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| (image from WSJ) |
How timely. There has been a "contraction process" evident in Morris for some time. Institutions of all kinds are stressed.
Most recently the director of the Regional Fitness Center on the UMM campus went into a "passing the hat" mode in a public plea. UMM's enrollment has been hovering at the low end of its perceived spectrum. Employees on campus are reportedly on pins and needles about possible future cuts or coaxed retirements. (There is a murky gray area between the two kinds of departures.)
Back to the point at hand: This book that I tucked under my arm at the library, called "Hollowing Out the Middle," was supposed to offer insights that knaves like me could use to understand why tumbleweeds are blowing (figuratively speaking 'cause it's January) across places like the Coborn's parking lot.
Coborn's, once a virtual hotspot of commerce and chatter in town, is empty and has become a blighted embarrassment on the north end of Atlantic Avenue. Heading north out of town toward Breckenridge, "you're lucky if you can find a place to even get a cup of coffee," says friend Jim McRoberts, a man of sage outlook.
So the book on "Hollowing" (as in the emptying out of this big swath of the U.S.) promised to be riveting. But instead it brought back stale memories as it read much like a college textbook. After a few pages I realized that the co-authors must be purebred academic sociologists. I flipped to the back cover where the author thumbnail bios were, and sure enough. . .
A premise of sociology is that all of us knaves can be neatly tucked into various categories. I believe that sociology is, by definition, "the study of human beings in groups."
In the case of the book under scrutiny here, co-written by Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas, these groups include the likes of Leavers, Stayers, Returners, Achievers and Seekers. The authors' analysis is of a town in Iowa for which they've coined a fictional name: "Ellis."
Alas, the fundamental problem of sociologists is they cannot look inside people, see their souls and read their exact levels of contentment and fulfillment. And academic people, of all people, shouldn't be guilty of judging people by their extent of material possessions. But Carr and Kefalas, in spite of the credo of their academic discipline (of being wholly scientific and non-judgmental), render judgments, opinions, generalizations and even horrible stereotypes all over the place. One has to grimace at times.
If you grew up in a rural Minnesota school like me, brace yourself for the following: "And there is probably no other place in American society where the rules of class and status play out with a more brutal efficiency than in the world of a country high school."
Sheesh.
The authors make a judgment about a fleeting, trivial incident while they were in church, when no one turned to greet them during the "peace be with you" ritual. They should know that even a lot of the natives are not particularly fond of this ritual. (Ditto, from my perspective, for the prayer list which seems more to fuel community gossip than anything.)
At the time of the alleged "snub," I would want to know if the authors really behaved in an engaging, friendly manner when in church, if they dressed according to the norm etc. These are reasonable expectations if you're seeking to blend in anywhere. (It seems they theorize that Maria's dark skin, making her seem Hispanic, prompted some to not show affinity.)
Lack of enthusiasm in the "meet and greet" could be attributed to a variety of things, such as fear of catching some illness. How about plain apathy?
Us rural folks are not predictable automatons.
If the authors had been greeted in more cheery fashion, would they have even written about it? Would they be disappointed? Surely a book about the wonderful, resilient attributes of small town people, people like the "Whoville" inhabitants on the morning after the Grinch robbed them blind, was not the intent of Carr and Kefalas. They were aware of their academic blinders.
Regarding "the Achievers" (i.e. the town's brightest youth who seem groomed to leave), the authors note that "after a significant time away, they can't recall how they ever lived out in the middle of nowhere. Worst of all, they may start to see Ellis the way outsiders do: parochial and redneck."
Yes, these are terms, "parochial and redneck," that sociologists of the ilk of Carr and Kefalas love to toss around in connection with "real people," you know, people who live life under stresses that are unknown to academicians with tenure and union safety nets.
I'm absolutely convinced that Carr and Kefalas would be interesting and engaging on a personal level. They'd probably chuckle if scanning this diatribe. But they must know deep down that their ingrained intellectual habits are tribal.
The authors suggest that "the Achievers," upon leaving the small town, only come back home for Thanksgiving and weddings, and the longer they're gone the harder it is to adjust back because they're in "another life." The authors talk about the "tempting options" of a large city with "diverse cuisine" etc. and how the Achievers' "ability to follow the rules of a small town evaporates." There are no indications here that the authors interviewed people to glean these conclusions.
More offensive is the following: "Although some other kids got the message from teachers that they were good-for-nothings who lacked the spark to make it in New York or Chicago, the Achievers (singled out to leave the countryside) could do no wrong."
So here we have the assumption that New York or Chicago or other like metro concentrations represent the epitome of success and that the small town, by inference, would be the pathetic alternative. But once again the authors are simply unable to get into people's heads and truly understand their ideals, aspirations and personal principles.
I'm also reminded of the late, great political author Theodore White, of the "Making of the President" series, who observed that a big city is not a singular entity but a collection of small communities.
Now, I don't want to just pillory Mr. Carr and Ms. Kefalas so I'll give them credit for the following: "Perhaps the rural crisis has developed so slowly that the symptoms of decline have been easier to ignore; the rural downturn seeped rather than swept through the region. But it is also quite possible that the main reason is denial; no one wants to admit that the small town's 'Music Man' image is nothing more than cockneyed nostalgia."
Social scientists famously proclaim how they are non-judgmental about culture, how, for example, we cannot describe Third World cultures in terms such as "lower" or "less developed." A student who violates this dictum might get hands slapped with a ruler, in a manner of speaking.
But look at what Carr and Kefalas wrote about a typical "Achiever" among the small town's youth: "Ideally, the student's family was counted among the respectable churchgoing sort, even if the church they attended was among the lower Protestant churches rather than the mainstream Lutheran and Catholic ones."
"Lower?" I've been around but I don't really understand that. Lutherans and Catholics are "mainstream?" Definition?
The authors assert that "of the young people armed only with a high school diploma who ever do manage to leave Iowa, precious few get very far without enlisting in the military first."
"Manage" to leave?
"Precious few 'get very far?' "
The inflections are unsettling for someone who grew up in small town environs.
Carr and Kefalas indeed wrote a book that is insightful about a slice of life that deserves scrutiny, but that slice of life isn't small town America but rather the ivory tower world of academia. This is a world that I feel is getting assailed by the Internet and new media that are empowering young people to bypass the tedium of archaic ordeals like "Sociology 101" and to get from points 'A' to 'B' in their learning process in more efficient, satisfying fashion.
Oh, thanks to our Morris Public Library for having this book available!
-Book review by Brian Williams - Morris Minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com - morris mn
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