The City in the Age of Uncertainty

I've recently been reading John Galbraith's The Age of Uncertainty. Maybe everyone knows about this book but me? Certainly everyone should read it.

Among other useful bits of information, Galbraith's later chapters focus on modern life and what it means for the average citizen. In the chapter entitled "The Metropolis," he talks about the rise of the modern city and what it means to the people that live in or near it. It was here that I found some ideas that completed some thoughts I've had in mind for quite some time.

In that Midwest of mine, many of the places that were the middle of nowhere when I was a kid are now exurbs, with seemingly new houses going up every other day in some parts. I remember that a 45 minute drive north of Chicago would take you to the country, and was surprised the last time I drove to Green Lake with my father that we never really left an exurban setting until the very, very end of the drive. Where did all of these people come from?

None of it is really well built or, I suspect, meant to endure. Lots of it is strip malls. Where my brother lives it's mall after mall after mall, and what now passes for "landmarks" are essentially the flagship stores in each. Other than that it's hard to tell the difference.

These areas are not meant to be walked in, and in fact, in many place there aren't even sidewalks. In that part of the country during warmer or colder seasons, it's never necessary to go outside -- one goes from the home to the garage, into the car and to the parking garage, and then from there to work or to shop. No need to bring a coat!

And so what? Who cares? What difference does it make?

Well Galbraith's chapter suggested what the difference might be. He divides the metropolis into four parts: The Political Household, the Merchant City, the Industrial City and The Camp. It was in reading about the Industrial City that I began to see what difference it makes.

A city of course reflects the identity of its citizens. In the case of the Industrial City, it serves a mere function of utility, bring the citizens closer to work. As Galbraith puts it, "People were now a servo-mechanism."

Well so then what reflects on the people that live in the disposable society? It's easy to think of cliché things, like the decline of America or the current prevailing attitude in this county of divisiveness and mistrust. I'll have to think it through a bit more before making a proclamation.