Cultural Renaissance
The search for a new way of life

Observers of American life and culture found two events of the early 21st century particularly intriguing: the presidential election of 2000 and the tragedy of 9/11.

In its own way, each served as a commentary on citizenship and community life in the new age (although both have been so heavily analyzed that further comment risks diminishing the significance of those historic moments).

Still, it is significant to note that both events were reflective of our times, and both will affect how we live our lives.

The presidential election confirmed that a new kind of citizen is becoming dominant in our culture. These new citizens primarily reside outside the traditional political confines of “right” and “left.” Many didn’t even bother to vote, and those who did were expressing as much a desire to carry on an important tradition as they were a preference for a particular candidate.

Although not generating the news of a presidential race, the same story of civic disengagement plays out daily as local decisions are made – whether the issue is runway extension or street closures. The art of making public policy seems lost to us right now.

The response to the 9/11 tragedy – an outpouring of grief, newly defined heroes, personal and public generosity and flag waving – reflected an attempt to find meaning in a time of acute and unfamiliar vulnerability. Our reactions demonstrated a desire to form a community of believers.

Looking at it through the prism of the two events, we can see clearly that citizenship is changing. There is more disillusionment with traditional structures, but the age of the individual finds us in paradoxical search for an ideology that fits a fast-paced, me-based lifestyle but also provides a sense of community.

It is little surprise that one of the most popular books today is the Prayer of Jabez, which calls for all of us to enlarge our personal territory by making the most of what we have been given or can get.

Another recent book, The Radical Center, reflects on modern times and the fact that institutions – as they are embodied in the marketplace, the government and our communities – are the last things to change. The nation’s history records the fact that lasting change came only in response to shattering events – the Revolutionary War, Reconstruction, the Depression. The impact of the Information Age on citizens and communities, the authors argue, warrants a drastic alteration of our institutions.

They also call for a new approach to our collective lives that reflects the new citizen, who is now being under-served by our antiquated institutions. One example of modern reality: Rather than being bound to one employer for a lifetime or ideologically bound to the right or the left, citizens today are exposed to a proliferation of information and choices in both their personal and work lives.

These cultural commentators suggest a new safety net to replace the government approach born of the New Deal. In this case, the net is based on “big” citizenship – a combination of increased individual responsibility and expanded individual choice.

Some of their ideas:

• Replacing employer-based systems of health insurance with coverage that is financed with subsidies to individuals.

• A simplified tax code with a new partnership among federal, state and local governments that focuses on fair collection and distribution more than on border-driven politics.

• A renewed focus on building wealth from the beginning of life to avoid more costly subsidies later on.

• Community revitalization that focuses on closing the racial and generational divides.

Major societal change is brought about when there is a convergence of ideas about how things can be done better, a new constituency to lead the charge and a shock to the current system that is so severe, it makes change inevitable.

Change, undoubtedly, is uncomfortable. But it is the reality we live with in today’s world. As discomfort grows with the way things are, we can only hope that the dawning new age will bring about the changes required to foster a renaissance in civic life.

Sylvia L. Lovely is executive director and CEO of the Kentucky League of Cities.
editorial@lanereport.com

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