Regressive Progressives

Joel Kotkin discusses the Regressive Progressives in a video interview with Instapundit. Towards the end of the video they discuss for a moment this book:

Sprawl: A Compact History

The book discusses the virtues of Sprawl. Here is a review I thought interesting:

I have always been, and will continue to be, a city boy at heart. Bruegmann has given me reason to rethink how I feel about modern-day suburbia. Before this book I would drive through the suburbs thinking "Ugh! How could anyone want to live in this drab, boring, soulless environment?" After reading this book I now think "Boy, I'm really glad all these people live out here so I can afford my nice little townhouse in the middle of the city on my modest salary."

Of course there are other arguments for sprawl and the politics that go with it. A thermodynamic explanation of politics. And the reviewer got it exactly right. Without the harvests of the suburbs and country the city would cease to exist. Neither the city nor the country nor the land in between can exist without flows and interchanges between each other. There is symbiosis although from some points of view any of the components can be regarded as parasitic. And that is when the ignorant get at each others throats for not living "right". When the right way to live depends on the ecological niche.

Things would work so much better if people weren't so good at minding other people's business. Ah. Well. Human nature. Ain't it grand? Not always.

Cross Posted at Classical Values