The Observation Deck

Ryan - Read the name of the thread.

Bill Call will tell you that he phrased it that way on purpose.

Both the city of Cleveland and the county (o' Cuyahoga) seem to be in crisis. The old boy network at the county won't soon be inspiring confidence in any plans to regionalize.

But, all the powers be they in place or wannabee in the region continue to jockey for position around the husk, so-to-speak. My own opinion is that the series of chicken-and-egg problems caused by decades of denial and--nevertheless--also of neolib extraction end up with nary a coherent thought able to be induced out of city and country politicians.

Lakewood's new found boldness throughout the spectrum of 'rapid response' seems right on the money. However, civic smarts still requires Lakewood to take into account its relationships to the bigger, more chaotic system.

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Ahhh, nihilism.

Wikipedia intro: Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.

Good condensed treatment at the IEP, http://www.iep.utm.edu/n/nihilism.htm

FWIW.

My favorite gloss of nihilism is taken from a source I can't recall; to whit:

"Believing in nothing and doing nothing about it."

Stephen Calhoun wrote:Wikipedia intro: Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value.

The term nihilism is sometimes used synonymously with anomie to denote a general mood of despair at the pointlessness of existence.

Yes, but the second definition of nihilism in the Merriam-Webster dictionary better describes the beliefs of an increasing number of Lakewood residents and community leaders.

Merriam-Webster wrote:2 a: a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility.

The manifestations that I see of this are disturbing.


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Please stand down. It was a false alarm. But.... keep your powder dry.

stephen davis wrote:

Merriam-Webster wrote:2 a: a doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility.

The manifestations that I see of this are disturbing.

How so?

Bill Call wrote:It was a false alarm.

Bill

Are you sure?


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Jim O'Bryan wrote:

Bill Call wrote:It was a false alarm.

Bill

Are you sure?

No. I'm just being optimistic.