I'm into my last 24 hours of vacation here near Camden, Maine. This is the kind of place that makes you feel a little off for thinking too abstractly. People here build things solidly, taking into account the hardships of winter. They are - by and large - resilient in the face of economic cycles. They enjoy good food and good company, but don't seem to relish in excess. They're politically ecclectic, but tend to elect centrist politicians from either party.
The state is in transition. A kayak guide (with a graduate degree in philosophy) (what else?) told me that there used to be two Maines: the southern and the northern parts. Now there are the coastal and the inland part, with the dividing line going a few hundred yards from the coast. There are beautiful houses along the shoreline that are inhabited at most a few weeks a year; permanent residents mostly can not afford these places and live inland.
For all this, "authentic" Maine is nothing to get too nostalgic about.
Fishing is back-breaking hard and dangerous work, and the industry faces a significant dilemma in choosing between current income and long-term preservation. I read somewhere that in order for the lobster stock to reach healthy levels, we'd have to stop catching lobsters for several years - pretty much putting a whole industry out of work.
Agriculture in Maine is limited by short summers and long winters. Organic farming probably has a future here, but for yield and cost this will never approach the plains or California's Central Valley.
Tourism and ther service industries is the state's future. Camden is actively promoting itself as a Christmas destination, and it's probably lovely here that time of year. Fall foliage is undoubtedly spectacular, and in the spring there's white-water rafting.
But what remains most attractive about Maine is that everyone seems to reasonable. They enjoy the summer but keep the winter in mind; they build things that are durable and take pleasure in it. They're not ashamed about being commercially minded but don't obsess over it either. There are probably other places like it in the US, but there's something hopeful to be found here about the future America.
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