Two aspects of mythic nostalgia, a combination of ‘young fogey’ attachment to echoes of old styles and the idea that our pursuit of economic betterment came at the cost of solidarity and community
Great post. I completely agree. The past was the state of the art. Towns full of small shops. That was an advance on people all baking their own bread and keeping their own pigs and chickens.
And a problem today is the obsession with turning the country into a museum, of preserving everything, good and bad. We have town centres full of half empty shops instead of getting rid of large chunks of it for housing and leisure that people want.
You continue one of the best commentators (was in Saltaire a fortnight ago). What no-one mentions is how a cutlurally-uplifting free market might work; the fiscal system of rewards a subtle instrument so far as I have ever been able to see.
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I particularly enjoyed this line: “We can use regeneration funding to create the illusion of betterment, a new building here, some cobbled streets there, but if the people remain relatively poor then all we have is just that, an illusion.”
Great points. Most of what you describe in that nostalgia is called the Pollyana Principle where we remember happy times more than bad times. And that makes sense because we survived.
Great post. I completely agree. The past was the state of the art. Towns full of small shops. That was an advance on people all baking their own bread and keeping their own pigs and chickens.
And a problem today is the obsession with turning the country into a museum, of preserving everything, good and bad. We have town centres full of half empty shops instead of getting rid of large chunks of it for housing and leisure that people want.
You continue one of the best commentators (was in Saltaire a fortnight ago). What no-one mentions is how a cutlurally-uplifting free market might work; the fiscal system of rewards a subtle instrument so far as I have ever been able to see.
Thanks for this thoughtful post. I particularly enjoyed this line: “We can use regeneration funding to create the illusion of betterment, a new building here, some cobbled streets there, but if the people remain relatively poor then all we have is just that, an illusion.”
Great points. Most of what you describe in that nostalgia is called the Pollyana Principle where we remember happy times more than bad times. And that makes sense because we survived.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollyanna_principle
Great post. I don't live in the UK, but I enjoyed the piece very much. And I think you are right about the free market.