That Revolution Talk

This year, Virginia joined a list of states whose rural leaders are talking of divorcing from their big-city counterparts. This talk of breakaway rests on perceived lack of political representation in state government, and different cultural values from the big cities. Upstate New Yorkers want to do away with New York City. Eastern parts of Washington and Oregon seek to break away from cosmopolitan and left-leaning Seattle and Portland.

More serious and detailed secession plans include an economic strategy. Some rural and libertarian-leaning Californians talk about splitting their state in two: under most proposals, Southern California would claim prosperous Silicon Valley, just south of the northerly city of San Francisco.

In Virginia’s most radical proposal, dubbed "Vexit", Arlington County and its 235,000 urbanized residents would return to neighboring District of Columbia, as it was between 1800 and 1846. Arlington residents made it clear that they did not want to join DC, giving their own stereotyped gripes of big-city problems. A trimmed Virginia would keep neighboring Fairfax County- which has more registered Democrats than Arlington- not for political reasons, but for economic reasons. Fairfax is home to Fortune 500 companies; and Dulles Airport, Virginia’s global hub with non-stop flights to Tel Aviv and Hong Kong. Without Fairfax, some commentators claimed that Virginia would become another rural, poor, Southern state.

A smaller proposal would shift several border counties across the line into West Virginia. When the mountainous state was created during the Civil War, border counties were invited to join West Virginia by referendum, and according to its governor, the invitation is still open.

Virginia’s secession talk has more gravitas in conversation than elsewhere, for the state has already split four times, and rejoined twice:

1792- Kentucky split from Virginia

1800- Alexandria, Virginia annexed to Washington, DC

1846- Alexandria returned to Virginia

1861- Virginia leaves the US for the Confederacy

            1863- West Virginia split off as a Union state

            1870- Virginia rejoins the US  

What propelled the secession talk in Virginia? Democrats introduced and voted on an “assault weapon” ban. It passed the House of Delegates, but failed by several votes in the State Senate. Apparently, this was too close of a call for gun-toting patriots. 

Living in the Selfie Society

Within just a few years, the smartphone and its incipient selfie stick have created a billion amateur photographers vying for the perfect shot. They will travel the world for the perfect picture to post on the Internet, on Instagram or Facebook. They seek special moments once found only in wild dreams.

They consist of generations (Millennials and Gen Z) who chooses to spend money on travel and technology, instead of squirreling away savings for down-payment on a house, a car, or retirement. They fly low-cost airlines and stay in Air BnBs. Instead of retail therapy, try travel therapy: Washington Dulles Airport advertises flights to London as a cure for the “Quarter Life Crisis”.

The opportunity for a commoner to travel far from home is a recent phenomenon. Even in the 1980’s, The Preppy Handbook quipped about “The Tour”, typically a young American’s first transoceanic sojourn, with de rigeur visits to London, Paris and Rome. These were carried out by privileged college students of means, while their middle-class co-eds were busy working for tuition money. Childhood stays in Europe and the Far East were reserved for children of diplomats and military “brats”, a dated term in the post 9-11, continuous-contingency world. Just a decade ago, my community paper, DC’s Northwest Current, would publish columns on residents who went to “interesting” destinations, often on government business. How have times changed.

In Amsterdam, locals lament touristic behaviors such as drunk and disorderly conduct, and interference at the farmer’s market. The small Dutch city hosted 20 million visitors last year. In the search for “authenticity”, to include Air BnB homeshares, it appears that inconvenience is imposed on locals and their residential neighborhoods. Washington, DC’s Metrorail lampooned “Escalefters”, people, usually tourists, who stand on the left side of the escalator, impeding the flow of rush-hour commuters. Despite the neighborly complaints, one must acknowledge that cities were built to handle the masses.

The ecological call to “tread lightly” in sensitive destinations is too often forgotten in the pursuit of personal glory. One article in the New York Times recalls the incredible amount of gear left on the climb to Mount Everest, and of the lines and congestion which detract from what ought to be a spiritual moment. More recklessly, vainglorious adventurers attempt the climb with insufficient preparation, and Sherpa guides feel pressure to head out in sub-optimal conditions.

One way to view the travel-selfie phenomenon is the concept of self-assertion in an economically uncertain era. The 1930’s had movies on the “silver screen” to provide an outlet of escapism. Today, “getting away” for a moment (from student debt or stultifying employment) requires little more than an airplane ticket.

Got My Name Changed Back

One prominent road in Arlington, Virginia just lost its Confederate name; and no one is looking back. Transecting Crystal City, future home of Amazon’s HQ2, Jefferson Davis Highway reverted to its pre-1920’s name, Richmond Highway. Signed as US Route 1, the road still connects Washington DC to Richmond, Virginia; though parallel Interstate 95 is the preferred, and usually quicker, alternative.  Route 1 is the common, layman’s name; except for the hotels and major businesses whose stationery list the once-lengthy street address bearing the Confederate States of America president’s name.

These business owners and representatives were supportive of the change. Damnata Memoria (Banished history) aside, a succinct name like Richmond Highway works in the text-and-Siri age. “Jefferson Davis” is also a mouthful to business partners and visitors for whom English is a second language.

When, in contrast, a residential street changes names, private citizens bear the burden of informing state agencies, banks and acquaintances of their new yet geographically identical address. Such is the talk in Hollywood, Florida, where city leaders are discussing renaming two suburban streets. In recognition of this challenge, local Lee Highway and Beauregard Street; also named after prominent Confederates, will retain their nomenclature for the foreseeable future.   

Another, slightly more southern segment of US Route 1 changed names sometime earlier. It occurred as a recently-country road was being upgraded to a thoroughfare compatible for the burgeoning national security and defense industries surrounding Fort Belvoir and Quantico. Street names are dynamic in the exurbs, where old roads designed to serve agriculture (literally, Farm-to-Market roads in Texas) are repurposed for office parks and residential cul-de-sacs. Motorists most likely noticed shorter backups well before they noticed a sanitized road name.

* This is my second blog post about Crystal City. Several years ago, before Jeff Bezos put the close-in suburb on the map, I pondered new uses for the transit-accessible, yet fading, neighborhood.

The Bag Tax Game

I've been wondering, if given the two choices, which is the more economical choice for the grocery consumer: A bag tax or a sales tax on groceries? Of course, a bag tax (or bag fee, as some newspapers put it) is avoidable-- just bring your own bag. So the following exercise is for those who don't want to change their behaviors: -I had the opportunity to test this idea when I went Chinese-grocery shopping in Fairfax, Virginia with Mother. Fairfax does not have a bag tax, and the State of Virginia charges a 2.5% tax on groceries, so of the $52.00 grocery bill, $1.30 went to the Governor's pot. And we got 12 plastic bags from the trip. -In the City of Washington, DC, there is no sales tax on groceries (soft drinks aside), but grocery bags (paper and plastic) are taxed at a nickel each. So 12 bags would cost 60 cents in all. --Thus, if the choice ever came up between implementing a grocery tax and a bag tax, go with the 5-cent bag tax. However, there are some cities that have chosen to be more "progressive" with the bag tax. At 10 cents per bag, as Los Angeles charges for paper bags*, a sales tax on groceries could be a better option for those refusing to part with their disposable grocery bags. The bag tax vs. grocery tax argument is pertinent in DC because our bag tax is applied only at food sellers, many of which fall under the tax-free grocery category. Therefore, your Neiman Marcus bag is still tax-free. (The purpose of the bag tax was to cut down on plastic bag litter; and grocery bags were the main culprits). The number of plastic bags you receive from a grocer is determined by the volume of the material; or weight, if double-bagging is concerned. Thus $2 of Ramen noodles can fill one plastic bag before $200 of caviar does (yes-- I once saw $50 small jars of caviar being sold on the shelf of Safeway in Georgetown, DC). In my example, we had a "well mixed" selection of groceries. Back to Fairfax, Virginia. Currently, the State doesn't allow cities to have a bag tax. If the green light was given, politically competitive Fairfax seems unlikely to start a bag tax. However, some politicians in Arlington, VA (across the river from DC) wish to start a bag tax on top of the existing grocery tax. Some of my readers may think that I'm talking about "crazy and radical ideas". In much of the country, talk of a "bag tax" is a moot and foreign subject. ("Seriously, that's the way the coastal people do things?") So what do I do in DC? Many of the groceries in DC offer "bag credits", that is, you get a nickel off your grocery bill for each of your own bags you use (CVS, Trader Joes', Whole Foods). By reusing one bag at the grocery store, and getting one new bag, I can continue to expand my 'stack' of plastic and paper bags at no cost, same as always. And if don't need more bags, then I can enjoy that nickel off the grocery bill. Thanks for reading. *Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gernot-wagner/la-plastic-bag-ban_b_1580707.html