What do you think Birmingham look like in 10 yrs?? (Decatur: loft, low crime)

[Tourian]

Originally Posted by sleepless in Bham

I wouldnt say its the ''bluebloods'' un-willingness to bring pro sports here, its people in general here who are not pushing for a pro team, and why would they?

I didn't say that. Nor do I think Birmingham is ready for a major league team. 10 years from now, we could possibly be there.

[bluebeard]

I couldn't care less if we have a national sports team or not. I however, would care if the city or county made financial deals to make a space and to lure one here. I'd consider it a huge waste.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by Laocoön

You are envious and ungrateful. Ever consider that it's the old-monied in places like Birmingham who keep most of you employed and the city you live in of a sustainable human scale (unlike Atlanta)? The old money blue bloodsare not the enemy; they are great treasures: they are knowledgeable, time-tested, and thoughtful. They are proven at what they do/did for a living to earn their wealth. And if they did merely inherit their wealth, well, they are good stewards. They are the wise sages and indeed the backbones of our communities and cities. They keep business, enterprise, and innovation going, which drive progress and growth. They hold in the highest regard education, civility, and aesthetics -- the lynchpins of decent society and livable cities. If you are for eradicating wealth and the blue bloods, then get ready for life in a Third World country. There won't be anything left for them, or for you.

Wow. As somebody who lives, works, and circulates among the old money blue-bloods myself, I can tell you that this is an enormous load of self-congratulatory crap. The noblesse oblige you speak of, if it really exists at all, is more about social climbing than any sense of altruism.

To prove my point, do this the next time you don the tuxedo and cummerbund for a fundraiser. Circulate around the room and, rather than trade the usual banal gossip, really talk to your fellow partygoers about the reason for the night's entertainment. Start talking earnestly about dialysis or the needy or the symphony's recent performance of Mahler, and you'll get a flat, bovine stare. They'll excuse themselves and then stroll away to talk about things more in their comfort zone, such as Alabama's football fortunes or who's banging whom. A small fraction of them might actually give a rip, but for most of them it's just a reason to get dressed up--and don't you forget it.

As far as their success goes, I'll use the famous saw coined about our recent president, Mr. Bush: "He was born on third base and has spent his entire life bragging about hitting a triple." Oh, there's a bright motivated one or two among them, but most of them are kind of sad and generally can't be trusted to do more than make a decent gin and tonic.

Any village idiot can keep a successful family business running (And trust me, I've encountered a few in my career). Simply hire good handlers and don't blow the money. Yet in the family businesses I've observed, with the exception of the Brombergs, the wealth gets squandered by the third generation. The arc is depressingly familar. First generation is run by the go-getter entrepreneur. The second generation is all about protecting their lead. And the third generation is about saying, "The family business? Pshaw! That's boring! I'm off to study art at the Sorbonne." That is, if the family is lucky. Bradford is pretty much of a revolving door for MBHS and college students whose folks were far too involved in Junior League, the Heart Guild, or their little secret band of wife-swappers to pay attention to what the kiddies were doing in the parents' liquor cabinet.

Heck, all you have to do is look at the number of foreclosures and bank-owned houses in the Mountain Brook zip codes to see how many trust fund babies couldn't earn an honest dollar if their lives depended on it, once their Regions stock came crashing down to earth. I mean, anybody with a brain knew the financial crash was coming in 2008, yet these fossils were too absorbed in their golf games and lake houses to pay attention. I know several so-called pillars of the community who are in deep, deep hock to the bank right now and praying the economy doesn't spiral downward again. All because they were too absorbed in their hobbies three or four years ago to keep their eye on the ball. Can't say I didn't warn them. They just blinked back at me as if they were retarded owls and kept doing the same thing until it was too late. That's because they grew up too complacent to think beyond their next trip to Sanibel.

As far as the "backbones of the community" nonsense is concerned, they are more often than not stultifying presences in the community, inhibiting all change, even that for the better. Heck, we need no better example than Atlanta several decades ago. A entire planeload of civic and business leaders from Atlanta flew to Europe and crashed. The resulting leadership vacuum actually turned out to be a liberating thing for the city. Once those old-money mossbacks, the ones who sat on committees and basically opposed all change, were out of the way, Atlanta flourished as a community. It's a shocking fact to realize that Atlanta and Birmingham had roughly the same population in 1950. Only Atlanta had its deadwood cleared out in one fell swoop, while Birmingham still has to contend with its own. While I certainly don't countenance putting the top 200 civic leaders of Mountain Brook on a 737 and monkeying with the hydraulics, their loss would not be the civic cataclysm you think it would be.

Oh, and if these pillars of the community were such shining examples of morality to the rest of Birmingham, why don't they open up the Birmingham Country Club or Mountain Brook Country Club to black and Jewish members? Since when did bigotry become a civic virtue?

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Oh, and if these pillars of the community were such shining examples of morality to the rest of Birmingham, why don't they open up the Birmingham Country Club or Mountain Brook Country Club to black and Jewish members? Since when did bigotry become a civic virtue?

Is this really still true today?

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bluebeard

Is this really still true today?

Yes, indeed, outrageous as that might be. I have had the invitation extended to me to join Mountain Brook and Vestavia. I politely asked them about their membership policies and just as politely declined when they tried to justify it. Not to be some pious killjoy, but I can't reconcile going to church on Sunday morning and then enjoying Sunday brunch where bigotry against blacks and Jews is etched into the by-laws. Funny thing, that.

[bluebeard]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Yes, indeed, outrageous as that might be. I have had the invitation extended to me to join Mountain Brook and Vestavia. I politely asked them about their membership policies and just as politely declined when they tried to justify it. Not to be some pious killjoy, but I can't reconcile going to church on Sunday morning and then enjoying Sunday brunch where bigotry against blacks and Jews is etched into the by-laws. Funny thing, that.

They straight up told you that?! Holy crap. I know a ton of Jews that live in Mtn Brook. I don't know if any of them golf tho. Crazy.
I didn't grow up with "old money", so I didn't realize it even truly existed outside of movies until I started traveling to the eastern half, so no matter how long I live here it never ceases to amaze me. The are I grew up in is pretty much all immigrants, filled with people that might have been rich, poor, or in between in their home countries, usually had either a great education or a horrible one, but definitely had little US money and a lot of motivation on arrival.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by bluebeard

They straight up told you that?! Holy crap.
I didn't grow up with "old money". The Bay Area is pretty pretty all immigrants, filled with people that might have been rich, poor, or in between in their home countries, but definitely had little US money on arrival.

Yep. To be sure, they used euphemisms. But when I asked directly, "So a black man can't be a member here, right?" they said, no, sorry.

Which is a shame. After all, Birmingham has worked so hard to eliminate most of its racist past. You'd think these boneheads, the so-called leadership of the area, would take the lead in this department, rather than trail twenty years behind.

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by cpg35223

Yep. To be sure, they used euphemisms. But when I asked directly, "So a black man can't be a member here, right?" they said, no, sorry.

Which is a shame. After all, Birmingham has worked so hard to eliminate most of its racist past. You'd think these boneheads, the so-called leadership of the area, would take the lead in this department, rather than trail twenty years behind.

Birmingham isn`t the only city.I`ve heard of the same in so called(progressive) cities such as Miami and Dallas.

[PortCity]

Originally Posted by Laocoön

You are envious and ungrateful. Ever consider that it's the old-monied in places like Birmingham who keep most of you employed and the city you live in of a sustainable human scale (unlike Atlanta)? The old money blue bloodsare not the enemy; they are great treasures: they are knowledgeable, time-tested, and thoughtful. They are proven at what they do/did for a living to earn their wealth. And if they did merely inherit their wealth, well, they are good stewards. They are the wise sages and indeed the backbones of our communities and cities. They keep business, enterprise, and innovation going, which drive progress and growth. They hold in the highest regard education, civility, and aesthetics -- the lynchpins of decent society and livable cities. If you are for eradicating wealth and the blue bloods, then get ready for life in a Third World country. There won't be anything left for them, or for you.

LOL.... And how the hell am I envious and ungrateful you don’t know me !! I live a comfortable life I`m financially blessed .I have no need to be envious of no one that is why I decided to go to college. I earned my BS in Huntsville and I moved back to my city and I will be graduating with my Masters from The University of South Alabama`s School of Biomedical Sciences December 2011.And I don’t have to worry about paying student loans either again I`m blessed my friend.

Old money keep most of who employed ? Ha ! I joined the Airforce when I graduated with my BS .I`m employed by Uncle Same and not old money. I was offerd a job with the U.S Corps of Enginers here in Mobile also.

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by PortCity

LOL.... And how the hell am I envious and ungrateful you don’t know me !! I live a comfortable life I`m financially blessed .I have no need to be envious of no one that is why I decided to go to college. I earned my BS in Huntsville and I moved back to my city and I will be graduating with my Masters from The University of South Alabama`s School of Biomedical Sciences December 2011.And I don’t have to worry about paying student loans either again I`m blessed my friend.

Old money keep most of who employed ? Ha ! I joined the Airforce when I graduated with my BS .I`m employed by Uncle Same and not old money. I was offerd a job with the U.S Corps of Enginers here in Mobile also.

And he's also incredibly wrong as far as the old money keeping people in the 'ham employed. Most of the employment comes from places such as UAB, the major banks, etc. etc. Those old-money outfits really don't count for much in the market.

Do you think the guy is pulling our leg? Or could he really be that clueless?