The ongoing controversy over what to do about the financial meltdown has generated its defining cliche. Is there a politician in America who is not dedicated, at least rhetorically, to the proposition that “we need to help Main Street, not Wall Street”? Barack Obama and John McCain were all over this one in the debate last Friday, and I expect Sarah Palin and Joe Biden to echo them tonight.
The truth is that the Main Streets of America’s small towns and cities died years ago. Retail moved out to the bypass, first to strip malls and then to Wal-Mart. So did restaurants, as fast-food franchises and other chains replaced local diners, and the public library. Churches either moved or saw their congregations dwindle and age, with funerals far outnumbering baptisms and weddings. Why hunt for a space and then try to parallel park when you could wheel your truck or SUV into a big lot?
Parking’s not a problem on Main Street any more. Drive down the block and here’s what you’ll find: the courthouse, a few lawyers’ offices, a bail bondsman or two, a thrift shop, a knickknack store run by a retired couple with time on their hands, a bank, several boarded-up buildings, and some churches with much bigger sanctuaries than congregations.
Has anyone in Washington been on Main Street lately? It’s a fair question: Three of the first four debates this year are in heartland states: Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. We’ll know our leaders know their country when they talk about preserving small-town life as it exists today — not downtown but on the bypass.
(Photo of Miles City, Montana by Flickr user dave_mcmt)
