New York still has its intensity, but it also seems to have somehow relaxed itself down over the years. maybe the churn has swept in more unicultural beings. In an age of mass message saturation, we may all be turning into clones of each other, despite our wonderful diversity.
This is a city of many languages, all heard on the street. And, if you're not a native, naturally you end up around other visitors, because that's who's in hotels, certain restaurants and tourist points.
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More politics. Discussion yesterday focused on why the Democratic Party has written off the south. Around a third of the electoral votes are located in the region, and that is projected to grow to 40% by 2032. Clearly, the Democrats cannot win national elections unless they can crack the solidly red south.
The good news for them is that Virginia has recently left the GOP's fold and other border states look poised to follow. The Deep South, however -- Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana -- is not likely to turn left any time soon. Is this why the Democrats are ignoring the Gulf Coast? Say what you want about opportunism, the Republicans (led by Bush) at least are making photo op trips to the region.
Where are the Democrats? Up here, in perhaps the most Democratic of cities (except for San Francisco), many people are only vaguely aware of how bad the situation is down on the coast. An exception are readers of The Nation. A new book edited by executive editor Betsy Reed collects pieces that have appeared in the magazine since Katrina smashed ashore a year and a month ago.
The book is called Unnatural Disaster published by Nation Books.Link. I reccommend it to everyone who wonders why people like me keep issuing please for help. Read this and you'll understand.
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