Clusterf*ck Nation - one view of NOT community

     Clusterf*ck Nation is a blog maintained by an author named James Howard Kunstler. Anyone familiar with Kunstler's works could accurately state the author's views of community before an initial view of the blog. As one may assume from the blog title, James H. K. overtly emphasizes his distaste towards modern suburbia and sprawl. Though Kunstler writes primarily about economic issues in his articles, he manages to point out multiple times that the cause of such problems almost always relates directly to sprawl.
     Rather than explaining what a community should be, the author writes of the opposite. He clearly states that the current status of American housing manages to stray far from being an acceptable community and  that inefficient suburban planning provides a horrible foundation for a down-turned economy.Thus, a good community is one that does NOT include endless pavement, little land value, bad purchase decisions, or a group of people unaware that they are part of a bad community. Most of all, a good community does NOT become born from a single or few greedy, callous "developers".
     The multiple modes the author employs provides a sense of credibility towards his word. The layout of the site tells the reader that Kunstler is a "no-nonsense" speaker who strongly believes his words. At the top of the site is a picture of the author who does not seem to be bothered at all by his leanings. He establishes further credibility from the multiple denotations of his works around his pages. Kunstler takes full advantage of the electronic medium. Not only does he incorporate pictures and links into his blog but his entire blog is a piece of his main site. This method connects his web log with his other electronic accessibility, such as his podcast.
     The blog's recurring themes include Kunstler's analysis of economic downturns, views on updated political matters, and reminders of the absentmindedness of suburban Americans - all revolving around the author's perceived absence of an American community.

-Jaron Gao