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Monday, August 08, 2005
Finding the old Toronto in the burned-over district
Spent the weekend at a resort in Adirondacks . . . it's a long drive from Toronto, but I enjoyed the getting there as much as the being there.
My drive took me through what is called in some circles "that burned-over district" of upstate New York. "Burned over" for the series of Protestant Christian revivals that have started or taken hold, there, since at least the Second Awakening, 200 years ago. Upstate New York's Syracuse University was founded by the Methodists who were front and centre in the Great Awakening that began with the preaching of George Whitefield in New England in the 1730s and was taken back by him and a young John Wesley to England from where it spread throughout the English-speaking world.
Today, Syracuse U. is far less conscious of its roots, but the folk who dwell therein upstate New York live lives shaped by their revivalism.
It seemed nearly every other vehicle I passed or followed on the New York Thruway carried a decal of a yellow ribbon on which was printed, "Pray for Our Soldiers." But something far more subtle and all the more striking for all that caught my attention, again and again. I could not help but notice the general helpfulness, consideration for others, and common courtesy I encountered, again and again, in service stations, in down-scale and up-scale stores alike, in rest stops, and so on, throughout my trip. In small towns and bigger -- in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany, and in little burgs in between.
It makes me a little sad. Because there was a time when I noted the contrast going the other way, even when visiting that New York wannabe, Toronto, where I now live. "Toronto the Good" was also "Toronto the courteous and considerate." But no more. And no, I don't mean that no one is courteous and considerate. But I can't tell you how many times I've seen a door opened by one of the last gentlemen in Toronto for a lady of a certain age only to observe three able-bodied men precede her through the propped door. Or, how many times I've seen young people walk three or four abreast down a Yonge Street sidewalk expecting pedestrians to move out of their way.
Now, I know there are
communities across Canada that are more like the burned-over district
in this respect than they are like Toronto the Redoubtable. And I know
that many of the great American cities are more like Toronto as it is
now than like upstate New York. But it troubles me, nonetheless, to
note the change in what is now Canada's largest metroplex. Can
Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver be far behind?
(Cross-posted from Burkean Canuck).
Posted by Russ Kuykendall on August 8, 2005 | Permalink
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Tracked on 2005-08-24 12:44:54 PM
Comments
"Afghanistan is a 20-year venture," Major-Gen.Andrew Leslie told the annual Couchiching Summer Conference yesterday.
>>>>>>>> Yellow ribbons?
http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Story/20050808-002/page.asp
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-08-08 7:12:31 AM
Two more deaths in Toronto last night. I think I know why Ontarians continue to elect people like Miller, Parrish, the Great McGuinty, and Layton. It's because those people will tell the public what they want to hear - everything's okay, and if it's not, it's not our fault.
Remember that bus shooting a few months ago - an 11 yr old black girl was shot in the head. But the cops reported no witnesses have come forward to help solve the crime. The likely cause: the non-white population doesn't trust the cops. The recent Jama case, where a white cop beat up a black man and was caught on camera, is ample proof why Toronto's cops are not liked. It's almost as bad as if they recruited them from the ranks of the Ku Kux Klan.
It seems Ontarians have this idealistic image of themselves - about how their great society has been corrupted by (enter long list of usual scapegoats). Wake up folks: your society was never great, these problems have always existed, but now they are becoming unmanageable. Your reaction, however, is one of denial, dismissal and dodgery, and you elect people who will best accomplish those things instead of managing the problem. Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
Posted by: Scott | 2005-08-08 8:34:06 AM
What is driving the S&P/TSX? Could it be the energy and mines sectors? Must check that out.
Alberta/Sask/Man/ & points north have become the economic driver for Canada. Go west.
Build those firewalls: Shut out the Librano$$$$$$$, aka the tax/spend Librano$$$$$$$$.
10:40 AM EDT
S&P/TSX +105.13 10655.64
DJIA +21.91 10579.94
Posted by: maz2 | 2005-08-08 8:52:58 AM
maz2: so long as the population, and hence votes, remain in Ontario, they're calling the tune. Firewalls can serve only as a first step towards secession and independence.
Posted by: Scott | 2005-08-08 9:04:15 AM
Interesting observations. The part about the deep faith and the courtesy and friendliness is true, but it seems that upstate NY is in a state of deep economic depression. I read an article making this claim a couple of years ago, at a financial website - the author laid the blame squarely on the socialist policies of the state and local governments (not to mention the increasing socialism and the disgraceful monetary policy of the US federal government). I can't find the article any more, but the author backed it with a lot of stats for crime, unemployment, government deficits, etc. in the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Schenectady and Albany.
Anecdotally, I can confirm this from a couple of visit in the last few years, and from frequently listening to the Ogdensburg Talk 1400AM radio station. Driving around the back roads of upstate NY, you see lots and lots of rundown, unpainted houses and abandoned farms and businesses. You see a few large, beautiful and well-maintained houses, and a lot more mobile homes with the proverbial rusting snowmobiles out front. Lots of really nice Victorian homes with fancy wood trim were either unpainted and rotting, or else being pulled down. One small town we visited had been a famous industrial town for 100 years until the 1950s, and thereafter as the smaller factories closed most everyone got jobs at the huge GE plant at nearby Schenectady. But on this trip we asked everyone we chatted with if they worked at GE, and we didn't meet a single person who did.
Listening to the radio, I am struck by the fact that most of the ads seem to be public-service freebies and government ads, with the rest filled in with ads for easy credit and credit counselling. Other than a few ads for a car dealership and a shoe store going-out-of-business sale, very few of the ads are for real, honest-to-goodness businesses making and selling real stuff. Frequently I hear dead air instead of ads. On the local news/opinion side, there is practically no content - but when they do cover local affairs, you might think you were listening to the CBC because "what's new in the government" is always the main story. One morning I caught a bit of local news/talk and the only guest was either their congresswoman or state assemblywoman, and literally the only thing she could talk about was how she was going to get "more government spending" for the region.
So while I expect that most of the people in upstate NY feel like they're a free and enterprising people, I suspect that they're completely unaware just how badly they've gotten the shaft from their governments. Without even noticing and right under our eyes, NY state seems to be turning into Canada. While the highest level of blame lies with the economic policies set in Washington, Beijing, Tokyo, etc., I find it disturbing that in only one generation the legendary Yankee ingenuity and enterprising spirit can be completely neutralized. And since whatever degree of business ingenuity and enterprising spirit that Ontario possessed in the past was largely the creation of imported entrepreneurs from places like New York, Ohio and New England, I can only say (which brings us back to the religious theme): God Help Us.
Posted by: Justzumgai | 2005-08-08 9:59:40 AM
We don't need firewalls, we need minefields. :)
Posted by: Underemployed Buddha | 2005-08-08 3:49:56 PM
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