The Normal Course of Progress?

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Bert,

Submitted by Just another voice on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 4:41pm.

We get it: you really despise the isthmus rezone.

The city bargaining with a developer on permit costs/infrastructure upgrades/clean up is not a new concept, and $50K really is really a drop in the bucket compared to what type of upgrades TriWay will bring to that area-- I'm talking new sidewalks, ADA upgrades, probably some new crosswalks-- all paid for by TriWay, and well over the 50K cost to the city.

Take a look at the Colpitts development downtown on Columbia-- the city sold the land to Colpitts for just over 250K. That land valued at over 600K-- a cost to the taxpayers of over $350,000.

And I am sure many, many residents think that was a bad move, too.

But I am Just Another Voice

In fairness to the city

Submitted by Matthew Green on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 10:38pm.

In fairness to the city council, that land also needs significant environmental cleanup, which drastically reduces the value (though I don't have the numbers right in front of me). So, I'm not sure they actually lost anything, plus they got a binding commitment to get some downtown housing (not on the isthmus). To me, a good deal.

As to "normal progress," I say progress is a myth. There is only change, for better or for worse -- which itself varies depending on your perspective.

For that matter, normal is also a myth. There is only within other people's expectations or without.

Normal Course of Business v. Normal Course of Progress

Submitted by Bert on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 5:52pm.

A clarification:

Maybe Peter is right that this whole business with building height zoning changes is the normal course of business. Well, if it is, then it should be changed, because it's not working very well. - bert

True progress, in the opinion of this humble commentator, would signify a break with the normal course of business - because the normal course of business is harmful.

The Normal Course of PROGRESS

Submitted by Bert on Thu, 09/25/2008 - 9:55pm.

Okay. So, I have been thinking about what progress means to me, and what I would consider the normal course of progress to be.

True progress would mean true sustainability. It would mean that everyone has the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to society. Everyone would have the opportunity to work in a meaningful way. True sustainability would likely mean living within (or very near to) the watershed. It would mean locally sourced raw materials, labor, manufacturing...

I am trying to imagine how awesome of a society we could have.

On the flipside,
I feel like I have been ripped off, as a taxpayer, by the $50,000 city investment in the Isthmus rezone proposal. It strikes me as a misappropriation of funds.

The rezone proposal, from my perspective, is simply just not progress. It represents the status quo - where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The rich get richer on the backs of the poor - whose tax monies have contributed to this proposal...

Anyway, I would rather focus on the positive, and talk about what an awesome society we could have.

With that: one of my favorite quotes, it's by Aldo Leopold, "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect."

progress?

Submitted by chad360 on Fri, 09/26/2008 - 8:05am.

Progress (in my book) would be:

world peace (no religious or economic warfare)

technology leveraged not for profit, but for welfare: abundant food, medical protection, energy, and communication.

People freed from the age-old yoke of "having to work" (true freedom)

...now I know food doesn't grow on trees (oops, wrong saying =)

-er, OK so food does grow on trees, and I guess we just have to plant, harvest, and eat.

Progress would be less death and more learning, less war and more art, less pain & suffering & more good-times...

Progress is children, not bombs.

Progress is food, not lawns.

Progress is bikes & horses, a measured pace, and time to enjoy our lives...

...not clock-watching, stock-trading, and traffic-jams.

>whew<

chad360

Amen...

Submitted by The Original Yoda on Fri, 09/26/2008 - 8:43am.

...to that, brother.

Amen to that

Submitted by Bert on Fri, 09/26/2008 - 8:58am.

Exactly what I was thinking.

From James Howard Kunstler's, The Long Emergency...

Submitted by Burr on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 7:40am.

The Long Emergency will mark a sharp discontinuity in the circumstances that bred the myth of the perfectibility of man, and all the ideas that grew out of it. Falling standards of living, loss of amenity, shrinking life expectancy, resource scarcity, political disorder, military strife will present a compelling new set of circumstances that will shatter many of our cherished beliefs.

The circumstances of The Long Emergency will be the opposite of what we currently experience. There will be hunger instead of plenty, cold where there was once warmth, effort where there was once leisure, sickness where there was health, and violence where there was peace. We will have to adjust our attitudes, values, and ideas to accommodate these new circumstances and we may not recognize the people we will soon become or the people we once knew.

These are daunting and even dreadful prospects. If there is any positive side to the changes coming our way, it may be in the benefits of close communal relations, having to really work intimately (and physically) with our neighbors, to be a part of an enterprise that really matters, and to be fully engaged in meaningful social enactments instead of merely being entertained to avoid boredom. The idea of beauty will return from its modernist exile, as one of the few consolations in the years ahead will be our ability to consciously craft things for reasons other than to merely shock and astonish. I believe that the cases of what we label “clinical depression,” in our effort to medicalize all aspects of the human condition, will be steeply reduced, despite universal hardship. When we hear singing at all, we will hear ourselves, and we will sing with our whole hearts.

I agree..

Submitted by pmenendez on Sat, 09/27/2008 - 10:17am.

I agree with Oly 2012's position here:

We will have to adjust our attitudes, values, and ideas..

Without a doubt, downtown housing density is being deliberated right now by the members of the Olympia City Council.

Which is why we need a developers agreement that calls for 100% housing on the isthmus.

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