A move to Texas?

Last week, there was another earthquake in southern California... Given the political situation in the Golden State and its hostility to guns, I've been thinking about moving. Where would I go? Somewhere in the midwest (Montana) or the South. Texas is physically closest to California, and probably more sustainable than Arizona or New Mexico. It may also be a bit more diverse than other states in the South. It has a reputation for being gun-friendly, and it has historical and cultural links to the South. Surely things aren't as bad in Texas as they are in coastal California. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for opportunities at OLAA in the future. I should visit San Antonio some time in the future.

Moving near Clear Creek Monastery would be more challenging, unless I already had some money and the proper farming skills.

Per impossibile, if a group of citizens could form an informal militia, would they be obligated to submit to the proper state authority (the governor)? Or would it be possible to follow only the local authority, such as that of the sheriff? (Those who would form an informal militia may not be inclined to trust those holding state office, after all.)

Went to Cooking Papa for lunch. Since it's not better than anything else around here (not even Top Cafe/Tsim Fung?), don't bother trying it. The congee was ok (bland for mom), but the meat didn't taste fresh. The fried noodles were ok. The salt and spicy pork varied, but the portion size for the entrees was definitely not worth the price. The ja leung was very oily, and the yau tieu part was overcooked.

Keep on looking...

Bastille Day 2010

Chez Panisse is celebrating Bastille Day. How important is this secular holiday to the French? Alice Waters writes on her FB:

Happy Bastille Day! We are celebrating with mulberry ice-cream cones from in front of Chez Panisse from 12:30pm today. Come down and join us. Liberté, égalité, fraternité!

The Western Confucian links to the following by Kevin Gutzman: Bastille Day is Bunk.

Traditional American republicans do not endorse everything about the French Revolution; some even reject it entirely. Traditional Catholics are even more critical. (For example, Christendom and Revolution.) And then there are the Catholic monarchists...

Remember the Vendée! What more can be said in response to French radicalism?

Alphajets from the French Air Force' Patrouille de France, or French Acrobatic Patrol, fly above the Arc de Triomphe during the annual Bastille Day military parade on The Champs Elysee Avenue in Paris, Wednesday, July 14, 2010. (AP/Daylife)

French First lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (R) poses with Benin's first lady Chantal Boni in front of the Elysee palace in Paris following a meeting on July 13, 2010, as leaders of 13 African countries are in France to take part in its national celebrations. Troops from 13 African nations marched in Paris on July 14, 2010, marking half a century of independence from France as part of a rain-soaked Bastille Day parade heavily criticised by human rights groups. (Getty/Daylife)

French troops take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris July 14, 2010. (Getty/Daylife)

Students from the French Ecole Polytechnique take part under heavy rain in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris July 14, 2010. (Getty/Daylife)

French republican guards take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris July 14, 2010. (Getty/Daylife)

Saint-Cyr military academy students take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris July 14, 2010. (Getty/Daylife)


Pioneers from the French Foreign Legion (Legion etrangere) take part in the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris July 14, 2010. (Getty/Daylife)

Notes on how to not design a non-profit orgnization

Steve Sailer on Teach for America: All we have to do ...,

I think Mr. Sailer is too eager for a technofix for what ails American education:

One thing that you might hope that Teach for America would have accomplished over its 20 years of existence is lead to a revolution in educational software and hardware. You can't expect superstars to stick around teaching forever, but you could expect that they and their experience would go to Silicon Valley and invent great educational software. Instead, we seem to have gone backwards in the focus on education software.

Though I did notice that the children at school like JiJi. It may be useful in raising standardized testing scores: The power of the penguin: local students improve math scores with JiJi. And such programs may be able to do what a human cannot, get the interest of all the children at once, so that they can learn en masse.

If the problem with American mass education is intrinsic to the system, and not to the quality of the teachers, then what?

Problems that TFA may exemplify:
1. National organizations that have no real roots in local community, with respect to the administration and to its recruits.

2. A reliance on a central authority and all that goes with it: mission statements and so on, instead of leadership and virtues proper to the organization and its ties to the community. (Institution-centered, rather than people-centered. Also, p0romoting the liberal ideal of do-goodism, rather than the order of charity.)

3. An inadequate grasp of problems it purports to solve. (In this case, the crisis of American mass education.)

4. A failure to understand the problems means that proposed solutions will not be adequate.

5. A failure to understand the purposes of education also impacts the understanding of the problem.

6. Failing to get input from those serving in the trenches about what works and what doesn't. (A lack of resources for internal reform.) Instead, providing incentives for those in the lower levels to keep their mouths shut and to not rock the boat, or to remain in comfrotable ignorance.

7. Promoting itself as a brand or stepping stone to positions coveted by those seeking elite status. (What sort of "talent" pool does TFA tap into? Does it promote the inflating of egos, rather than humble service of the community?) And is branding also for the sake of financial gain? Using those with "elite" educational backgrounds to sell the organization and to bring in more $?

8. Turning service (and works of charity) into an opportunity to make more money than is necessary.

What else...

Some links on TFA.

Items of Interest, 14 July 2010

Rod Dreher, Coming: BP's methane volcano? and io9, Methane bubble "doomsday" story debunked
Rod Dreher, Monsanto's genetically-modified Eucharist
CHT, Obama the Liar on Free Trade

Mark Richardson on the link between liberalism and multiculturalism: Identity lite.

John Robb, JOURNAL: A Mechanism for Economic and Political Concentration

Steve Sailer, How to get into college

Energy Bulletin:
The 50-year farm bill (original)

Wes Jackson, Solutions

We need new strategies for agriculture that emphasize efficient nutrient use in order to lower production costs and minimize negative environmental effects. The trouble is, the best soils on the best landscapes are already being farmed. Much of the future expansion of agriculture will be onto marginal lands where the risk of irreversible degradation under annual grain production is high. As these areas become degraded, expensive chemical, energy, and equipment inputs will become less effective and much less affordable.

Fireflies In July (original)
Gene Logsdon, OrganicToBe.org

Most of us have only a little knowledge of the awesome events going on in nature right around us all the time. That’s why we must ceaselessly travel in search of distraction far and wide. There are wonders at work right under our noses but we don’t notice. It is even more lamentable now that we have abandoned the real world for the electronic world.

Counterpunch:
Ellen Brown, How Brokers Became Bookies
Mark Weisbrot, Exacerbating the Crisis in the Eurozone
Jonathan Cook, Remote-Controlled Killing
Dean Baker, Reckless Drilling: BP's Carnage
Deepak Tripathi, The Dwindling of Afghanistan's Coalition of the Willing

Restrepo and comments on some products

PFC Juan S. Restrepo, after whom OP Restrepo was named.
(source: Sky Soldiers Killed in Action)

Friday afternoon:

The early bird special at Cinearts Santana Row isn't bad -- $6.00. (I think that's also the early bird special for AMC as well.) Cinearts Santana Row is now showing Toy Story 3. For a while I was the only person under 40 -- there were 15 to 20 other people watching the movie, but they were all seniors. Then 2 women under the age of 40 entered the theater, but they left 20 minutes or so into the movie. Why? Was it too boring? Not enough handsome men?

The glimpse that Restrepo offers us of the life of the American infantrymen serving in Afghanistan is too short. I didn't mind that there wasn't much actual war-making (combat) in the documentary -- I just wanted to experience more of what their life was like, and to become more acquainted with the men in the platoon. The documentary is a bit like the clips one sees in the 5 or 10 minute short stories shown on the news or a television news magazine program, with enough of them strung together to make a 90-minute film.

Still, I think the documentary might be revelatory for American civilians who have no idea what it is like to be a soldier in the infantry or what sort of sacrifices our soldiers have to make in executing the foreign policy decisions of the Federal government.

Is it proper for American army officers to serve as diplomats and intermediaries between local Afghan leaders and the US government? Do they have the training and knowledge of the culture to really do this? Both the CO of Battle Company, and the CO of the 173rd Brigade Combat Team carry out this role. Is it one reason why the United States is lousy at "empire-building"?



Now for some remarks on the previews and trailers they showed before the movie:

The theater showed some previews -- you know, the package of 3, usually a TV show plus a movie plus something else. The first brought a welcome sight, even though I didn't recognize her at first, and I had to concentrate and try to remember who the stars of this TV show were, as I had read about it earlier this year. Sasha Alexander is back on TV; she's starring in a new procedural on TNT along with Angie Harmon. The show, Rizzoli and Isles, is supposed to take place in Boston; Sasha Alexander is , the logical scientist/medical examiner, while Angie Harmon plays , the tomboy who goes with her gut instinct. Does this remind you of any other pairings? The first one that came to my mind was Kirk and Spock of Star Trek. The two "extremes" of male psychology transferred to female characters.





It's another girl power show. If I had cable, I might be happy to see Sasha Alexander on the television again, but I'd have to put up with the nonsense.

There was also a brief short for Scott Pilgrim versus the World, which is based on the comic books. He seems like a beta; and then there is the (extreme) female fantasy of a man fighting other men (in this case, the ex-bfs) in order to win the heart of the outcast girl. He doesn't much care for the Asian girl who has a crush on him. (Is there some sort of bias against Asian women?) So what do women think of Scott Pilgrim? A beta having to become an alpha?

Julia Roberts was interviewed for her movie Eat, Pray, Love. The main character is travelling the world (Rome, India, Thailand?Bali) to find herself. Ms. Roberts claims that we all seek to redefine our lives from time to time, and this movie is about self-examination and figuring out what you want. Of course the exotic locales are an additional appeal to those who suffer from that sort of existential crisis. What modern woman doesn't love to travel? How is getting away from one's roots to pursue a path of individual self-discovery anything but shallow, unless it somehow helps them realize that they need to become rooted at home? Hollywood's therapeutic answer to clueless women who are ignorant of their vocation, and don't know what to do with themselves. At least Ms. Roberts concedes that one doesn't have to travel the world to figure these questions out. (Is the original book this bad?)

There's a new show on USA, Covert Affairs. The show and its main character, a woman who is supposedly a CIA agent, reminded me a bit of Alias. I had to look carefully to make sure it wasn't Jennifer Garner starring. (It's actually Piper Perabo. She looks different. I don't remember her cheekbones being so prominent.) I think USA is doing better than the major networks, but soon it will be the equal of TNT with respect to promoting girl power. (Hulu has some clips and will netcast the episodes.)



The majority of the trailers became an unintended contrast to the masculine appeal of Restrepo. The noticeable exception? Perhaps the new Robert Duvall movie, Get Low. So much of what is produced in Hollywood is geared towards women. I also noted that many of the commercials were examples of how consumer goods are being marketed to women.
What would happen if women stopped purchasing so much? What would marketers do without their audience?


Related links:
For Angie Harmon, another baby, another show
Keeping her daughter away from Corpses! Sasha Alexander talks Rizzoli & Isles
Tess Gerritsen
Herc Has Seen TNT’s New Lady Cop Show RIZZOLI & ISLES!!

TED: Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity

Herc’s Seen USA’s New Romantic CIA Drama COVERT AFFAIRS!!

Alison Krauss Contributes New Recording to Get Low Film Soundtrack

Begun on July 9.

Today I went to Chili's with ah Fei for lunch to celebrate his birthday. It's been the first time I've been to Chili's Cupertino in maybe 10 years? (The last time I was at Chili's was 7 or 8 years ago, when I had lunch with CC from TX at the Chili's on El Camino Real.) I ordered one of the new creations, the avocado burger. I couldn't tell the difference between the Chili's patty and the patty from Red Robin, but I did order it well-done. The burger was ok; I thought the amount of fries that came with it was rather small. I probably won't be going back to Chili's any time soon.

Ah Fai is going to switch to working FT at AS. (I also heard that another is to be opened in SF...)

Ah Fei told me that Miyake's closed in March. The restaurant was very popular when it first opened, but it gradually went into decline, changing owners at least once or twice. I don't know if the one in Palo Alto is still open or not. Ah Fei went in February; the interior was very dirty, and the tables were sticky. The restaurant was in great need of remodeling, but it seems that the business has closed.

Items of Interest 13 July 2010

James Kalb, Natural and Unnatural Acts

Free the Animal: T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study: Finally, Exhaustively Discredited and The China Study Smackdown Roundup. More Barefoot Options

Vegans and the Quest for Purity by Harold Fromm

Don Vandergriff, EXCELLENT ASSESSMENT OF COIN

Heute fehlt es den Jugendlichen vor allem an liturgischer Bildung (via NLM)

Zenit:
The Art of Biblical Hospitality
The "Te Deum"
Observance of Liturgical Norms and "Ars Celebrandi"

Since I've been hearing this a lot lately... June Casagrande: 'Have Drank' or 'Have Drunk'? The Answer Is Closer Than Many Realize

Energy Bulletin:
Canada's energy superpower delusion (original)

David Hughes, The Mark

First off, Canada is not now, nor is it ever likely to be, an "Energy Superpower". This term was first used by Prime Minister Harper on the eve of the 2006 G8 meeting.

Disappointing.

Damian Thompson, Lord Patten: 'I'm like lot of Catholics. I don't agree with everything the Vatican says'

Anthony Esolen on "Engaging the Culture"

The Last Embers of the Fire by Anthony Esolen (Link from a comment on this post at The Thinking Housewife)

We Catholics are commonly urged to "engage the culture"; not to flee for monasteries of our own making, but to work within the institutions of mass media, mass education, mass marketing, and mass entertainment to advance the banners of Christ, our King.

I do not wish to criticize those who toil at that thankless task. Nor will I suggest that their work will be futile; no true service of the Lord can be without fruit. But I do believe we have mistaken the signs of the times. We seek to engage a culture, when there is no culture to engage. Our task is rather to revive the memory of what a culture is.

If that declaration seems provocative, I ask you to consider that word "culture," and to cease using it to denote the habits and fads of the masses. For the "masses" do not produce culture. The people do, when they cherish and preserve and pass along to their descendants what is most dear to them: their memorials and feasts, their music and dances and rites of passage and of courtship; their know-how, their moral laws; most important, their worship. There is no culture without cultus. Without a common belief in God or the gods, you do not get ancient Athens and the Parthenon atop its rocky mount. You do not hear the Psalms in the synagogue. Michelangelo does not sculpt the David as a tribute to the patriots of his native Florence.

Two more movies about American eduation

Waiting for Superman

Apple


I saw this trailer before Restrepo; I don't think it will be as subversive as Race to Nowhere. It might even be its opposite, in terms of the solutions it promotes?

The Lottery

Apple

Two from Steve Sailer

"The Creativity Crisis" and The belly button theory of sports.

More from Ensemble Officium

More

Links:
Ensemble Officium
OSB. The Cistercians, the Trappists and the Lay Associates. Index.
Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance
Cistercian Vocation
Cisterician Publications
The Cistercians and Trappists
THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LAY CISTERCIAN COMMUNITIES
Cistercian Studies Quarterly

ISI Lecture: Christopher Dawson and the Crisis of Western Education

Christopher Dawson and the Crisis of Western Education

Bradley J. Birzer
Professor of History, Hillsdale College

Rancho Santa Fe, CA
6/6/2009

• Listen to Audio

Tom Hibbs lecture on Catholic higher education

Is This The Catholic Moment in American Higher Education? Camille Paglia, Stanley Fish, and Two Popes

University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana

10/8/2009

Listen to Audio

Today I had to go pick up a paycheck since the one that was sent had been returned for postage. (Who forgot to put postage at the office?) Before I went to payroll, I got some gas, and TG happened to be standing on the other side of the island so she asked, "Mr. ----?" That was a pleasant surprise. She told me that she's going to a different school, one that is closer to the hills, but she didn't know the name or if it was in the same school district. "It's in a neighborhood. It's next to a meadow." But it's not past the freeway. JM School?

Last week I went to Tatami for lunch with my mother. The restaurant is run by Koreans and a lot of the patrons are Koreans. There was a cute little Korean toddler there -- maybe the same age as my nephew?

Today we went to 101 Dim Sum in Fremont for dinner, since it was Mr. PW's birthday. The food there is ok, but I wouldn't drive there just for Chinese food. At the table next to us was a little boy, maybe a toddler, but he seemed more experienced playing with his father's phone (data device?), so maybe he is a bit older than my nephew. He reminded me of my nephew though, but he didn't look Cantonese. He looked more Northern...

Dr. Wilson on the British monarchy

His reply to Sempronius at PJB's "Is Democracy Overrated?":

I am always puzzled by folks like Sempronious who are for monarchy and established church, or aristocracy. Exactly where are you going to get that monarch? You cannot be for monarchy in general, only for a particular royal line. The last legitimate monarch in the English-speaking world lost his head long ago. Do you want the tacky little Germans and Danes who now uselessly drain the British? The Russian, Austrian, or Spanish claimants?
America was not founded by a monarchy or a central state of any kind. It was founded by brave, independent men—mostly younger sons of the gentry and yeomen—who risked their own capital and lives to settle a continent. The fall begins when they are replaced by the flotsam and jetsom and rejected authoritarians, revolutionaries, and socialists of Europe from the 1840s onward.

The Monastery of Our Lady of the Cenacle receives an icon of St. Benedict

Vultus Christi: A Gift: The Icon of Our Father Saint Benedict

Related: A New Monastery: Our Lady of the Cenacle - Vultus Christi
CMAA Sacred Music Colloquium 2010: What Is Liturgical Theology?: The Rev. Mark Daniel Kirby, OSB

Don Vandergriff joins the Fabius Maximus team

A new addition to the FM website team: Don Vandergriff

A 21-hr work week?

Work's Overrated
The post–Technology Age workforce can produce more in less time, reduce its carbon footprint and allow employees to have (and, no, we're not joking) a personal life
by Leilani Clark

(h/t Post Carbon Institute)

Links:
New Economic Foundation
The Art of Being Minimalist: How to Stop Consuming and Start Living
scribd
Becoming Minimalist
Far Beyond the Stars
RowdyKittens
Interview with Everett Bogue: How to Pursue the Reality You Imagine Yourself Living

Juliet B. Schor is a member of the BC faculty? I may have seen her before.
Juliet B. Schor: "Plenitude" | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR

Two videos featuring the Gokhale method

Zenit: On the Good Samaritan
"The Logic of Christ ... Is the Logic of Charity

Barrett Rec 7

official page
Barrett Online Store






Barrett REC7 – M468 – Future Assault Rifle

Sandro Magister, The Defenders of Tradition Want the Infallible Church Back

The Defenders of Tradition Want the Infallible Church Back (h/t to the Pertinacious Papist)

But it was Amerio's conviction – and Radaelli explains this well in his extensive afterword to "Zibaldone" – that this protection guaranteed to the Church by Christ applies only to "ex cathedra" dogmatic definitions of the magisterium, not to the uncertain, fleeting, debatable "pastoral" teachings of Vatican Council II and of the following decades.

I suspect Amerio does not think infallibility is limited to ex cathedra definitions.

The result, according to Amerio and Radaelli, is that Vatican Council II is full of vague, equivocal assertions that can be interpreted in different ways, some of them even in definite contrast with the previous magisterium of the Church.

And this ambiguous pastoral language is believed to have paved the way for a Church that today is "overrun by thousands of doctrines and hundreds of thousands of nefarious customs." Including in art, music, liturgy.

What should be done to remedy this disaster? Radaelli's proposal goes beyond the one made recently – on the basis of equally harsh critical judgments – by another respected scholar of the Catholic tradition, Thomist theologian Brunero Gherardini, 85, canon of the basilica of Saint Peter, professor emeritus of the Pontifical Lateran University, and director of the magazine "Divinitas."

*

Monsignor Gherardini advanced his proposal in a book released in Rome last year, entitled: "Concilio Ecumenico Vaticano II. Un discorso da fare."

The book concludes with a "Plea to the Holy Father." He is asked to have the documents of the Council reexamined, in order to clarify once and for all "if, in what sense, and to what extent" Vatican II is or is not in continuity with the previous magisterium of the Church.

Gherardini's book is introduced by two prefaces: one by Albert Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo and former secretary of the Vatican congregation for divine worship, and the other by Mario Olivieri, bishop of Savona. The latter writes that he joins "toto corde" in the plea to the Holy Father.

So then, in his afterword to "Zibaldone" by Romano Amerio, Professor Radaelli welcomes Monsignor Gherardini's proposal, but "only as a helpful first step in purifying the air from many, too many misunderstandings."

Clarifying the meaning of the conciliar documents, in fact, is not enough in Radaelli's judgment, if such a clarification is then offered to the Church with the same ineffective style of pastoral "teaching" that entered into use with the council, suggestive rather than imperative.

If the abandoning of the principle of authority and "discussionism" are the illness of the conciliar and postconciliar Church, getting out of it – Radaelli writes – requires doing the opposite. The upper hierarchy of the Church must close the discussion with a dogmatic proclamation "ex cathedra," infallible and obligatory. It must strike with anathema those who do not obey, and bless those who obey.

And what does Radaelli expect the supreme cathedra of the Church to decree? Just like Amerio, he is convinced that in at least three cases there has been "an abysmal rupture of continuity" between Vatican II and the previous magisterium: where the council affirms that the Church of Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church instead of saying that it "is" the Catholic Church; where it asserts that "Christians worship the same God worshiped by the Jews and Muslims"; and in the declaration on religious freedom "Dignitatis Humanae."

*?
In Benedict XVI, both Gherardini and Amerio-Radaelli see a friendly pope. But there is no chance that he will grant their requests.

On the contrary, both on the whole and on some controversial points pope Joseph Ratzinger has already made it known that he does not at all share their positions.

For example, in the summer of 2007 the congregation for the doctrine of the faith made a statement on the continuity of meaning between the formulas "is" and "subsists in," affirming that "the Second Vatican Council neither changed nor intended to change [the previous doctrine on the Church], rather it developed, deepened and more fully explained it."

As for the declaration on religious freedom "Dignitatis Humanae," Benedict XVI himself has explained that, if it departed from previous "contingent" indications of the magisterium, it did so precisely to "recover the deepest patrimony of the Church."

The article reminds me something over at Rorate Caeli, a comment by Bishop Williamson on the current discussions between the SSPX and Rome: How the talks are going.

Paul Saffo, The Bay Area needs to act like a city-state

(source of picture)

SF Gate: The Bay Area needs to act like a city-state (via John Robb)

Mr. Saffo's proposal to save the Bay Area from Sacramento.

It is clear that Sacramento can't solve California's problems. It is also clear that California's voters are unwilling to force real change, preferring merely to add to the state's thicket of ruinous, gridlock-inducing initiatives. Meanwhile, the mess in Sacramento is threatening the Bay Area's economic future.

That is why the Bay Area needs to start thinking like a city-state. In an age when nations have become so large that their citizens no longer identify with distant governments, city-states are political units large enough to have a global economic impact but small enough for even the most casual citizen to understand the relationships that make their city-state work. Politicians are local and thus more inclined to pragmatism and constructive action. Businesses understand that their fortunes are tied to the success of the local community. This balance between effect and size and the tendency toward social cohesion make contemporary city-states like Singapore and Hong Kong bright spots in an uncertain global economy.

The Bay Area has all the qualities of a successful city-state. Consider geography: The Bay Area isn't an island like Singapore but, like Hong Kong, it is defined by a central bay and bordered by mountains. There are no "Welcome to the Bay Area" signs on our highways, yet we all know where we leave the rest of California and enter the Bay Area.

Successful city-states have outsize economies compared to their neighbors'. If the Bay Area were to secede from California, it would instantly become the world's 25th largest economy, ahead of Austria, Taiwan, Greece and Denmark.

City-states have global business reputations. Singapore is synonymous with pragmatic corruption-free business; Hong Kong is famous for its trading savvy. The Bay Area is the global model for innovation and entrepreneurship, a fact underscored by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent pilgrimage to Silicon Valley in search of new ideas. The Bay Area has launched industries from personal computing and digital media to biotech, and is home to more fast-growing companies than anywhere else in the United States.

City-states have distinct identities. The Bay Area is at once diverse and socially cohesive, with a strong sense of self-identity. Residents may joke about the Bay to Breakers or the latest resolution passed by the People's Republic of Berkeley, but they are also quick to explain to outsiders why the Bay Area is so special. This cohesion can be the basis of an all-important common ground, missing elsewhere in California as the Bay Area faces up to the coming economic challenges.

City-states have pragmatic governments. Pragmatism grows up from the local level, where decisionmakers witness the consequences of their decisions in their own backyards. Bay Area cities may be in considerable pain, but cities like San Jose started facing up to their problems years before Sacramento got serious, and towns like San Carlos have been proactive in attempts to re-engineer services (the city recently outsourced its police department). The Bay Area might not resemble Singapore with its highly disciplined government ministries, but our local governmental bodies have shown remarkable foresight in creating regional bodies like BART, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to achieve pragmatic long-term goals. City-states also have awkward relationships with their neighbors. Malaysia still resents Singapore's independence and success, and Hong Kong citizens regularly oppose policies imposed on it by Beijing's central government. The Bay Area hasn't experienced this sort of tension with Sacramento, or other California regions, but it is time to do so. Tension would signal that the Bay Area is finally acting as a single body when it comes to looking out for its vital interests.

As a city-state, the Bay Area needs to remind our representatives in Sacramento that they represent us, not the entire state, much less a political party. Our local politicians also need to make themselves heard directly in Sacramento and Washington as Bay Area voices and not merely as representatives of local cities. And Bay Area business, academic and cultural leaders need to do the same.

What is the relationship between self-identity and social cohesion? Is it possible for the former to be present while the latter is nonetheless lacking? I think so. I think the author
misjudges the social cohesion he sees; it is more fragile than he thinks. What self-identity there is may suffice for a modern liberal state that is able to promote atomization because of an abundance of cheap energy. But it doesn't suffice for a true community, and cultural diversity (not necessarily ethnic diversity, if different peoples are unified by a common culture) is antagonistic to the building up of community.

Some notes on size and community:
Polities that are too big and lacking meaningful subgroups destroy social context; people need to be "situated" in order to exercise moral agency well. (For more on the limits of size, see Kohr, Schumacher, and Sale.)

The formal cause of a community: its culture, in particular its laws and customs? The bonds of civic friendship which unite the members to one another? What else orders the community to the common good? Can there be more than one formal cause of a thing? It seems not, as this would mean that there is not really one thing. A community cannot have two formal causes--if it did, then it is not an integral whole, but a combination of disparate parts which is united by some external element.