i’m not sure about the whole ‘bring folks together’ stuff — not for any other reason than i believe that Republicans just do not care in the least about policy and its implications for regular people. Democrats are only slightly less worse, of course — for example, it’s Democrats who are doing something, however insignificant, to address healthcare (either that, or they’re just keeping the whole capitalist experiment from completely imploding). maybe, hopefully, the governing pendulum swings back towards ‘sanity’ a bit, now.

i think Kunstler has good stuff to say on how towns will survive — simply put, if you don’t have a local economy, you don’t have a town, period — they’re one and the same. think one of his podcasts talks about local ownership of ‘the corner store’, etc.

also, i’m curious if the US ever climbs out of this recession. it’s starting to seem like this might be the new norm. what economy does the US have left for middle class, or formerly-middle class, folks? manufacturing? gone. IT? leaving. do we build housing and transit infrastructure for the next 20 years and hope that turns the country around somehow? can the US survive on low-wage service jobs from here on out? maybe so.

for those ‘out there’ suburbs, i’m guessing there’s going to be a lot more ‘back to the land’-type stuff going on (local farming, community gardens, solar/wind energy capture, bike riding, public spaces, less tv, more democracy, DIY, etc.), with inherently sustainable business models like worker-owned and controlled coops, or at least, slightly more democratic workplaces that, presumably, would not be so eager to corrupt the political process.