Why is the Bay Area so Liberal? (Vincent: rent, buy)

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

Hey! I'm old! The Honda is comfortable and reliable. It'll likely outlive me since we only put about 7-8,000 miles a year on it.

I hear 'ya! It's kinda like the fancy custom chopper that an "older" friend of mine built, as a sort of "gonna recapture my youth" project. And I particularly remember when he was in the first planning stages of his "badass bike", that the very first thing on his mind wasn't going to be the fancy paint job, or the custom wheels, the frame, all the chrome, etc..... it was the "Seat", which absolutely had to be cushy, over-upholstered, plus well-sprung underneath, and definitely this bike wasn't gonna be any old-school 'hardtail' (a frame with no shocks)! Funny how our 'priorities' do change as we get older!

[californio sur]

Mateo may be correct in pointing out that the Bay Area is more cerebral. Educated people, in general, are more liberal though I know there are many exceptions [so calm down Curmudgeon ]. Progressive thinkers are highly educated and\or academicians. The people we would expect to study & introduce new thinking. That's why I can't understand why all people don't accept progressiveness [it's a matter of looking into the future & preparing society]. Electric\ solar cars is an example of progressives understanding finite resources\ climate change vs clean energy\ environment. California has to be liberal in order to solve problems. It seems conservatives just want things to stay the same with no plans\ outlook.

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Mateo may be correct in pointing out that the Bay Area is more cerebral. Educated people, in general, are more liberal though I know there are many exceptions [so calm down Curmudgeon ]. Progressive thinkers are highly educated and\or academicians. The people we would expect to study & introduce new thinking. That's why I can't understand why all people don't accept progressiveness [it's a matter of looking into the future & preparing society]. Electric\ solar cars is an example of progressives understanding finite resources\ climate change vs clean energy\ environment. California has to be liberal in order to solve problems. It seems conservatives just want things to stay the same with no plans\ outlook.

No argument. But the problem with academe is that it's all theoretical and put together by people who have never really worked for a living or lived in the "real"
world. Theory is great. Practical application is something else again!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by californio sur

Mateo may be correct in pointing out that the Bay Area is more cerebral. Educated people, in general, are more liberal though I know there are many exceptions [so calm down Curmudgeon ]. Progressive thinkers are highly educated and\or academicians. The people we would expect to study & introduce new thinking. That's why I can't understand why all people don't accept progressiveness [it's a matter of looking into the future & preparing society]. Electric\ solar cars is an example of progressives understanding finite resources\ climate change vs clean energy\ environment. California has to be liberal in order to solve problems. It seems conservatives just want things to stay the same with no plans\ outlook.

You are dead on with this!. I share the same opinion as you do here. The problem is, most conservatives simply don't believe that resources are finite. We've never run out before so why should we now? When we say stuff like this, it's just us liberals "using scare tactics". What I don't understand is, why is wanting to protect resources and the environment a scare tactic? I will never ever understand why so many people are so against this. Burning of fossile fuels is such an 1800's way of doing things. I'm hearing now that we have reached the peak on the amount of oil we can produce. The answer isn't continued drilling. That too will eventually run out and/or we will have another catastrophe like what's going on in the gulf right now.

Cumudgeons argument over us liberals doing things that haven't been proven holds no water. The mere fact that things were done when the outcome was unknown is how America became the most powerful nation in the history of the world. We set up national parks before anyone even knew what that meant. We set up public schools from which everyone else modeled after before we even knew what that would mean. These were, in their time period, considered liberal and/or progressive ideas of their time. If being conservative really means sticking to what we know (staying in our comfort zones), thank God California is liberal!

[majoun]

Originally Posted by mateo45

I've noticed that for a supposedly "happier" bunch, "red" folks sure seem to drink and chain-smoke a helluva lot! And as far as the rest of that 'self-sufficient', 'country-fied', 'cowboy' B.S.... it's all just a hillbilly fantasy. To see the reality of "eating things they've hunted", just check out the drive-thrus at places like the Colonel or the Golden Arches. A "cowboy/cowgirl" just means you have a K-Mart cowboy hat and a "I'm a roper not a doper" sticker on your unpaid gas-guzzlin' Ford pickem-up. And being "self-sufficient" is going down to pick up your SSI or unemployment check (that is, after quitting your 'cowboy' job at cable-installing or Taco Bell)!

Reminds me of the joke about 'how does a cowboy seduce women?'.....
"Come on into mah pickup...!"

Just as there are conservatives who live a stereotypically "liberal lifestyle", there are also liberals who live a stereotypically "conservative lifestyle" of the sort you mentioned. Even in California

[mateo45]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

No argument. But the problem with academe is that it's all theoretical and put together by people who have never really worked for a living or lived in the "real" world. Theory is great. Practical application is something else again!

Would agree that the "practical" and the "theoretical" types don't always jibe well together. And I think you've actually touched on two of the great unspoken "philosophical differences" underlying alot of the current state of things. Do we trust "education & ideas (& change)", or do we stick with "tried & true, what we know, and no change/conserve(-ativism)"?

But like everything else in the "culture wars", both of these kinds of basically different approaches to life have been deliberately polarized, lines have been drawn, and they're exploited for political gain. Yet each approach has its advantages (and disadvantages), and like it or not, modern life (and a competitive world) requires respect for both.

Originally Posted by majoun

Just as there are conservatives who live a stereotypically "liberal lifestyle", there are also liberals who live a stereotypically "conservative lifestyle" of the sort you mentioned. Even in California

Although on the other hand, they may have to pry my "stereotypes" from my cold, dead fingers....!

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by mateo45

Would agree that the "practical" and the "theoretical" types don't always jibe well together. And I think you've actually touched on two of the great unspoken "philosophical differences" underlying alot of the current state of things. Do we trust "education & ideas (& change)", or do we stick with "tried & true, what we know, and no change/conserve(-ativism)"?

But like everything else in the "culture wars", both of these kinds of basically different approaches to life have been deliberately polarized, lines have been drawn, and they're exploited for political gain. Yet each approach has its advantages (and disadvantages), and like it or not, modern life (and a competitive world) requires respect for both.

Although on the other hand, they may have to pry my "stereotypes" from my cold, dead fingers....!

I think there needs to be a healthy mix of the two else one side of the equation or the other throws the baby out with the bath water.

Both have merit as you've stated. If we don't try new things we'll never know. If we don't learn from history we're condemned to repeat it. 'Tis a puzzlement!

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by Curmudgeon

I think there needs to be a healthy mix of the two else one side of the equation or the other throws the baby out with the bath water.

Both have merit as you've stated. If we don't try new things we'll never know. If we don't learn from history we're condemned to repeat it. 'Tis a puzzlement!

Now that is one of the best things I've seen posted on CD.

[californio sur]

Originally Posted by Gentoo

Now that is one of the best things I've seen posted on CD.

Curmudgeon is a closet liberal. He occasionally reacts to certain things but lacks the ideology of the Right. Too much "California" in his old bones!

[RedJacket]

Socially SF is liberal, but economically, its more conservative.