Later this week, I’ll check to see how I did on my predictions for 2014, and make some new ones for 2015. The week of January 6th, I’ll elaborate on themes from the predictions for 2015.
Here’s an observation, however, that I think describes Whitewater’s politics and culture, generally: there is an absence of equilibrium, as we shift from a older, imposed order to a new, more spontaneous one.
For some, this is an exciting time (I would be among those who think so); for others it’s variously unwelcome, uncomfortable, or even (for the morose) dreadful.
And yet, and yet, these changes – deriving not from the machinations of a few, but from broad social forces – are inexorable.
There is dynamism in any place, with the only exception, I’d imagine, being Hell.
I’d contend these last few years, however, have seen more political and social change in Whitewater than our long-term average. We’ll set yet more change, too.
Those who are comfortable amid wind and waves will do just fine; those who prefer a sedentary shore will not fare as well. Those who would rather live in an unchanging climate will do the worst of all.
The clear way to see the city, though, is as a community in flux, regardless of how that suits one’s sensibilities.