Are You a Counter-Community Outcast?

 

Leatrice is part of the 25% of the Shoals who fervently believe pink hydrangeas are superior to other shades.

But 25% of the population are just as adamant that blue is preferable.

The other 50%? They couldn't care less.

Is one view better than the others? It just might be if Leatrice is head of the Shoals Gardening Commission. Be forewarned that if you don't totally support Leatrice's view, you'll have no say in any gardening matters of the Shoals. You are now deemed a part of a counter-community who deserves no respect.

In fact, Leatrice will openly ridicule you in front of the public. She'll tell outsiders that you're just not to be taken seriously if you don't share her view. You may ask why the Shoals officials who sponsor the Gardening Commission allow Leatrice to behave in that manner. Do they feel the so-called counter-community has no rights? Deserves no respect as tax-paying citizens?

Now let's substitute a City of Florence employee for Leatrice. Here's what he said about certain members of the public in a recent nationally published thesis:

We maintain that those who have forfeited their relationship to the truth have also forfeited their relationships to the communities, which is why we refer to them as the "counter-community." They are in fact cultural insurrectionists...

Obviously, the above statement could be interpreted in several different ways. Just what does the author consider a relationship to the community? Does he not feel the need to serve and respect equally all citizens who pay his salary?

Perhaps we need to look more deeply into this thesis, as well as previous statements about the institutions of Florence. Then we need to look much more deeply into how these published beliefs might influence our city's economic future.

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We wish to thank one of our fans for purchasing and sending us a copy of the August edition of The Public Historian which contains the above referenced work "Public History in the Age of Insurrection" by City of Florence employee Brian W. Murphy.