My thoughts about promoting change in people I pass in my neighborhood on Capitol Hill, involve making it visible to those I interact with that I'm not just being socially aggressive by saying “Hello,” but that this is part of a bigger effort to promote neighborly social interactions. There is a French term “anomie” (also spelled “anomy”) that I think helps explain what underlies the lack of social interactions I experience. Here's what the Oxford dictionary says about anomie: "lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group." eg: "the theory that high-rise architecture leads to anomie in the residents" Vague forces in our modern urban life have produced the cold street interactions that have become all too common. To counteract those forces, we need to focus on what is going on and make clear what vision we have for enriching our daily urban interactions. Here's how I've started off normalizing my aggressive hellos – I...
