Fighting the RI Machine

My return to the Providence Journal editorial pages today offers a synopsis of recent establishment v. reform events in Tiverton, with the suggestion that, since the powers who be are interconnected across the state, so should the reformers be aware of and cooperate with each other:

There seems to be little reason for residents of one municipality to take much interest in the controversies of another, but when once one hears them, they all have a familiar sound. Play the tones in concert, and the chord is that peculiarly Rhode Islandish dissonance that fosters apathy, inculcates a feeling of helplessness, and drives the American dreamer from the state.

Whether that effect is the fruit of careful orchestration or circumstances have merely attracted improvisational manipulators is a matter for debate during healthier times. At this moment, it is enough for Rhode Islanders to understand that defense of the unsustainable status quo will span all layers and branches of government, and the only hope for change is for us regular folk to unite in empathy and strategy.