For the past several weeks in my hometown of Abilene, Texas the city-wide United Way campaign has touted a two-word message: Live United.
It’s nice advice, if one is interested in the notion of building a strong spirit of community. But as a goal, it’s not easily reached. One of the reasons, among many, is the ongoing challenge of using the new developments in technology in ways that are not harmful to the community.
Dalton Conley, a sociologist at New York University, has titled his new book Elsewhere, USA, suggesting some things we should consider about the way we live and work.
Among his observations, Conley says many of today’s working professionals are becoming “intraviduals” – a term he uses to describe “a new breed of modern American who struggles to manage multiple data streams and competing impulses and even selves.”
To the extent that this description captures those who live in our cities, we face an increasing challenge: How do we control the flow of information so that it serves as a contribution, and not an interruption, to community?
Read further about Elsewhere, USA at http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0216/022.html
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