I’m an optimist about my small town. I have concerns, of course, two of which I mentioned in a post from earlier today:
There are two trends I think well possible for my part of the world, one of which matters, the other not at all. The first, the one that matters, is that Whitewater, Wisconsin is heading toward conditions in which she has a permanent underclass. That’s tragic, for everyone in the city, and a large topic for other days.
The second, the one that doesn’t matter, is that one can expect a lurch in local politics toward an even louder defense of all things status quo, of all things institutional.
I believe that we may yet avert a permanent underclass in Whitewater. That’s what matters most, and I am still hopeful we may succeed.
As for the second trend, well, it’s farther along than the more serious one. Yet, it won’t matter, as the multiplication of error is still error, and one or a hundred Babbitts are still only….on or a hundred Babbitts. One serious man or woman is worth far more than one hundred cheerleaders. We deserve better, but we can manage a pack of Panglosses.
And so, for it all, I’m an optimist.