Like many others, I read the news each day, about our city, online and in print. When one reads about Whitewater, of its local government, one likely reads about one of two topics: (1) the city or public schools budgets, or (2) municipal development projects.
They’re both important, sometimes very much so, but they’re only a part of Whitewater’s actual, economic life. In fact, the tens of millions spent on our city and schools budget, and the millions more spent on development, are only meaningful in context.
That context is not — never was, and never will be — the headlines that a few boosters and cheerleaders push forward as proof of their ability, command, and insight.
The condition of common residents, thousands of them, is a fuller economic picture.
The city’s economy comprises thousands of people and their daily production, consumption, and savings – that is, their material condition and prospects. That a few are comfortable, or that a few projects are large, barely describes Whitewater’s genuine economic condition.
When the Gazette or Daily Union talk about the city budget, the schools budget, or big projects, they do two things, simultaneously. First, they push the ideas and topics that insiders think are politically valuable. Second, these newspapers omit consideration of the full economy and the condition of thousands in Whitewater.
(About Janesville, the stark gap between the Gazette‘s hesitant description of the city they serve and the actual economic and political performance of Janesville is striking. When nationally-recognized writers or filmmakers look at Janesville, they describe the city honestly in a way that that city’s own newspaper is too cautious to do, lest they seem ‘too critical’ and lest they unsettle advertisers or incumbent politicians. The paper is hesitant, in the end, about the economic truth of its own town.)
In some ways, a discussion about a budget is an easier discussion – and less unsettling – than the truth about a municipality’s poorly performing economy.
Whitewater’s town squires, self-designated notables, etc., would very much prefer a conventional discussion of the budget, or even of their big-ticket proposals (however hollow), than a discussion of the city’s actual economic conditions.
Candidate Bill Clinton’s team famously insisted that it was, after all, “the economy, stupid.” The Clinton team was only partly right: it was and is the economy that matters greatly, but people aren’t stupid.
On contrary, it’s simply true that most people are clever and knowledgeable. Groups of leaders may be sharp or dull, but the overwhelming majority of residents in our community are smart and capable. We couldn’t have a functioning society otherwise.
I posted the full city budget proposal on Monday – over a hundred pages, and millions of dollars in taxes and spending – but that’s not the starting place for a discussion.
It’s the economy, not our city’s fiscal account, that underlies any meaningful discussion.
Tomorrow: A City’s Most Important Economic Measure.
