One of the peculiarities of the white race's presence in America is how little intention has been
applied to it. As a people, wherever we have been, we have never really intended to be. The
continent is said to have been discovered by an Italian who was on his way to India. The earliest
explorers were looking for gold, which was, after an early streak of luck in Mexico, always
somewhere farther on. Conquests and foundings were incidental to this search—which did not,
and could not, end until the continent was finally laid open in an orgy of gold seeking in the
middle of the last century. Once the unknown of geography was mapped, the industrial marketplace became the new frontier, and we continued, with largely the same motives and with increasing haste and anxiety, to displace ourselves—no longer with unity of direction, like a migrant flock, but like the refugees from a broken ant hill. In our own time we have invaded foreign lands and the moon with the high-toned patriotism of the conquistadors, and with the same mixture of fantasy and avarice.
That is too simply put. It is substantially true, however, as a description of the dominant
tendency in American history. The temptation, once that has been said, is to ascend altogether
into rhetoric and inveigh equally against all our forebears and all present holders of office. To be just, however, it is necessary to remember that there has been another tendency: the tendency to stay put, to say, "No farther. This is the place." So far, this has been the weaker tendency, less glamorous, certainly less successful. It is also the older of these tendencies, having been the dominant one among the Indians.
The Indians did, of course, experience movements of population, but in general their relation to
place was based upon old usage and association, upon inherited memory, tradition, veneration.
The land was their homeland. The first and greatest American revolution, which has never been
superseded, was the coming of people who did not look upon the land as a homeland. But there
were always those among the newcomers who saw that they had come to a good place and who saw its domestic possibilities. Very early, for instance, there were men who wished to establish agricultural settlements rather than quest for gold or exploit the Indian trade. Later, we know that every advance of the frontier left behind families and communities who intended to remain and prosper where they were.
But we know also that these intentions have been almost systematically overthrown. Generation
after generation, those who intended to remain and prosper where they were have been
dispossessed and driven out, or subverted and exploited where they were, by those who were
carrying out some version of the search for El Dorado. Time after time, in place after place, these conquerors have fragmented and demolished traditional communities, the beginnings of
domestic cultures. They have always said that what they destroyed was outdated, provincial, and contemptible. And with alarming frequency they have been believed and trusted by their victims, especially when their victims were other white people…
-Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America 1977
According to Psychology Today, “Cigna and Ipsos surveyed 20,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, and almost half report feeling alone (40%) or left out (47%). One in four (27%) feel they are not understood. Two in five (43%) feel relations are not meaningful and they feel isolated (43%). Digital Natives (those born after about 1995) were found to be the loneliest generation. And social media use alone is not a predictor of loneliness. In all the findings, a lack of meaningful human connectedness is paramount." Health Resources & Services Administration says, “Friendships reduce the risk of mortality or developing certain diseases and can speed recovery in those who fall ill.” Loneliness has shown a “correlation with increased risk for early mortality, risk rates similar to those for obesity and smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Also, the findings relate to adverse health risks such as higher systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Depression and suicide are also cited.”
Americans are lonely. Loneliness affects our bodies, our minds, our lives. According to the 2018 United States Census Bureau 10.1% of Americans moved. Of the movers 15% percent of them move to a different state. When people move to a new place two things occur. They move to a place without an established community. They move away from a community. One of my favorite writers Wendell Berry, who I have had the extreme privilege of witnesses read some of his works in person, has written many pieces about a sense of place. Throughout human history and across the globe cultures and peoples have had a sense of place, a home. But that isn’t the story of the colonization and “discovery” of America.
The first Europeans who stumbled upon America did not see a home they saw only resource. They saw a commodity. That has been the story of America (and capitalism) ever since. Americans have no sense of place. We don’t talk about our house or our land as being in the family for centuries because our country isn’t even 300 years old. We don’t talk about our communities as generational because we don’t see the value. We move. We uproot. We migrate. Once a place has been depleted of its use, whatever that may have been, we move on to the next. No consideration of sustainability no mindset of longevity. And so we move.
We move to chase the dollar. We sacrifice community for opportunity. We prioritize financial potential. Mindset always thinking friends can be easily made in a new place. As half of America feels alone and left out, I'm beginning to wonder if we have it backwards.
We move to chase a lie. As the Avett brothers said, “The weight of lies will bring you down and follow you to every town 'cause nothing happens here that doesn't happen there.” We leave our place in search of a new beginning, a fresh start, an adventure. But everything new becomes old. That is the nature of new. And a person is still that person no matter which part of the world they choose to stand on. As the new slowly fades to old we are faced with a choice, continue to chase new or invest in home.
We move to prove our self sufficiency. Majority of cultures on this planet live in multigenerational homes. A strong community with a deep sense of being known. America is different. Our cultural priority is self sufficiency. The goal of our culture is loneliness. As big of a house as you can acquire with as few residents as possible. Roommates are for the young. Having the same community and friend group since childhood is considered strange. You must go out into the world and make something of yourself.
What would America look like if we each invested in our place? If we all knew that we would never move? How would we spend our energy? What would our communities look like? What would our priorities be? How would we feel if Amazon wanted to move in tax free? If Wal-Mart wanted to enter our local economy? If Coca Cola wanted to share our water source?
This may be the preachiest rant I’ve ever ranted but as I stack up my laps around the sun I’ve watched friends put community behind other priorities. I’ve watched friends of my friends leave a hole in their lives. As my balanced scale of acquaintances and friends slowly tips toward the former I’m laughed at for suggesting staying in a place because of a community is a legitimate reason. So I sit here and read article after article and statistics about the loneliness of my generation and the health risks that pair with it. I see how loneliness only increases with age as the elderly suffer the most. I wonder what is to become of my community as it spreads across time zones. I wonder what is to become of yours.
Be safe out there and know that a community may be rarer than a career.
applied to it. As a people, wherever we have been, we have never really intended to be. The
continent is said to have been discovered by an Italian who was on his way to India. The earliest
explorers were looking for gold, which was, after an early streak of luck in Mexico, always
somewhere farther on. Conquests and foundings were incidental to this search—which did not,
and could not, end until the continent was finally laid open in an orgy of gold seeking in the
middle of the last century. Once the unknown of geography was mapped, the industrial marketplace became the new frontier, and we continued, with largely the same motives and with increasing haste and anxiety, to displace ourselves—no longer with unity of direction, like a migrant flock, but like the refugees from a broken ant hill. In our own time we have invaded foreign lands and the moon with the high-toned patriotism of the conquistadors, and with the same mixture of fantasy and avarice.
That is too simply put. It is substantially true, however, as a description of the dominant
tendency in American history. The temptation, once that has been said, is to ascend altogether
into rhetoric and inveigh equally against all our forebears and all present holders of office. To be just, however, it is necessary to remember that there has been another tendency: the tendency to stay put, to say, "No farther. This is the place." So far, this has been the weaker tendency, less glamorous, certainly less successful. It is also the older of these tendencies, having been the dominant one among the Indians.
The Indians did, of course, experience movements of population, but in general their relation to
place was based upon old usage and association, upon inherited memory, tradition, veneration.
The land was their homeland. The first and greatest American revolution, which has never been
superseded, was the coming of people who did not look upon the land as a homeland. But there
were always those among the newcomers who saw that they had come to a good place and who saw its domestic possibilities. Very early, for instance, there were men who wished to establish agricultural settlements rather than quest for gold or exploit the Indian trade. Later, we know that every advance of the frontier left behind families and communities who intended to remain and prosper where they were.
But we know also that these intentions have been almost systematically overthrown. Generation
after generation, those who intended to remain and prosper where they were have been
dispossessed and driven out, or subverted and exploited where they were, by those who were
carrying out some version of the search for El Dorado. Time after time, in place after place, these conquerors have fragmented and demolished traditional communities, the beginnings of
domestic cultures. They have always said that what they destroyed was outdated, provincial, and contemptible. And with alarming frequency they have been believed and trusted by their victims, especially when their victims were other white people…
-Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America 1977
According to Psychology Today, “Cigna and Ipsos surveyed 20,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and older, and almost half report feeling alone (40%) or left out (47%). One in four (27%) feel they are not understood. Two in five (43%) feel relations are not meaningful and they feel isolated (43%). Digital Natives (those born after about 1995) were found to be the loneliest generation. And social media use alone is not a predictor of loneliness. In all the findings, a lack of meaningful human connectedness is paramount." Health Resources & Services Administration says, “Friendships reduce the risk of mortality or developing certain diseases and can speed recovery in those who fall ill.” Loneliness has shown a “correlation with increased risk for early mortality, risk rates similar to those for obesity and smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Also, the findings relate to adverse health risks such as higher systolic blood pressure, body mass index, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Depression and suicide are also cited.”
Americans are lonely. Loneliness affects our bodies, our minds, our lives. According to the 2018 United States Census Bureau 10.1% of Americans moved. Of the movers 15% percent of them move to a different state. When people move to a new place two things occur. They move to a place without an established community. They move away from a community. One of my favorite writers Wendell Berry, who I have had the extreme privilege of witnesses read some of his works in person, has written many pieces about a sense of place. Throughout human history and across the globe cultures and peoples have had a sense of place, a home. But that isn’t the story of the colonization and “discovery” of America.
We move to chase the dollar. We sacrifice community for opportunity. We prioritize financial potential. Mindset always thinking friends can be easily made in a new place. As half of America feels alone and left out, I'm beginning to wonder if we have it backwards.
We move to chase a lie. As the Avett brothers said, “The weight of lies will bring you down and follow you to every town 'cause nothing happens here that doesn't happen there.” We leave our place in search of a new beginning, a fresh start, an adventure. But everything new becomes old. That is the nature of new. And a person is still that person no matter which part of the world they choose to stand on. As the new slowly fades to old we are faced with a choice, continue to chase new or invest in home.
We move to prove our self sufficiency. Majority of cultures on this planet live in multigenerational homes. A strong community with a deep sense of being known. America is different. Our cultural priority is self sufficiency. The goal of our culture is loneliness. As big of a house as you can acquire with as few residents as possible. Roommates are for the young. Having the same community and friend group since childhood is considered strange. You must go out into the world and make something of yourself.
What would America look like if we each invested in our place? If we all knew that we would never move? How would we spend our energy? What would our communities look like? What would our priorities be? How would we feel if Amazon wanted to move in tax free? If Wal-Mart wanted to enter our local economy? If Coca Cola wanted to share our water source?
This may be the preachiest rant I’ve ever ranted but as I stack up my laps around the sun I’ve watched friends put community behind other priorities. I’ve watched friends of my friends leave a hole in their lives. As my balanced scale of acquaintances and friends slowly tips toward the former I’m laughed at for suggesting staying in a place because of a community is a legitimate reason. So I sit here and read article after article and statistics about the loneliness of my generation and the health risks that pair with it. I see how loneliness only increases with age as the elderly suffer the most. I wonder what is to become of my community as it spreads across time zones. I wonder what is to become of yours.
Be safe out there and know that a community may be rarer than a career.