I heard about this book from a neighbour who attended the recent Georgetown Conference in PEI, on the topic of rural renewal, where Griffiths was the keynote speaker. Summaries I’ve heard of the conference have been, “It’s all about attitude.” That’s the gist of the book, too. I usually really dislike “attitude-improvement” pep-talks, yet I thought this was a really good book.
The title describes the authors’ comedic approach: list things to do (or not do) if you want to kill a rural community. Of course the actual point is the opposite. Here is the list:
- Don’t have quality water.
- Don’t attract business. (The book emphasizes the importance of healthy competition within a community, pointing out that wherever the authors have seen small communities with thriving grocery stores, there are always more than 1 grocery store. That holds true in my community.)
- Ignore your youth.
- Deceive yourself about your real needs or values.
- Shop elsewhere.
- Don’t paint.
- Don’t cooperate.
- Live in the past.
- Ignore your seniors.
- Reject everything new.
- Ignore outsiders.
- Become complacent.
- Don’t take responsibility.
I think that if someone is in a rural community, trying to make a difference in a broad sense, they they should re-read this book every three or four years, in order to get refocused.
The book is very strong on its sense of rich hands-on experience, its practical direction, and its deep reflections.
The book could have used some closer editing, with an increasing number of typos into the later chapters.
The authors also mention that there is a wealth of quantitative research available on rural development. I would have appreciated a brief bibliography of such material.
I don’t think he ever mentions or quotes from Putnam’s Bowling Alone, but I’m guessing the authors are fans of it.
WhatPastorSamIsReading 