Seattle is a wonderful city with an usually high number of people who are well-connected in two dimensions: their very local neighborhood and to places the world over. We are global citizens who like our 'hood.
What about the space between? The space some speak of as "civil society," the thick network (which may be thinning if Robert Putnam of Bowling Alone is right) of associations and interactions in the public sector that stands between private/ familial life and the big national or global realms? What about, what we at Crosscut.com, call "the great nearby"? Somehow, its easy to get disconnected from this city/ regional life. For example, I've been interested in how many friends and acquaintances who are bright and engaged in so many ways are more or less clueless about Seattle's current mayoral and council races.
Well, friends, I support Crosscut and learn a lot from it precisely because it focuses on the great nearby and on civil society here in the Northwest. The people, gatherings, and institutions that make up that civil sector may not have global glitz or neighborhood convenience, but they shape and sustain a humane life (or not) in all sorts of ways. Crosscut keeps the lens focused there and in doing so helps to build and sustain civil society. Join me,
