Our Town: A Literary History

Dissent Magazine ^ | 03/02/12 | James Thomas Snyder

[DFG]

Michael Lewis’s new book, Boomerang, is about the parts of the globe that were downgraded by the credit crisis, and my hometown of Vallejo, California, concludes his world tour like a telegraph from the end of days. From Lewis’s book, I learned that I grew up in what is now the third world. “Which city do you pity most?” Lewis asks two mayoral aides in San Jose, capital of Silicon Valley. “Vallejo!” they laugh.

snip

Mare Island built the world’s first aircraft carrier deck for $500 and the first cruise-missile submarine for considerably more. It held the record for fastest ship construction during the First World War. Mare Island decommissioned the Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, and refurbished the Seawolf, another nuclear sub, after it was nearly sunk while trying to tap underwater communications cables in Soviet territorial waters. I learned about the Seawolf’s secret mission from Blind Man’s Bluff, a gripping read detailing many of the yard’s Cold War exploits.

[DFG]

Interesting article about the town where I grew up in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. My Dad worked at Mare Island for 30 years as a machinist and nuclear inspector, my Mom worked in personnel, and my uncle was a shop foreman. My Mom currently works as a docent at the Mare Island Museum.

The author does not mention the role of the communists on the Vallejo City Council for the current state of the city.

[SamuraiScot]

The author does not mention the role of the communists on the Vallejo City Council

Is that because the author, like Michael Lewis, is a Communist?

[SamuraiScot]

But without these details, we miss what Vallejo’s story really shows us: the indispensability of government services and spending, especially when entire communities are built around them.

There's your problem.

[USS Alaska]

“Which city do you pity most?” Lewis asks two mayoral aides in San Jose, capital of Silicon Valley.

Wrong question.

Correct question should be, "Which state will go bankrupt first, California or Illinois {Michigan was in the running but now has new political leadership which may be able to save them}.

The California I knew and really loved starting in the 70s when I worked for many start up computer and software companies, is long gone.

Free enterprise and few restrictions caused such great success and overnight wealth that the politicians thought it would last forever and they could just keep raising taxes and promising goodies.

In the words of jeremiah wright, "California's chickens have come home, to roost".

My solution would be too brutal to post.

[Carry_Okie]

“Which city do you pity most?” Lewis asks two mayoral aides in San Jose, capital of Silicon Valley. “Vallejo!” they laugh.

Interesting that they didn't mention Stockton.