I was a Carter baby, and was raised in the faux-happy America of Ronald Reagan. I know now that times were rough, hence why a pharmacist's kid wore hand-me-downs from her cousin, but I didn't realize it at the time. Why? One great thing Ronnie did was give us all a good sense of community. Of course, it was aided by the remnants of the WWII era organizations such as the Lions, Jaycees, bowling leagues (flashback Poly Sci).
We don't have that anymore in America. In fact, I've noticed we have very much regressed. In our local po-dunk paper, people are explaining how they go slower when you don't travel the legal distance behind them. In Minnesota, cops are giving citizens radar guns and training them how to use them, and in Tallahasse, FL a 23 year old girl is dead because the police set her up on a cocaine/gun sting when all she was guilty of was having a couple of baggies of pot.
But these people are breaking the law you say. Yes, but it is not up to the citizens to maintain local law enforcement. In fact, the city councils and police departments should be encouraging citizens to get along with one another. How about community days to clean up a park, or feed the homeless, or give kids something to do after school? They should not be encouraging citizen vs. citizen. What kind of America does that bring us?
When I finish school, no matter what government office I end up working for, I want to devote my volunteer time to encouraging community events, hopefully involving alternative energy choices. This is craziness people. And to conclude, a quote from Rodney King, "Can't we all just get along?"
A bit of my view...
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I do see that community is getting lost in the larger scale, but on a neighborhood level, at least in Seattle neighborhoods, I see efforts being made every day. Have you seen the Ballard Blog? And the Art in the Garden at my P-Patch went wonderfully (without me since I was in Spokane :( I see people volunteering all the time to clean up neighborhoods. Most of this is home grown though, and not sponsored or organized by our local government.
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