I visit this Facebook group for a small city I'm from or was from a long time ago. I don't even know why really I do this. Something about being aghast at how a small mostly blue collar city with sub-sections of the monoculture each with its own gathering places has been changed into a lego kit. All the officially 'nice' things they develop re parks and public places replace TORN DOWN organically developed culture (even if it was stupid to me it was still people gathering and communicating in ones and twos or small groups or roomfuls at night beneath smoky lights). I see a city block of gathering places (cafes, stores, an old rundown hotel where people could drift through town) now a parking lot for a cubed building. I follow the conversations that go back a few years and discover that facial-recognition cameras are on city parkland walkways. A guy brings it up like 'wtf' and most of them go blah blah I like snails or whatever. there is a lot of nostalgia but very little critical thinking. It fascinates me as a prototype. Almost like a war on organic culture. A war on whatever was.
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branchandroot
Re: longer response to VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN MAN...
Date: 2023-01-17 06:25 pm (UTC)I follow the conversations that go back a few years and discover that facial-recognition cameras are on city parkland walkways. A guy brings it up like 'wtf' and most of them go blah blah I like snails or whatever. there is a lot of nostalgia but very little critical thinking.
It fascinates me as a prototype. Almost like a war on organic culture. A war on whatever was.