Back to the Foundry

(from Wikipedia)
Foundry: according to Joel Garreau, is a coherent nation made up of the eastern seaboard of the United States except New England, along with the Great Lakes region (including those parts of the Canadian province of Ontario which border the lakes) except for the Lake Superior shoreline, plus the Washington D.C. suburbs of Virginia and roughly the northern half of West Virginia, including both of the state's panhandles. Traditionally, this corresponds to the industrial core of North America. It is one of the Nine Nations of North America Garreau identified in his book of that title, published in 1981.

...Another term used to describe this region is The Rust Belt. And for a good reason.

Not only do things rust in the rust belt unlike in other areas of the country such as the south or west, but this region is falling into decline. This area was the manufacturing center of the United States. If you bought a manufactured good, odds are it came from the Foundry. Cars from Detroit. Tires from Akron. Cameras from Rochester. Glass from Toledo. Steel from Pittsburgh. each city in the Foundry was known for the product it produced. The Labor Movement started in the Foundry to oppose the brutal working conditions in the factory. Thanks to them we have the 8 hour workday and a thing called the weekend. Anglos, then Germans (Pennsylvania Dutch if you like), Irish, Poles, Italians, and Slavs migrated to this region. They were seeking a better life. A job at the factory ensured them status as middle class. But by 1981, this way of life ended. The Sun Belt, Globalization, and a new economy had emerged. And the Foundry started to decline. Factories closed, moved to the south, or relocated overseas. Today the Foundry's few remaining factories are but a spectre of their once great status. No more can you finish high school and get a good job at the factory. That way of life has ended.

...just don't tell anyone here in the Foundry. They haven't got the memo yet.

We are still a culture that looks to the big corporations to somehow 'save' us. Politicians still clamor about what their city or area can do to 'attract business', tripping over each other to lure a big business headquarters their way. The issues and agenda of the local governments are ran by a political machine of manufacturers, manufacturig Union members who still occupy the few and ever-dwindling factory jobs left in town. Much ado is made about keeping the few industries from moving away, throwing tax breaks and corporate welfare their way. Meanwhile, the new, growing sectors of the economy, service and high-tech, are suffering from neglect. Service sector jobs at a big box retailer pay a substandard wage, usually don't include health care, and are filled by people who can only dream of being middle class. Yet the manufacturing unions that control local politics don't dare take them on. They have the coveted factory jobs and control of the government. Empowering or organizing those in the service sectors would be costly and would erode their political base. And the young professionals who have the skills to work (and start their own) high-tech business find the atmosphere here toxic. They have no friendly ear in the politics ran by manufacturing labor tradesmen. The area is extremely social conservative. Like the factory mentality, the quantity of a good is much more important than its quality. More is better. A gallon of olive oil for a doallr at WalMart is better than a quart of Organic Portuguese Olive Oil - that's a no-brainer! People who are different in their looks, how they dress, what they do in the bedroom, etc. are oddities. Gays are denied civil rights. Immigrants are ridiculed about their 'strange' customs. Cyclists are gawked at like they are shriners in little cars but without a parade. They see an area with few options for people of their age (late 20s- early 40s) who are single or married without children. Truth is they have all moved away. This area holds little appeal for them, nor the incliniation to provide anything of interest. Just consider what the Foundry offers for leisure time. Leisure in the Foundry is geared toward family activities, things for the mom dad, and children. Science centers, zoos, ballparks, and fairs. Try finding a vodka bar in a mid-sized midwestern town. Ask a local about one and expect them to say "A vodka what?"

I have just spent 2 weeks in the San Francisco Area, labeled as Ecotopia in honor of the Callenbach book of the same name.

(once again, from Wikipedia)
In his 1981 book Nine Nations of North America, author Joel Garreau named one of his nations Ecotopia after Callenbach's book. Garreau's Ecotopia consists of Northern California, Western Oregon, Western Washington, coastal British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska and is one of the nine economic-cultural nations into which Garreau believed North America should be divided to correctly understand the true regional dynamics of the continent. This Ecotopia, like Callenbach's, is characterized culturally by its environmental sensibilities and focus on 'quality of life', and economically by its focus on renewable resources such as hydropower and forestry.

...here is a place that 'gets it'. Gone is the whole Foundry mentality. That of the factory, the job, the trade as being the identifing factor of oneself. Here people aren't expected to conform. Ties are rare accessories in Ecotopia, usually only worn by detectives. They are just that casual. Where those in the Foundry look for specialists in each field, Ecotopia looks for generalists who can be trained to do several unrelated tasks in their workday. Jobs here are booming. The manufacturing unions do not call the shots, and the political institution is not a 'good ol' boy' network. Big box retailers are not as prevalent. People are not interested in getting a 99 cent bottle of Olive Oil in Ecotopia; they want an $11 bottle of Organic Portuguese Olive Oil. Quality of life is more important than quantity. To them, that's a no-brainer! Sure, housing is out of control high, but when there is such a high demand for anything and a limited supply, what happens to the price? Just look at your gas bill.

I have to admit, I feel more more at home in Ecotopia than I do here in the Foundry, the place I was born and raised. My options in the Foundry are too limited. In my heart, Ecotopia is my new home.

With that, here is a view of the last sunset I saw in San Francisco. Hopefully I will see many more of them...