I have spoken often
of my local notions, yet I have not said much about the dark underbelly of the local: the place where localism turns into Republican parochialism. You listen long enough out here in the vast squareness of the middle west and you will no doubt hear someone say: "If it's no good to me here and now, it's no damn good." Drain that marsh, you'll hear. Chop those trees. Drill that well. Dig that ore. We often hide the utilitarian bias of everything we do, the notion that if you don't use it, you are wasting it. You remember President Reagan saying such things; soon we'll be hearing Dubya saying them too. We have to be careful. Despite the long reach to the horizon out here, sometimes we're awfully short-sighted. That's our ugly little secret. Singing the praise of the local, a fellow has to be careful he's not encouraging abuse of the world around him, all those elements he holds dear, because sure as shoot somebody wants to make money of it, however he can. For every good man with a good idea, there's a son of a bitch trying to get rich quick, steal you blind, milk the cow dry when you're not looking. When you think of the local, remember that.
It is snowing. It has not snowed for several days and now it is snowing. I have not heard a forecast but I'll make a prediction - if this keeps up we'll have some accumulation. There are big flakes; they carry the weight of winter's weariness, they are flung at me as if to say: "Take that, you son of a bitch." I say: "Ha, ha, ha."
At Five Corners you have to notice that the flower beds in the northwest quadrant are covered by a four or five foot snow drift due to the snow fencing there. Flowers are a long way from the surface today. Yet though things may look bad, they are not hopeless.
There is a slogan in Bellingham and you will see the poster in every store window in town. The slogan is: Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local. The city decided it needed a new logo and they had $25,000 to spend on the design. So, did they Think, Be and Buy Local? Of course not. They sent it out to a design firm in Seattle who created a logo for Bellingham that is so ugly. They said it is supposed to depict a mountain (Mt. Baker) and lakes and the bay. That is not what it looks like. It looks like a big high condo with a huge water leak in the middle. Then of course there is the destruction of nature here but only to improve upon it with condos, condos and more condos. Yeah, a lot of dark underbelly of the local here. As for Dubya, he's not disliked, he is HATED, DESPISED. The local indie left paper (not liberal, this is a radical left town) said if the state is blue Bellingham is cobalt blue it is so radical. Everything is politicized here. But proudly the city council took up the matter of our withdrawal from Iraq and decided that we should withdraw and decreed Bellingham a city that does not support the war. Of course, they can't decide if bicycles should be allowed on Taylor Dock, or protect the green spaces but we can all feel good about bringing the troops home. Oh, wait, that's right, they haven't the power to do that. Okay, all together now, Think Local, Buy Local, Be Local. Feel the love.
Posted by: Sharon | January 26, 2007 at 12:26 AM
Heh. Think Local, but go to Seattle to design the campaign. Why is it that we always think something better is elsewhere? Something different is elsewhere, but not necessarily better.
As for your other comments about the community, it seems there is no patent on hypocrisy; and no laws against certain kinds of institutionalized greed.
As my friend Peter suggests, if you don't have money, you don't have to worry about it. Another argument in favor of Local Backwater, Wisconsin.
Posted by: Tom Montag | January 27, 2007 at 05:20 AM