Readings

I doubt that urban problems can ever be solved. Cities are just too diverse. A solution at one place will create problems for someone else. If we all thought and acted the same then the solutions would be easy. So, if only everyone would be just like me...
Sea and Survival reminds of the many times I spent flying along a beach and wondering if the people who lived in the houses right on the water had some sort of indicator that showed how foolish they were. Like the character in Snowcrash who has the words "Poor impulse control" tattooed across his forehead. You might think that they would at least ask why the place they were building on was called a barrier island, but nooooo... The wreckage of previous houses all around should be a tip off. The City as a Growth Machine was just plain silly. The "elites" are after us. Someone is going to make the decisions. Those decisions will benefit someone. Of course the decision makers are going to run things for their own benefit. I would. And so would most other people. It's not possible to please everyone, so as long as someone is going to be unhappy I want to make sure it isn't me. "It's GOOD to be the king!" I'd be a great king. "Wait for the shake!" Molotch says that there's no need to create jobs since the young people are going to move away anyway. And they will move where and do what, the skeptic asks. He suggests moving people from areas with too many students to places with not enough students, to solve both problems at the same time. Will just the students be moving or will the entire family be uprooted? I really should be the king here.

Above is an ice field in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica above Lake Vanda The small red spot near the edge of the ice field is one of the helicopters below.

And yes, I did join the swim club.