NEIGHBORHOODS WITHOUT NEIGHBORS

Here’s an interesting theory on why our nation's arch conservatives are so fucked up. The author offers an insightful look into the despair of suburban communities and suggests this feeling of hopelessness is having a profound impact on ideology. I found a surprising amount to agree with in this well-articulated opinion piece.

Here's an excerpt:

"The engine that drives the radical Christian Right in the United States, the most dangerous mass movement in American history, is not religiosity, but despair. It is a movement built on the growing personal and economic despair of tens of millions of Americans, who watched helplessly as their communities were plunged into poverty by the flight of manufacturing jobs, their families and neighborhoods torn apart by neglect and indifference, and who eventually lost hope that America was a place where they had a future.

"This despair crosses economic boundaries, of course, enveloping many in the middle class who live trapped in huge, soulless exurbs where, lacking any form of community rituals or centers, they also feel deeply isolated, vulnerable and lonely."

That's good stuff right there. Soulless exurbs? I'm diggin' the rhetoric big time. There's plenty more where this came from.