The Remains of Days

An expedition, I should say, which I will undertake alone, in the comfort of MR Farraday’s Ford; an expedition which, as I foresee it, will take me through much of the finest countryside of England to the West Country, and keep me away from Darlington Hall for as much as five or six days.

On seeing my person, he took the opportunity to inform me that he had just that moment finalized plans to return to the United States for a period of five weeks between August and September. Having made this announcement, my employer put his volumes down on a table, seated himself on the chaise-longue, and stretched out his legs.

"how do you ever get to see around this beautiful country of yours?"

Of course, I could not have expressed this view to Mr Farraday without embarking upon what might have seemed a presumptuous speech. I thus contended my self by saying simply:

“It has been my privilege to see the best of England over the years, sir, within these very walls.”

Mr Farraday did not seem to understand this statement, for he merely went on: “I mean it, Steven”

The fact that my attitude to this same suggestion underwent a change over the following days - indeed, that the notion of a trip to the West Country took an ever-increasing hold on my thoughts - is no doubt substantially attributable to - and why should I hide it? - the arrival of Miss Kenton’s letter, her first in almost seven years if one discounts the Christmas cards. But let me make it immediately clear what I mean by this; what I mean to say is that Miss Kenton’s letter set off a certain chain of ideas to do with professional matters here at Darlington Hall, and I would underline that it was a preoccupation with these very same professional matters that led me to consider anew my employer’s kindly meant suggestion.

I calculated finally that my savings would be able to meet all the cost I might incur, and in addition, might stretch to the purchase of a new costume.

it is important that one be attired at such times in a manner worthy of one’s position.

During this time, I also spent many minutes examining the road atlas, and perusing also the relevant volumes of Mrs Jane Symons’s The Wonder of England.

I considered most carefully what carefully what might be the most opportune occasion to bring the matter up with him

he is rarely engrossed in his reading or writing as he tends to be in the evenings.

I brought in the tea yesterday afternoon, and being aware of his general propensity to talk with me in a bantering tone at such moments, it would certainly have been wiser not to have mentioned Miss Kenton at all.

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The Spirit of Cities: Why the Identity of a City Matters in a Global Age

I. Globalisation: the sense of cosmopolitanism

Due to migration, free flow of labour and capital, the internet and the new social media, and the exchange of customs, more and more people experience a sense of cosmopolitanism. The extreme manifestation of this trend is the "Davos Man," somebody who has transcended all national allegiances and views himself as a "citizen of the world"

The desire to experience a sense of uniqueness and particularity seems deeply rooted in human nature. With the decline of national attachments, the best place to look for a supplement (or a replacement) might be "down" to the city rather than "up" to the world.

When urbanization is combined with the seemingly inexorable force of capitalism, it has the effect of transforming a variety of cultures into a single culture of consumerism.

Cities, we think, allow for a combination of both cosmopolitanism and a sense of community rooted in particularity. Indeed, we see that city-zens often take pride in their cities and the values they represent and seek to nourish their distinctive civic cultures and ways of life.

* nationalist demagogues

We want to suggest that civicism, with its combination of local pride and openness to the world and the universal, provides the psychological underpinnings for people to be more moderate nationalists. Cities with an ethos can also accomplish desirable political goals that are harder to accomplish at the level of the state.

* There are also good economic reasons to promote the ethos of a city. Cities that develop a clear identity can help to revive moribund economies.

* Ethos is defined as the characteristic spirit, the prevalent tone of sentiment, of a people or community. 

II. Cities and architecture

Cities reflect as well as shape their inhabitants' values and outlooks in various ways. The design and architecture of their buildings reflect different social and cultural values. Cities built for walking and bicycling versus those built for cars encourage and promote different values about sustainability.

Stalinist and fascist architecture often has the effect of dwarfing the individual, making it easier for the state to make people believe that they should submit to the state and its "great leader".

Globalism has the effect of homogenizing culture, transforming a variety of cultures into a single culture of consumerism, the result of which is a feeling of sameness and lessening of pluralism and diversity in cultural ideas and alternatives.

New York.

New York became the capital of finance and culture as a result of its history of attracting different kinds of ambitious immigrants, who innovate and create by constant questioning of established ways of life. The dark side of ambition, however, is an extreme form of individualism that is almost unique among great cities. Paradoxically, however, there is a strong sense of "civicism" in New York that allows the city to survive the repeated challenges to decent community life.

Jerusalem.

Jerusalem is conceived by many: nearly 50 percent religious Jews, 25 percent secular Jews, and 25 percent Arabs. Many Jerusalemites say cynically that Jerusalem is the only city in the world where the right to vote is granted to the dead. A third of Jerusalem's population lives below the poverty line (the situation for Jerusalem's Arabs is worse; nearly two-thirds live below poverty line).

"Humans who have a heart have God within them."

"Athens represents reason, whereas Jerusalem represents biblical revelation."