Public Works

Hannah Arendt distinguished between three forms of active life.

1. Labor. These are the everyday chores that one needs to do to sustain life: procuring food, sweeping the floor, brushing your teeth.

2. Action. This is political activity, coming together in public to decide who we are as a community.

3. Work. Work isn’t the same thing as labor because the effort is directed toward making something that’s durable such as the Washington Monument or a dog house.

Arendt was critical of modern capitalist democracies and communist countries because in her view they both devalued work and reduced politics to the management of labor. We busy ourselves with producing, and even things that should be durable, such as schools, roads and houses, become merely functional and expendable. No flourishes are added because you’re just going to throw it away anyway. She believed such an overwhelming emphasis on the mundane and everyday robed modern society of meaning and a sense of belonging and purpose.

The ancient Egyptians had the pyramids. The ancient Athenians had the Acropolis. The ancient Druids had Stonehenge. The ancient Mayans, Aztecs and Incas had their grand public works projects. Cambodia had Angkor Wat. Arendt also includes works of literature, music and art. All of these things help shape a society, give it form, and inform citizens of who they are.

We have our works, too, despite the modern devaluation. When I was living in West Virginia, I often felt deep appreciation for the Civilian Conservation Corp when I visited one of the state parks and saw all of their enduring efforts, the cabins, the walkways, the administration buildings, picnic pavilions. The structures were far more than merely functional. They were meant to enhance our enjoyment of the parks and to encourage us to visit frequently. The massive effort that it took to create the Mist Trail in Yosemite is like that. We allocated the resources and countless workers spent months and years to built it so that year after year thousands and thousands without any special mountain climbing skills could get up there and see the view. Why? Because that’s who we are. We appreciate the experience so much that we’re willing to do that even though the end result wasn’t practical or necessary. It wasn’t about making anyone rich or putting food on the table. Walking up the Mist Trail is like going on a pilgrimage. The Golden Gate bridge isn’t merely functional. It’s a thing of beauty. It inspires awe. And now, hardly anyone could image San Francisco without it. I think the effort to reach the moon was a grand public works project. The Cold War might have spurred us on, but who was thinking of the Russians when they watched Neil Armstrong make his giant leap? It was a spiritual event that brought us together.

I suspect Trump’s wall is tapping into this cultural need and urge among his base. It might not be practical, but in their view, it will be a lasting monument to who they think we are as a society. Sadly, it would be a monument to racism and nationalism. It would say, “We are over here, and you are over there. Now stay over there.”

I don’t want to see the wall built, and if it is built, I think we’ll need to take it down at some point in the future. But maybe there’s another more positive grand public effort that will help define us and give us a common goal.