"ADS" - The Obscure Cost of Urban Decay
I was in Warrensburg, Missouri a couple of weeks ago. Warrensburg is a small town of about 16,000. The town never had much of a history. It grew up on the frontier around Martin Warren's blacksmith shop, and eventually became the county seat.
Warrensburg was put on the map, as it were, during the latter part of the 19th century, when the newly formed Pacific Railroad replaced steamboats on the Missouri River as the carrier of choice for passengers and freight between St Louis and Kansas City. The rails through Warrensburg are still heavily trafficked, with several Amtrak and Union Pacific trains passing through town daily. A county normal teacher's training school evolved into today's Central Missouri State University (Dale Carnegie's alma mater). During World War II, Sedalia Army Airfield was established south of nearby Knob Noster ("Our Hills") and that became today's Whiteman Air Force Base, the home of a B-2 bomb wing, and one of the Air Force's larger installations.
Warrensburg is typical of many other small towns. It has some nice neighborhoods, and too many used-to-be-nice neighborhoods. The latter are a little more plentiful and unkempt than usual. I suspect that is because Warrensburg, the temporary home of lots of college students and Air Force personnel, has more than the usual numbers of residents who consider themselves non-residents. Like too many other small towns, Warrensburg also has lots of downtown storefronts and other commercial property that has obviously outlived its usefulness. Also present is the usual unsightly and slapdash distribution of bank branches, fast food joints and strip malls along all the main thoroughfares.
Hastings is a popular local seller of books, videos, music and games in Warrensburg. Their clientele is therefore youthful; teens to twenty-somethings. While sitting outside the store and people-watching as my wife and youngest daughter shopped inside, my observation was that the people coming and going matched the qualities of the town in general appearance. Except for two or three individuals in Air Force uniforms, I cannot remember seeing anyone who could be described as attractive and well dressed. On the whole, people seemed apt to be overweight, poorly groomed, and/or tastelessly dressed. Many were equally tasteless in behavior. I have gotten used to tattoos and piercing, although I still find those styles tacky, and the mark of the neurotic. However, I doubt I will ever see public nose picking, spitting, and "package adjustment" as kewl. I'm certainly no prude, but I am old enough (or should I say, mature enough) to find it objectionable when men utter the F-word ("fug-itit") in conversations loud enough to be overheard in a public setting, or when women utter even less vulgar expletives, such as the S-word (i.e., "she-it".)
In fairness, I must hasten to say this is not an indictment of Warrensburg, Missouri. I could have been people watching at a similar venue in my own hometown, or almost any other town. The only exceptions seem to be downtown office districts in larger cities. In those zones, the people on the street are apt to be professionals, or para-professional workers, who are obligated to pay attention to their personal appearance and demeanor. Being well groomed and dressing in the attire of a business executive seems to upgrade behavior in a way that is probably both unconscious and unintentional.
With that in mind, here's why I'm writing about this - I'm wondering about the relationship between our physical surroundings and our self-esteem. How much does living amongst crummy surroundings influence our personal perceptions about ourselves? Which comes first, the urban decay, or the crappy attitudes?
America is suffering from epidemic neuroticism. That manifests itself in lots of different ways, all anti-social and self-defeating; personality problems, divorce, delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, terrorism, war, and more. These things are much studied, written about and discussed. All sorts of solutions and fixes are proposed, but they all ultimately fail, because they attempt to eliminate the superficial symptoms, rather than the cure underlying disease.
Neuroticism results from low self-esteem. Therefore, by common sense we can easily and safely postulate that the most common and costly disease in America today is low self-esteem. That probably sounds too simplistic for most people to embrace. People seem to prefer being diagnosed with something that sounds more mysterious or sinister, and do not like to be referred to as neurotic ("nut cases"), I am going to coin a new name for this condition. I will refer to it as ADS, meaning, "Acquired Disesteem Syndrome."
Ohmigod! Millions of our fellow Americans are afflicted with ADS! Whatever can we do to stop this terrible scourge?
When it comes to urban decay, the "one bad apple" adage often applies. However, the reverse also works. When just one neighbor cleans up and fixes up, it makes everyone feel just a little bit better about where they live, and that good feeling is very often what instigates a contagion. Without any government or community action, master plan, or any other sort of "big deal," things slowly but surely get better.
ADS is certainly a more malignant and insidious threat to our nation than drugs or terrorism. We Americans apparently love wars. Whenever there is a problem, we like to declare war on it. Let us start one we can win for a change - a "War On ADS."
We can start this new war without firing a shot or spending a penny. Clean up your room. Mow the grass. Pick up the junk. You'll feel better about yourself. Spend a little money an move on to fix up and paint projects. The neighbors will soon get on board, then the whole town. Everyone will begin feeling better as they drive around town and see things looking up. With a little money and volunteer help, you can do bigger things corporately - perhaps launching a "Habitat for Humanity In Reverse" program, removing junk and derelict structures from property that can be cleared and perhaps someday repurposed, but which in the meanwhile can abide as clean, open space. Pride might happen!
Look around the place you live. Will you say, "Oh, what's the use; this neighborhood (or town) is the pits! My neighbors are all pigs. To hell with it. I'll soon be moving on to greener pastures; then they can have this dump."
Maybe you will be moving on someday; and maybe you won't. One way to help ensure that your future will be brighter in any case is to do something to improve your self-esteem right now.
You got it. Get your rear end off that couch and get out there.
-=glw=-
Warrensburg was put on the map, as it were, during the latter part of the 19th century, when the newly formed Pacific Railroad replaced steamboats on the Missouri River as the carrier of choice for passengers and freight between St Louis and Kansas City. The rails through Warrensburg are still heavily trafficked, with several Amtrak and Union Pacific trains passing through town daily. A county normal teacher's training school evolved into today's Central Missouri State University (Dale Carnegie's alma mater). During World War II, Sedalia Army Airfield was established south of nearby Knob Noster ("Our Hills") and that became today's Whiteman Air Force Base, the home of a B-2 bomb wing, and one of the Air Force's larger installations.
Warrensburg is typical of many other small towns. It has some nice neighborhoods, and too many used-to-be-nice neighborhoods. The latter are a little more plentiful and unkempt than usual. I suspect that is because Warrensburg, the temporary home of lots of college students and Air Force personnel, has more than the usual numbers of residents who consider themselves non-residents. Like too many other small towns, Warrensburg also has lots of downtown storefronts and other commercial property that has obviously outlived its usefulness. Also present is the usual unsightly and slapdash distribution of bank branches, fast food joints and strip malls along all the main thoroughfares.
Hastings is a popular local seller of books, videos, music and games in Warrensburg. Their clientele is therefore youthful; teens to twenty-somethings. While sitting outside the store and people-watching as my wife and youngest daughter shopped inside, my observation was that the people coming and going matched the qualities of the town in general appearance. Except for two or three individuals in Air Force uniforms, I cannot remember seeing anyone who could be described as attractive and well dressed. On the whole, people seemed apt to be overweight, poorly groomed, and/or tastelessly dressed. Many were equally tasteless in behavior. I have gotten used to tattoos and piercing, although I still find those styles tacky, and the mark of the neurotic. However, I doubt I will ever see public nose picking, spitting, and "package adjustment" as kewl. I'm certainly no prude, but I am old enough (or should I say, mature enough) to find it objectionable when men utter the F-word ("fug-itit") in conversations loud enough to be overheard in a public setting, or when women utter even less vulgar expletives, such as the S-word (i.e., "she-it".)
In fairness, I must hasten to say this is not an indictment of Warrensburg, Missouri. I could have been people watching at a similar venue in my own hometown, or almost any other town. The only exceptions seem to be downtown office districts in larger cities. In those zones, the people on the street are apt to be professionals, or para-professional workers, who are obligated to pay attention to their personal appearance and demeanor. Being well groomed and dressing in the attire of a business executive seems to upgrade behavior in a way that is probably both unconscious and unintentional.
With that in mind, here's why I'm writing about this - I'm wondering about the relationship between our physical surroundings and our self-esteem. How much does living amongst crummy surroundings influence our personal perceptions about ourselves? Which comes first, the urban decay, or the crappy attitudes?
America is suffering from epidemic neuroticism. That manifests itself in lots of different ways, all anti-social and self-defeating; personality problems, divorce, delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, terrorism, war, and more. These things are much studied, written about and discussed. All sorts of solutions and fixes are proposed, but they all ultimately fail, because they attempt to eliminate the superficial symptoms, rather than the cure underlying disease.
Neuroticism results from low self-esteem. Therefore, by common sense we can easily and safely postulate that the most common and costly disease in America today is low self-esteem. That probably sounds too simplistic for most people to embrace. People seem to prefer being diagnosed with something that sounds more mysterious or sinister, and do not like to be referred to as neurotic ("nut cases"), I am going to coin a new name for this condition. I will refer to it as ADS, meaning, "Acquired Disesteem Syndrome."
Ohmigod! Millions of our fellow Americans are afflicted with ADS! Whatever can we do to stop this terrible scourge?
When it comes to urban decay, the "one bad apple" adage often applies. However, the reverse also works. When just one neighbor cleans up and fixes up, it makes everyone feel just a little bit better about where they live, and that good feeling is very often what instigates a contagion. Without any government or community action, master plan, or any other sort of "big deal," things slowly but surely get better.
ADS is certainly a more malignant and insidious threat to our nation than drugs or terrorism. We Americans apparently love wars. Whenever there is a problem, we like to declare war on it. Let us start one we can win for a change - a "War On ADS."
We can start this new war without firing a shot or spending a penny. Clean up your room. Mow the grass. Pick up the junk. You'll feel better about yourself. Spend a little money an move on to fix up and paint projects. The neighbors will soon get on board, then the whole town. Everyone will begin feeling better as they drive around town and see things looking up. With a little money and volunteer help, you can do bigger things corporately - perhaps launching a "Habitat for Humanity In Reverse" program, removing junk and derelict structures from property that can be cleared and perhaps someday repurposed, but which in the meanwhile can abide as clean, open space. Pride might happen!
Look around the place you live. Will you say, "Oh, what's the use; this neighborhood (or town) is the pits! My neighbors are all pigs. To hell with it. I'll soon be moving on to greener pastures; then they can have this dump."
Maybe you will be moving on someday; and maybe you won't. One way to help ensure that your future will be brighter in any case is to do something to improve your self-esteem right now.
You got it. Get your rear end off that couch and get out there.
-=glw=-
Labels: Culture
posted by BoysMind at
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