Authenticity in America

[rich]

i admit to painting with a broad brush--I think what I lament about
Manhattan is how its really become the epitome of that well-respected,
accepted idea of the American dream for those purveyors of such
things--Hollywood, Wall Street, the Media, Madison Ave, etc.--not that
that hasn't been case before, it just seems the evidence is  so much
more visible
if anything, the outerboros seem more real to me, the immigrant mix
(tho sometimes volatile) of so many people lends itself to a more
nuanced view of things
one thing that I think is really important is the absolute
non-necessity of having a car in NYC the ownership of which has done
more to destroy communities than many an innovation or marvel; its a
sad story

rich




On 6/26/09, Paul Mackin <mackin.paul at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I enjoyed the recent posts about inauthentic Manhattan versus the
> authentic outer boroughs of NYC.
>
> Can something be said for the authentic America's being the racist,
> homophbic, religious, biggoted place we can't help being familiar with
> wherever we live?
>
> Is the liberal, rational, democratic stance of Blue State America
> basically hypocritical and phoney?
>
> I have just read Terry Eagleton's Reason, Faith, and Revolution:
> Reflections on the God Debate, in which he takes to task Richard Dawkins
> and Christopher Hitchens of the anti-God brigade.
>
> He seems to be siding against liberal democracy. (understandable
> since he's Marxist but even so)
>
> Just wondering.
>
> P
>
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>
>