I'm currently reading The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, published in 1989. Oldenburg's subject is the third place, a place distinct from the home (the first place) and the workplace (the second place) where people can gather socially on a somewhat equal footing and an informal setting. Oldenburg sees this kind of place as a necessity for civil society and democracy, and I'd be hard-pressed to deny it. Here's an excerpt:
Over many centuries, communities had refined and made highly effective those means of controlling local influences, but means of controlling the newer external ones were almost nonexistent. For example, an enormous amount of red tape might be thrown in the way of a pub owner wanting to stay open later than usual on Coronation Day. Meanwhile, a national newspaper could put a falsified, deliberately slanted and misleading story in the hands of millions and few would ever know. "The newer institutions," wrote the investigators, "are simply out for profits, and they have a pretty free hand."
The situation is familiar. In the United States, municipal officials can intimidate any tavern owner, close any park, declare establishments undesirable and put them off limits, and clean up their towns as election time approaches. Whether "for real" or "for show," local control over local influences can be effective. But the same officials and agencies who come down hard on local influences stand impotent in the face of mass media. Programming objectionable to millions of parents continues to be shown on television, while experts dryly and endlessly debate the effect--those experts, too, are remote from the life of the community.
Oldenburg is undoubtedly and old fuddy-duddy. In the very next paragraph he laments the effect that foul-mouthed comedians like George Carlin, Eddie Murphy and...Buddy Hackett are having on the nation's youth. But he does have a good sense of who holds the cards and who is allowed to do what. And if the whole idea of community and third places has been under assault for the past year-and-a-half plus, it's not something that Oldenburg would have been completely shocked over.
2 comments:
I read that wikipedia article you linked to where it was made obvious Oldenburg preferred the wholesome aspects of the third place. There are many places where people gather to converse and share opinions that aren't entirely wholesome - as in places where we might go to enjoy alcohol. However, overall he's most definitely correct about people needing places away from the two primaries where they feel comfortable with like minded friends and acquaintances.
I don't think places like museums, art galleries, churches and assorted others like shopping malls would actually count. The thing is, though, that as cold weather comes along to make picnics in the parks or long walks where one might often find amenable strangers to pass the time of day with much less accessible. Those are the places I miss being able to attend freely in these strange times.
Someone I read today suggested that we employ small acts of civil disobedience when we go out in the world, like not wearing a mask inside grocery stores. Always make sure we have one handy though. sheesh..
Oldenburg doesn't oppose drinking establishments. In part because the price point encourages light to moderate drinking and people are there to socialize more than anything else. Of course this applies to old time neighborhood taverns rather than chain bar-restaurants or upper crust wine bars.
His focus is largely on how civic organizers don't really appreciate these kinds of public gathering places, and commercial interests are incentivized to get rid of them. And it's true. In old books and movies and such I've come across the idea of "going to the drugstore for a coke." But in my lifetime drugstores haven't had soda fountains. "Going to the drugstore for a coke" just means you hop to CVS and take a bottle from their refrigerated cabinet, which you don't drink on the premises. Someone made that call.
Anyway, churches may sometimes offer that kind of experience, when they're reaching out to the community. Museums and art galleries add value, but it's a different kind of value: the idea of taking culture seriously. But you do suffer when there's no place to just hang with people.
Whether gradual or sudden, there's been a change in the culture from valuing rebellion and individuality to encouraging conformity. I have my theories about what's behind this.
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