The Rock Creek Auction

Virtually every observer of America since de Tocqueville (1969 [1835]) has commented on the tension that exists, particularly in small towns, between the values of individuality and those of community, a tension shaped and exacerbated by a competitive economic system. On the one hand, individuality that takes the form of economic competition is regarded as desirable since it encourages individuals to display their best efforts by pursuing their self-interest. On the other hand, although neighbor competes against neighbor, community relationships that are warm and supportive are also regarded as important. Significantly, as observers have also frequently noted, Americans show little recognition of the essential tension and the dissonance between the principles on which their socioeconomic system is based. Indeed, much of the often reported complacency and boosterism expressed by small-town Americans stems from their conviction that the free enterprise system and neighborliness are entirely congruent bases of the best possible way of life (Lynd and Lynd 1929; 1937; Warner 1953; Vidich and Bensman 1958; Slater 1976; Varenne 1977; Bell 1978; Lasch 1984; and Bellah, et al. 1986). The intent here is not to document the obvious fact that residents of small towns throughout America have managed to deal with this conflict in such a way as to preserve their faith in the integrity of their system. Rather, it is to treat what is much less apparent: namely, how people have been able to do so, not only in good times but in bad

Archaeology · Competition (biology) · Contradiction · Economics · Epistemology · Geography · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Ecology · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment

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