Civic Boosterism, a survey cont’d

Noted features employed in civic boosterism, especially in matter of literary reckoning.

Lists.

Numbers. (esp. 1, 2, and 5)

Verbs like explain, understand.

Adjectives such as awesome, great, best. (It is rare to hear the adjective “middling” or “piddling”)

Titles that include the name of the city or the telephone area code.

Appointing individual authors as ambassadors based on book titles and, often, meritless books.

A high proportion of male self-appointed ambassadors.

Anything other than opening the front door, putting your feet down on the pavement and walking about and talking to the people who actually live here. (such as the extreme example of having a chat to the person next door and the underpaid person selling you a cup of coffee). Current modes of boostering by boosters do not include the flaneur rather the “spouter” is more prevelant. Because Boosterism does not encourage uncovering, nor does it address the troughs (just the peaks).

*

Impending civic boosterism forecast includes an avalanche of sporting regalia and flags on car windows that will inevitably snap and block the drains!

Specifically

Yesterday afternoon I went to hear Frank Cunningham talk about philosophies of cities or philosophy of a city or Urban Philosophy. Specifically, he related or regaled the following paper called

Cities: A Philosophical Inquiry

There were three things that occurred to me during the talk, specifically two of them I will tell you about later.

For now I’ll say it was  a very good way to spend a Four O’Clock. Therefore I’d recommend at 4pm you click the above link and either agree or disagree or beg to differ. Or.

Civic Boosterism – a critical observation

In the area of civic boosterism there are emerging categories with population:

-the blind booster.

-the cheerleading booster.

– the “if it sounds like the title of a Michael Jackson song it may well be” booster.

– the “because he told me to say it and I want to be/sound like him” booster.

– the “I wanna belong and there is nothing to belong to right now except this” booster.

There are however few applicants for following more uncomfortable and original categories:

– the street level “jouster” on horseback booster.

– the picking up rubbish and clearing the blocked drains booster.

– the parrot on my shoulder who is digging his claws into my neck has been taught to say the name of the place in three languages booster.