thecages

And so my trip ended in Washington(I'm back home now).
In many ways it's very apt that this be the case since Washington is so central to the identity of American society.
Monuments and memorials abound and the downtown area (around the White House, Capitol Hill and the Mall) is undoubtedly the center of the known political universe.

Washington was my favourite city to visit[1] and it has joined only three other cities[2] as a place that I would live in at the drop of a hat.
It is a leafy city with genuinely old suburbs within cycling distance of downtown; great urban living.




Washington feels more mature and focussed than the other cities I visited(Orlando especially) and somehow more settled. This appeals to me as I approach my late late late late twenties and prepare to descend into suspender city.

And downtown Washington kicks ass, managing to be both attractive[3] and all business. This is especially the case in the center of the center of political power; the corner of 16th Avenue and K Street[4].


K Street is known for the political lobby firms that are its tennants. These are the true professional politicials. They work behind the scenes to broker deals and promote the interests of their corporate clients.



Washington comes across as a very literate and conversationally active city, not least because of the numerous newspaper stands on just about every street corner. I counted at least 5 free daily newspapers(2 of them in Spanish) which could easily compete with South African paid-for dailies.


And, of course, it is very politically active. Not just in the politiking that saturates the downtown area[5] but also in the very visible display of political affiliations and protest.
In contrast to this the rest of America struck me as undoubtedly patriotic, but distinctly a-political.








It is also somehow very fitting that my trip should end in Washington since it is from here that modern America is produced and tumbles forth.
And this is not to say that the inhabitants of the city are just good ol' regular 'mericans - quite the opposite.
They are tough, urbane and, I'm convinced, pragmatic people.
But it is they who shape(dare I say control[6]?) wider America and determine its course into decline or triumph.



[1] And not only because it was the first day I had off in a week and a half.
[2] Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Rio de Janeiro
[3] The people are _very_ well dressed as are the numerous lunch time bakeries and sandwich places that cater to the power brokers and their staff.
[4] Of which I somehow didn't get a picture, so K and 19th will have to do.
[5] Just about every building is either a government agency or an NGO or just plan a industry lobby group.
[6] I don't think it does qualify as control. It's too subtle for that. I'm left with the impression that the serious management that greater America is subject to is not about a power elite who scamper from one secret society meeting to the next. It's just that America is a consumer-based society and that this special brand of myopic patriotism and goldfish-memory approach to government is the most efficient way to run the massive consumption that their economy requires. More on this later. So, is the Empire in Decline? It's not that simple.