Creative Class and Culture
I think the idea of attracting a creative class, that creates their own employment, has merit. I think the Canton-Potsdam area already has much of the requisite ingredients in place. So do some of the Adirondack communities. I'm not sure how many folks of that description it would take to effect the local economy. Would they be full-time residents, or would they leave the area for key services and culture?
One of the the problems is "Bubba blight"- and I mean no disrespect, my farm would be one of the first on the list of needing work. But, unless I'm wrong, these folks would be disgusted, or at least turned off, by the redneck homes and trailers. We're not just clinging to our guns, we've also got two refrigerators, 3 just-in-case cars, old farm equipment, and wood piles. How do you get that to change? Zoning laws? Local ordinances?
It's hard to put aesthetics high on the list when time and money don't allow for that luxury- or when that's not a value you have. The poor are often not yearning for bucolic porches and architectural pleasures- one of the favorite quotes is: "Too rich for my blood." They fix your roof and deliver your wood. Front yards to the contrary, they consume little- no jet flights, no vacations, no new cars or new clothes. Venison stew is a staple. They conserve because they can't afford their electric bill. They know which dumpster at which supermarket is filled at a certain time. But.. they are an eyesore.
Could a creative turtle-type (job on their back, person inside) see beyond what appears to be a blight on a pristine landscape? There are so many stereotypes about nature being bucolic and stately. How can good people, with economic jumper cables under their arms, live cheek by jowl with Appalachian third-world types? Or am I overly sensitive to this issue?
posted by Jill @ 8:01 PM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Hmmm... Jill raises an interesting issue. Yes, mixing high income expectations with culture of poverty realities can create some social tension. But I also believe that there are unexpected benefits inherent in a mixed population. Here are a few examples:
1. Having a truly diverse population results in more opportunities for everyone to see the world through a new perspective. The truly creative crave such vision expanding experiences and use those insights in their creative work. Reading a Barbara Kingsolver or a Stephen King novel will illustrate this point quite nicely.
2. The creative class consists of more than a group of snobby 'Arteests.' Computer programmers, engineers, mechanics, scientists, physicians and educators can all be included in the creative class.
The term "creative class" really refers to a way of interacting with the world rather than a limited set of occupations. I know plenty of creative computer programmers, scientists and mechanics who eat venison and do not live in mansions. Some of them even have lawn ornaments and are on a first name basis with Bubba. The current creative class of Upstate NY is made up of people from wildly different backgrounds who recognize and celebrate social differences. Transplants from other areas can fit right in.
3. The saddest aspect of the North Country's economy is that many of our young people grow up believing that art is something that you go away to participate in and that a successful and meaningful career in any field is unavailable to them at home. This results in the loss of our most viable young native families and in frustration and despair (with their resulting drug abuse) among the young people who stay. Fostering the creative class in the North Country will provide experiences and mentors for our youth, will teach them how to invent their own successes and will give them the hope and motivation they need to avoid some of the most damaging behaviors found in the culture of poverty.
One last, wonderful, thing about the North Country's particular brand of poverty is that it is not yet as morally ugly as similar levels of poverty found in more urban areas. We have less crime of all sorts, perhaps because we do live cheek-by-jowl with one another. The poor of upstate NY are not all crammed together into ghettos with gang violence and substandard schools. The rich and poor can be neighbors & friends here - that fact is just as valuable as the fantasy of pristine landscapes.
You wrote: "unless I'm wrong, these folks would be disgusted, or at least turned off, by the redneck homes and trailers."
You are wrong. And your statement is derisive and divisive. As Virginia pointed out, "The current creative class of Upstate NY is made up of people from wildly different backgrounds who recognize and celebrate social differences." That's what makes them part of the creative class - they are creatively thinking about life and not relying on old stereotypes and expectations. I hope you will too.
I think Jill raises a very interesting issue, that, as we can see from the anonymous comment, does raise social tension. As I do my reporting, I definitely see a wide trench between what we're calling "the creative class" and , in Jill's terms, the "Bubba blight" folks in the North Country. Jill has commented on it for NCPR dozens of times with great insight and clarity.
First question: is there a place where the separation doesn't exist? Isn't class consciousness a part of every society?
Second question: is it possible to break it down, bridge the gulf? How? Would more jobs do it?
Third question: what's your model for a community that does this and thrives economically? Booming small-town communities like Burlington or Boulder seem to just push out the Bubba Blight folks. Is there a workable model?
Class distinctions persist in even the most egalatarian societies. But I can think of a nearby example of better practice--just across the river in Canada. The poor are simply not as poor there. The guy on the other side of the counter at the convenience store not only has a health plan for himself and his family, he has a better one than I do. His children's school has a better-funded arts and music program. He doesn't live in a broke-down trailer because they don't pass the building code. When desparation and hopelessness are subtracted from the equation through public investment, not only the poor live better--communities up their game at all levels. The rich variety of arts programs across the river, and the tidy livable communities speak for themselves.
I'm impressed by the thoughts on this subject. I mean no derision to the creative folks. I count myself as creative. I have done home-visiting in those houses for twenty years, and love the people, but I don't appreciate the blight. I agree the creative folks are already here coexist with poor with remarkable ease. But... when we're talking about attracting people to the area, we are in competition with several places in the Carolinas, New Mexico, the Pacific Northwest.
The mix of kids in local schools is something we can be proud of. I've wondered if that happens in many other areas of the country, with the same ease.
Dale's point is well-taken- for that kind of housing to exist in 21st century America is a blight on us.
David writes about what I see- the areas that have thrived with this kind of entrepreneurship and vibrant newcomers, push the marginalized locals out. I'm not sure where they go. It may be that it's a result of higher property values, and higher property taxes. All I know is, the results seems to homogenize the populace, whether it's conscious or not.
I think that Dale's points are part of the key to this issue. If it is crucial to the economic success of the North Country to create a situation where there are "no poor among us", and I'm not convinced that it is, we could try one of two options -
We could try going by the same route Boulder and Burlington have gone and create an economic climate that excludes the poor and drives them away. I must say that I'm skeptical that this would be possible in the larger North Country region, beyond a few exclusive town centers and isolated mountain tops.
Or we can go by the route that Canada has gone and eliminate the social & economic causes of extreme poverty - low wages, substandard housing, no access to health care, welfare & disability systems that penalize initiative while rewarding dependence and dishonesty, agri-business and manufacturing regulations that discourage small scale production and fail to protect economically marginalized communities from pollution, mainstream social attitudes that dismiss and marginalize the poor (including terms like "Bubba blight") . . .
I consider myself a member of the creative class and I am also a 7th generation North Country Native, well acquainted with the culture of poverty and the sometimes difficult interactions between natives and "city folk." I know that our rural poor have skills and knowledge that a creative class can benefit from here in the wilds. I also know that most of the best, most ambitious young minds of the last 6 generations have fled the North Country for jobs and cultural opportunities as soon as it became feasible, never to return.
We need not only to attract new members of the North Country's creative class, we need to better educate them about the experiences of our rural poor. We need to eliminate legislation that discourage or prohibit entrepreneureship (like CPSIA and the Food Safety Bill) so that small, niche businesses in the North Country can thrive. We also need to exhibit a greater respect for those who grow up in poverty and give them skills, opportunities and services to help them overcome the challenges inherent in their backgrounds BEFORE they begin to fantasize about escaping the North Country or become entrenched in the destructive behaviors of despair. When their specialized experiences and skills are be brought to bear in their hometowns, the North Country will begin to experience true, stable economic success.
Virginia, I agree with your thoughts., I believe there's value in an area having people from different classes and perspectives. I think you point to a barrier to entrepreneurship- regulation. We raise grass-fed, antibiotic and hormone-free beef, and yet we can't sell small amounts to anyone- they have to buy it on the hoof, even though we have it butchered by registered, USDA inspected butchers. So.. we lose money, and the people who stop and ask us about buying local beef are frustrated if they don't have a freezer that can accomadate 1/4 cow.
My grown children left the North Country reluctantly, because of lack of opportunity.
As far as the "Bubba blight" name- it's something I use in my family,, about my sons propensity for junk cars, guns, anything mechanical or possibly worth saving. This is the first blog I've had, and maybe I need to edit it more closely. I meant it affectionately and humorously- as anyone who knows my 8 kids could attest to. Howegver if it offended anyone, please be assured it wasn't meant to, and I'll try to be more careful. However- I come from a childhood in foster care, married at 16, and poverty for many years- at 49, I just got my degree in December. I think we all need to be aware of the words we use; however, my perspective may mean some words or phrases don't seem perjorative to me, yet be offensive to others. I think we speak about the class we're from more loosely, and with less thought, than we would about another class. I want to encourage discussion, not obstruct it- so I will try to clean my language up.
As a transplant to the North Country it is interesting to hear/read this conversation. When I came here for the first time about five years ago, blight wasn't the first thing I saw. I saw a different way of life than I was used to seeing in St. Louis, MO. A place where if it nice to be able to see the stars at night, and have things to do outdoors rather than just mowing the lawn. Maybe since I haven't lived here for more than six months at a time and know virtually no one I don't know the particulars of the economy and building codes and the such but this outsider doesn't see such a blighted place. That being said, I do see an issue in keeping the young people here since I am looking to leave some time soon.
Just a few thoughts I had.
Sarah
Post a Comment
<< Home