Who Controls What?

Originally published on September 14, 2018

I’ve lived in two of the most “elite” zip codes in the US (Palo Alto and Bucktown/Lincoln Park in Chicago), in rural Iowa, and in the normie haven of Indianapolis. There are cultural differences between these three class clusters, one of which I seized upon yesterday and have not been able to un-see.

The thought that meandered into my brain, as I prepared one of those simulacrums of value known as a spreadsheet, was that the rural people I grew up with in Iowa believe that they have almost total control of their choices and local area in life. Four years of droughts may bankrupt them and if so, that’s ok. But the things in life they own, they can control. Schools and small towns are both a part and extension of local communities; hierarchies translate from one to the other. It is a fairly egalitarian society, and the voice of a neighbor is treated as relevant, if not always as important as that of a local businessman.

In Lincoln Park, on the other hand, control of the local area is controlled by a nebulous “other”, the city, the forces of the market. People can get a permit and host a block party, but important decisions on new streets or building permits are adjudicated in private (occasionally supplemented with hundred dollar bill) handshakes. People in Chicago are obsessed with national politics-some I’ve met think about Trump more than I think about Graeter’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream and I can assure you I think about Graeter’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream hourly at worst.

The essential difference in the two mindsets lies in scale, and in power. Urban elites have power in the sense of meaningful global impact. No matter what Ted Cruz says to patronize Iowans in 2032, Iowans’ voice will matter little globally in areas outside of ethanol and pork bellies, but matter ultimately at the local level-what happens in Solon, Iowa will likely be what Solon, Iowa determined for itself, for better or worse.

Contrast that with a trader or magnate who lives in Lincoln Park with his family. Unless he is a Chicago-area contractor with connections, he will have little power over his neighborhood, Chicago Public Schools, or the Chicago Pension crisis, no matter how deeply he feels. The same man can devalue the currency of a small Eastern block currency in an afternoon; he has more power over 600,000 Kyrgyzstani’s lives in than he does over his own block, let alone neighborhood, or city. He’ll start a charity teaching under-privileged kids how to smile for photo shoots or naming a brick at Northwestern so he feels he left a legacy. The contrast between his global productivity and contribution(quite large), and his local impact (miniscule) is striking.

Meanwhile, a farmer may add little net productivity to the global market, but steer the course of a school, town, church, and extended family, leaving behind a small global contribution but massive local impact.

Now, excluding ethanol and pork bellies, predict the voting choices and political philosophies of the two examples based solely on the last two sentences…

…yep.