latest installment in what has become a trilogy of sorts on talent and migration. (See also "Out-Migration Devastates Michigan" and "The Outsiders"). When I … [Read more...]