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NOWHERE_WARNINGS

   
From "The Geography of     
Nowhere" (1993) by James                      
Howard Kunstler, concerning                    
J.B. Jackson's approach to                      NOWHERE_MAN
architecture:                 
             
   "Thus, a Jacksonian student of
   landscape can observe a Red Barn
   hamburger joint, he can remark on
   its architectural resemblance to
   certain farm structures of the
   past, measure its dimensions,
   figure out the material that went
   into building it, record the
   square footage of its parking
   lot, count the number of cars
   that come and go, the length of
   time that each customer lingers
   inside, the average sum spent on a
   meal, the temperature of the
   iceberg lettuce in its bin in the
   salad bar -- all down to the last
   infinitesimal detail -- and never
   arrive at the conclusion that the
   Red Barn is an ignoble piece of
   shit that degrades the community."
                         p 123-124

So, to Kunstler's                     
credit he's willing                    
to cut to the chase,                  
to get down to the                    
heart of the matter,
without getting     
bogged down in the  
details.            
   
But it's also possible         
that he's revealing a 
contempt for facts.   
   
Throughout the work, some of his points       
are supported by facts, others are             Not at all
supported just by bluster.                     an unusual
                                               syndrome. 
Even though I do tend to agree
with most (if not quite all) of
Kunstler's points, this
proof-by-assertion syndrome is
one of the things that raises a
warning flag.  Step carefully
here, if you want to keep
yourself honest.  What parts of
the structure are solid, what
may cave-in under examination?

Here's a few other warning flags: 

   "The mall, predictably, almost
   ruined Saratoga's downtown    
   business district.  The town's
   movie theater closed.  The single
   "department" store downtown   
   became a steakhouse.  The     
   Newberry's five-and-dime became a
   punk-rock bar."    p 145

And what exactly is wrong with
punk-rock bars?  

Never trust a hippie. 



   "Tomorrowland speaks volumes about
   our present national
   predicament.  Here, in all its
   silliness, stands yesterday's
   version of the future:  a
   denatured life of endless
   leisure, where the only purpose
   of existence is the eventual
   permanent escape from planet
   Earth to colonize other worlds.
   It is, of course, another version
   of evangelical Protestantism's
   dull preoccupation with the
   hereafter, as well as its
   cultivated hatred for the things
   of this world (such as the
   dignity of work) -- otherwise,
   why be so anxious to leave the
   planet?"          p 226

So Columbus was a dope, eh?  

Never trust a mundane. 

   
And in the sequel "Home from Nowhere"    
he makes some sort of remark about           NORMAL_PERVERSION
Americans descending into            
self-destructive obsessions like     
kinky sex.                           
                       
   Kinky sex is                      
   self-destructive
   only if you
   don't do it right.
   
Never trust a puritan.


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