There is a lot to protest, to complain about, to worry over, to bemoan.
But there are also reasons to be inspired, to have hope, that there is a progressive leading edge in America, in the world, that the future is progressive.
One of my quests is to seek out what might define the leading edge in the Pacific Northwest. I found one example, to start with.
In one particular place, I feel I am in a soaring place of light, a great cathedral of learning and enlightenment, a public space where all the cultures of the world are welcomed. I feel the future here.
Having lived in the Southwest, in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas for much of my adult life, I feel that this place and the aspirational culture that produced it, is all the more miraculous.
What is normal in all too many places, is a resigned mediocrity, a lack of vision, and a depressed torpor in response to great problems. One might actually be warned against trying to make things better because "the way things are" is the way things have always been. What opportunities might exist wind up like the fall leaves blowing in the gutters, unseen. One might encounter active, hostile regressivism. Right now, in Arizona, there is an ongoing effort by the state to suppress, in the Tucson schools, an entire library full of Hispanic and Native American literature and educational thought.
This world class architecture is a statement, a commitment, to the future of humanity as a knowledge commons. Big enthusiasm about this is embodied in the building and this vision of humanity fills the space, thrumming with concentration and engagement.
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