Among the most important trends in American public life over the last century is the increased attention paid to the goings-on in Washington, DC. Prior to airplanes, cars, and mass communication, when life centered on a small geographic area and its community, there was little reason to fixate on that distant city or its federal government that possessed little power or money. Citizens’ minds were understandably occupied by the close-to-home.
But over decades, we were increasingly connected to a broader world by newspapers, radio, television, train tracks, and highways. And as international trade blossomed, foreign wars erupted, and federal domestic policy initiatives expanded, Washington’s activities could no longer be ignored. It’s no wonder why our eyes—for ages trained on towns, counties, cities, and states—were more often pulled to the shores of the Potomac.
But nearby institutions still have a natural gravitational force. We are drawn to them because we see them, we know the people running them, and we’re affected daily by their decisions. You would think that each of us would dedicate to the close and familiar the lion’s share of whatever energy we reserve for politics and policy. So why is it that our attention is glued to Washington? It’s a city many of us never visit, and it’s led by people we don’t know behaving in ways we often don’t like. And as that city does less and less meaningful work on real issues, it engages more and more in abstract debates far removed from our everyday experience. How in the world does Washington transfix us?
Theater.
Continue reading the entire piece here at American Habits
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Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter here.
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