Sean Kershaw's Weblog
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May 12, 2008
I read the news today...
In 2003 we began our introduction to the Doing the Common Good Better report with a question: what would the headlines on the morning paper look like in five years - on our 150th Anniversary?
It's funny how the actual headlines are a mix of the good and bad scenarios we discussed.
One of the headlines in yesterday's paper was Lori Sturdevant's column yesterdayon our Minnesota Anniversary Project (MAP 150).
If this MAP 150 project has taught me anything, it is the potential that Minnesota still has to bring the entrepreneurship and innovation we have demonstrated in the past to rebuilding our civic "infrastructure" in the future.
During the past eight months, when we've been hearing the word "infrastructure" everywhere in conjuction with transporation, it still seems like the best word I can think of to describe what we need to do with our civic and policy culture. It's not that Minnesotans don't care and aren't paying attention, it's that the means by which we've solved problems in the past are showing the same signs of aging as our roads and bridges. It's not the 1950s when we invented the Citizens League and built our Interstate system, but we need the same vision and passion and dedication to go from here-to-there on policy issues as we do from here to there on roads and transit.
Posted by Sean Kershaw at May 12, 2008 8:27 AM
Comments
I agree with your premise, but this leaves me empty. How would you propose that problems be solved?
Posted by: David Black | August 4, 2008 9:10 PM