Irony economy

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				THE
Column Archive				VIRGINIA GAZETTE
				WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA
Irony economy				December 12, 2009

One of the major complaints among writers these days is that irony is dead and literalism is in. Thanks to the advent of tweets, twitters and hastily written e-mails, people, and especially young people, no longer take time to read serious literature and hence have become totally unaware of the literary tropes that used to form the foundation of linguistic niceties.

And that’s too bad, since irony is part of the human condition, and the fact that we no longer recognize it when it crops up in or out of a literary context only enhances the dullness that accrues to a life lived in a framework delineated by the torpor of literalism.

This is especially disturbing in these stressful times of political, economic and social upheaval, when the only release might well come from the levity associated with situations that wreak of irony.

While, for instance, the present discussions about healthcare are tearing apart the Senate, you have to smile at the bogus attempts of Republicans to come to the rescue of Medicare and the welfare of senior citizens. These are the same Republicans, you recall, who initially opposed the whole Medicare system and who over the years have sought to dismantle it piece by piece. Deliver us from government-run healthcare!

But irony is all around us, and not least of all right here in James City County.

Just a couple of weeks ago the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors were twisted up like pretzels, as they tried to give birth to a new Comprehensive Plan that would foster, without fostering, growth. But growth there will be and perhaps the unsustainable rise in population figures that attend it.

And that would be fine but for the fact that last week county administrator Sandy Wanner announced that, thanks to the economic downturn, the county coffers are approaching empty. Growth aside, we can’t support services for the residents we have now.

Thanks to previous growth, we’re building schools as fast as we can to accommodate more students. In fact, 58% of the county budget now goes for schools and education. Yet one of Wanner’s proposals to bring an emasculated budget into line is to cut after school programs in elementary and middle schools. In addition, there will certainly be staff reductions and perhaps cuts in some educational programs.

Evidently the philosophy we’ve decided upon is that it’s fine to erect buildings and then skeletonize what transpires in them.

Similarly, what attracts meaningful growth to the county is the quality of life that has become associated with a civilized milieu.

But when money becomes tight, administrators zero in immediately on contributions to things like libraries, recreational facilities and community service organizations. While libraries and recreation constitute only 6% of the county budget, Wanner is nevertheless sounding out the possibility reducing funds for our regional libraries, as well as cutting hours at the WJC Community Center and perhaps closing altogether the James River Community Center.

Outdoor pools may be shut down in the summer and park hours reduced. Leaf collection and curbside recycling may well go by the boards. Rather astoundingly, even contributions to the James City Volunteer Rescue Squad might be cut.

Strangely not mentioned in the cutting process are empty school buses that roam the streets at just about any hour of the day, empty trolleys that run between New Town and Colonial Williamsburg and empty WAT buses that roll out early in the morning on weekends. Nor do we hear mentioned the possibility of paring high school sports programs, which are evidently inviolable.

Do we really need a highly staffed Sheriff’s Department in addition to county police, William & Mary police, Williamsburg police, state police and the York County Sheriff’s Department?

Is all this not totally ironic? How can we even consider the growth possibilities hashed out in the Comprehensive Plan when we can’t deal with real waste and come anywhere near supporting the population we have now?

What we’re involved in is a voracious cycle of increased growth, increased demand for services and a budget shortfall of $5-6 million that can sustain none of it.

No doubt about it. Thanks to the planning laxity of the past, the crunch is now upon us. Obviously higher property taxes and additional taxes on cars and electricity are in the mix and will continue to be in the mix as we stumble into a future that demands more resources than we can provide. When times are tough, it’s grow and go broke.

And that’s about as ironic as it gets.