Suggested listening: Dakotafish, “Jitter//Impossible Histories.”

This might sound like sacrilege to a lot of you, but, from a middle-class perspective, I’m glad we’re in a recession.

Let me explain.

I grew up in the Me Generation. Our parents drove us from one suburb to another in minivans and SUVs. They fed us with Nintendos, Air Jordans, and trips to amusement parks. A ‘farm’ was a quaint, almost imaginary place. If I had been told that fruits and vegetables were grown right there, under the dull lights and dull mist of the grocery store, I would not have been surprised.

Poor people? They’re the reason we locked the doors when we went into the city. They’re the ones that made us feel good about ourselves when we gave them the ratty old Air Jordans we were done with.

Right now you might be saying, Well, I didn’t grow up like that. You might not have, but believe this: The people running this country, or at least the people about to be running this country, grew up like this.

As long as I’ve been alive, middle-class America has been disconnected. We’ve been disconnected from each other, obviously (think The Ice Storm, etc.). We’ve been disconnected from other cultures and socio-economic classes. We’ve been disconnected from the very land that feeds us. In short, we have been disconnected from life itself.

The great thing about a recession is that it shakes us from our routines. It forces us to leave our houses and seek help from the community. When we can’t live the way we’ve been living anymore, we are forced to rethink the entire way we live.

In times of trouble, when Mother Mary doesn’t come fast enough, all we have is each other. I think America is, slowly but surely, starting to get that.

Bubble economy, we don’t need you. SUVs, suburbs, and shiny shoes, we don’t need you. Government… hell, we don’t even need you, either. We’ve got each other, damn it. And that’s plenty.

There’s actually research that supports the idea that a sense of community is a greater predictor of quality of life than economic factors. The Knight Foundation recently published a study called “Soul of the Community 2010: Why People Love Where They Live and Why It Matters: A National Perspective.” The report is based on interviews with nearly 43,000 people in 26 communities, so it’s not some flimsy hearsay.

“In today’s challenging economic climate,” the introduction says, “community leaders are seeking new ways to attract and retain people, develop prosperous economies, add intellectual capital, and create jobs.”

The way you build passion and loyalty in a community–attachment, in other words–are not “the usual suspects–jobs, the economy, and safety.” You do it through much softer, communal, universal means: Social Offerings, Openness, and Aesthetics.

If people have a place and a reason to get together as a community… If everyone feels welcome there… If that place is beautiful… You will have a happy, passionate, invested community. Oh, it’s so far from the values of the Me Generation! It’s such a glorious turn towards the values trumpeted by all the religions or humanism we believe in! It’s a validation in everything our mothers taught us… Be good. Be friendly to everyone and live by the Golden Rule. Walls are bad, open-door policies are good. Live for passion, not money. Leave things nicer than how you found them (including the earth, yah). Create art and beauty for the sake of art and beauty.

(With apologies, I’ve riled myself to the point where I need to write just one sentence in all-caps, to relieve the tension.)

IT’S SO FUCKING EASY AND DOESN’T COST MUCH OF ANY MONEY AND IT WILL SAVE US A HELL OF A LOT FASTER THAN ANY GOVERNMENT EVER COULD.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Indeed. Let us stay poor forever if it helps us love each other harder.

Can I get an amen?

And now, onto some news on the quick. Let’s start with the regional.

Local black farmers are on the brink of cashing in

“11 years ago, the Department of Agriculture discovered black farmers waited three times longer for loans and subsidies than their white counterparts.”

It was only a hundred years ago that we were capturing black people in Africa and parading them around as exhibits in the World’s Fair. We still have a ways to go.

Farmville on Facebook versus Farmville, Va.

Despite that fact that I instantly defriend anyone who wants me to know about their Farmville Farm on Facebook, this was a cute feature.

Norfolk park gets $40,000 donation

Bon Secours Health System Inc., today you are fine by me.

Tea party works to gain and hold influence in the state

I think somewhat obsessively about how to bring fractious parts of our community together (the biggest offenders being liberals and conservatives). What issue can each side give up or bend on in the spirit of meeting in the middle? One issue I’d love to see liberals/Democrats give up is the state vs. federal power issue. Let the states have more influence. I’m fine with that. They probably know better how to govern their own, anyway.

What can conservatives give up?

Sunday’s Virginia lottery numbers

Whenever I write this column I try to include something from the Daily Press. This was their top story this morning when I clicked on their home page. Moving on…

Somali man to be sentenced in U.S. for piracy-related acts

This is from CNN International. If we want Hampton Roads on the map, first we should change the name to Norfolk/Virginia Beach, and then we should have more Somali pirate trials.

Brock Vergakis named Norfolk, Va, correspondent

SEE, EVEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CALLS THIS REGION NORFOLK! I said, Damn!

Anyways, if you’re a mover and shaker that cares about how the country and world perceive us, spend your money wining and dining Brock Vergakis. If that dude loves it here, soon enough the country will. (And that line is closer to hyperbole than truth than any of us would like to admit.)

Rooftop solar systems starting to warm up

“The number of Dominion Virginia Power customers who use solar energy systems has more than doubled since January…”

Dig. It.

Seeing Virginia Beach on a Budget

From AOL Travel.

Imaginations Running Wild at Willard with Visiting Artist

Artists in the schools, run for your lives.

Behind the Groove

Like old acts like Curtis Mayfield, Brick, Bobbi Humphrey, and the Staple Singers? So does Rashod.

A a few non-regional stories and websites to keep your diet balanced…

Buy Local ILM

Did you know that $0.70 of every dollar spent in a local business (or on local goods) stays in your community, and only $0.20 spent in a chain stays? Some good people in Wilmington do, and they’ve got a lot of other good reasons to buy local.

I know we’ve all seen it, but there’s always time for Jack Rebney. Warning: He uses the F word once halfway through.