LOB Book Club - The Big Sort: Part III
In Chapters 7, 8 and 9 Bishop explores "The Way that We Live" in order to make the point that culture trump tradition in terms of the choices we make about where to live. In Chapter 9, however, he admits that, "Of course, in the strictest sense, place no longer limits the availability of goods. People can rent obscure movies through Netflix and buy books at Amazon.com that their local stores can't afford to stock. Digital technology and cheap transportation have given everyone access to nearly everything, no matter where they live" (p. 201). Bishop dances over this point a bit too quickly for my taste. As someone who has lived outside big Northeastern cities where I might naturally gravitate in order to satisfy my cravings for art movies, used books and avant garde jazz CDs, I can attest to the fact that you can bring the culture with you. What do the rest of you think of this issue?
posted by The Blue Devil @ 3:26 PM
2 Comments:
Well, there are certainly trade-offs involved in living in any particular place. Whenever we move (and we've moved a lot in recent years) there are plenty of things that we miss about leaving each place and then plenty of things that we enjoy in the new place. That's life.
I have two main arguments with Bishop's contention that people are increasingly migrating to be among like people:
1. I don't think people have the ability to do this financially. Bishop's thesis doesn't take into account the current economic crisis.
2. I don't think people base their decisions on culture. Most of us move for work, not for culture.
I take your point about proximity, but I doubt whether you really decided to move to Rhode Island to be close to the Olde New Englande Clam Shacke where you can enjoy seafood on the beach. You just take advantage of where you are in the same way that you no doubt took advantage of being in the Southwest by trying out some line dancing.
Am I right about this or crazy?
I think you're onto something in terms of the generational basis of migration. Bishop's rumination on Seattle did remind me of all the transplants I met in the 80s in Boston who were attracted to the city by its intellectual culture.
Ten years on, though, almost all of my Boston friends are gone. Why? The found that, while they could enjoy living a funky, bohemian lifestyle in group apartments in their 20s, that didn't make sense in their 30s and they started to move out to areas beyond even "Slummerville" (hey, don't knock it!) where they might be able to afford some property.
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