Diversified ways of thinking

Evan:

Nice house! I used to have lake property but it became too much of a PITA to look after for what amounted to less than 1 month of use per year. I did good on the sale though.

Also, for some reason I've noticed a large number of folks in the "cowboy culture" who are gay, though not Out. Just doesn't seem to add up in the usual way. No big deal to me, I could care less.

Though I've always felt that anybody who takes the time to brush and pet and ride a horse just *can't* be a bad person. What do you think?

MarinJohn:

I'm one of those "Right Wing Nutjobs" who also tends to have a "Live And Let Live" attitude. It's risky and stereotypical to label somebody, so I don't bother even trying.

I *personally* prefer living in a bustling, vibrant city instead of some God Forsaken Hicksville. Or some frozen wasteland but don't even get me started on THAT. I'm stuck here until I can get my folks into a nice retirement community.

Let's not forget that my Aunt and Uncle live around 40 minutes north of SF in Santa Rosa. I enjoy visiting them and *really* like exploring San Fran and the Napa Valley. I love culture and vibrant economies and reasonably friendly crowds in general. I've even thought of moving to Santa Rosa and *really* think the Telegraph Hill area is cool.

Although I personally don't approve of the so-called "homosexual lifestyle" who the h*** am I to tell you or anybody else what to do?? I'm comfortable enough to admit I get a bit put off when two homosexuals "make out" on the street as I'm walking by. I *also* get put off when two heterosexuals make out on the street. Get a motel room.

In my field I have co-workers who are gay, some Out some not. So what? People are people: some are nice, some are Evil, some may become your Best Friends, some may try to swindle your last dime, some are very bright, some need a detailed instruction sheet to change a light bulb. I guess I've described Human Beings in general. Hmmmm.

I suppose if a certain lifestyle and/or element *forcibly* infringes on me, I would have a lot of concern then. Especially if it comes out of my pocketbook in the form of direct or indirect taxes. Example?

How about biker gangs? These two-bit thugs roaring around on straight-pipe motorcycles with a famous name, the initials are HD. I personally like Honda and Suzuki motorcycles, at least they don't sound like an old John Deere tractor.

The biker gangs seem to embrace a certain "bad boy" culture, which appears to be Lowest Common Denominator. I wonder how much those scumbags suck out of my taxes due to crime? They're very easy to spot, let's do something about them.

How about street gangs? I've never understood this "bang bang shoot 'em up" attitude. I'm also an NRA member, I just don't get this culture of random violence. Must be all those gory video games. They're pretty easy to spot too. Look what all that violence costs society.

How about druggies? Show me why somebody has the "right" to use narcotics. Cigarettes and booze are bad enough, especially cigs the "revenue" from their legal sale and taxation was a fraction of the true societal cost. As far as booze, look at all the traffic fatalities caused by drunken driving. Look at all the drunks out there, the abusive families.

With druggies, I really can't understand why when somebody OD's we have EMT's pump them full of Naloxone (Narcan) to bring them back to life. They obviously place little value in human life - at least their own - who am I to argue with that? It's their body and their choice in the end, they have Free Agency.

I don't think "gays" in general are that much more likely to contract fatal illnesses than "normal" promiscuous people. Note I mentioned *promiscuous* for a reason. There are a lot of folks out there who have a *real* problem keeping their fly zipped, and last time I checked HIV was an "equal opportunity employer."

When straights have a problem keeping their fly zipped, we have a lot of trouble with STD's, unwanted pregnancies, broken homes, etc etc. If somebody wants to play the field like that, at the very least they had better make d*** sure nobody else gets hurt in the process.

There is one odd thing I've noticed about folks moving to/from a small community or "middle" community: almost without exception, people who run small communities are running *dying* small communities. Instead of being aggressive WRT job growth and change, they're afraid of their own shadow, especially in a One Horse town.

So young folks naturally have to leave for job opportunities. All you have left behind are oldsters and - let's be honest here - dufus people. Which tends to reinforce that "don't rock the boat - change is bad" attitude. So that community implodes with almost 100% support from the members of that community. Oh well, TFB, hey wasn't there a town here along the Interstate?

While living in SLC, I noticed a *huge* number of folks moving in from LA, Sacramento, and SF. A huge number of CA plates on cars there. And I doubt that most of them were Mormons coming home to "roost." Sometimes folks just want a change of scenery I guess. I liked living in SLC.

So John you have put together a very well thought-out post with many valid points and you certainly have raised awareness. I enjoy reading your posts please keep it up.

 

John:

Thanks for saying so!

As far as the magnetic draw of the Coasts, may I also modify that to include a lot of larger cities? Places like the Twin Cities, Denver, SLC, Vegas, etc??

I was born in a real s*** hole tiny community and we moved around a lot until I was 14. The joy and wonder of the heavy construction industry. For a lot of reasons, I just despise s*** hole backwards places.

I kid you not: these places implode because their community leaders *want* them to implode. I think the real reason they are afraid of change, of being progressive *and* aggressive in brining in new jobs, is that they are truly *afraid* of intelligent people.

Remember that in most s*** hole tiny imploding communities, the people that run the town or county (Municipality or District up here) are not exactly the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree. You can even find high school and grade school dropouts in those positions.

So they almost become schizophrenic in their approach to local economic development. On the one hand, they *desperately* need more jobs. On the other hand, what would happen if a high-tech pharmaceutical did suddenly plunk down in an empty field and import several hundred college graduates?

Holy s***! Total culture shock, serious challenges to their "authority."

Even better, these s*** hole small community leaders p*** and moan about all the young folks who leave for college and never return. They almost sound resentful that those folks can toss off the chains and clear their heads. And once they leave, they can *not* return and fit in.

So you have the implosion start, and more crappy tiny homes with boarded up windows. Many of these s*** hole tiny communities are like zombies: they're already dead, they just refuse to accept it. ARRGGHHH GRRRRRR Must drink your blood!!

:roll:

I've had lifelong residents of these tiny communities offer me opinions on places like the Twin Cities, or SLC, all negative of course. "There shootouts on every street corner ... you'll end up dead in a ditch somewhere ... it's too busy ..."

Keep in mind the same folks opining have never, ever been to the place they are offering those negative opinions on. They have formed weird paradigms and gestalts and consider it Case Closed.

Personally, I feel that agriculture, light industry, pharmaceuticals, high technology, and heavy industry can peacefully co-exist in the same community. But only if you have a progressive small community. Sort of an oxymoron isn't it?

I've been to Boston and NYC many times on business and find them entertaining and enlightening places to visit. However, the local climate in winter just doesn't appeal to me. Once you experience a warm - indeed hot - and usually dry climate, there is *no* going back.

I like the SF Bay area, I also really like the Napa Valley. Vegas is ok, very busy and you feel the energy. Mesquite, NV has the same feel with under 30,000. SLC is very nice, great skiing and winters aren't brutally cold.

St. George has been, so far, the best "compromise" I've been able to find: not too big, not too small, not too busy and not too slow. When you get right down to it, where you live is a compromise.

Oh, and like Evan I made waves when I was young. Not with pierced ears or blue spiked hair. In the s*** hole small town I was then living in, the "loser crowd" was already doing that. Back then, computers were just being introduced into schools, and I really dived into them.

To a semi-illiterate person, the only thing more shocking than pierced ears is mysterious blinking lights and "gobbledegook" on a flickering green screen. Never looked back.

 

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Evan:

Me too. Trust me that goes a long way to preventing others from instilling their bulls*** on you.

Though as we not-so-gracefully age, we tend to become cranky 'ole coots.

I suppose one day when we're sitting in The Cranky Ole Coot Home reminiscing about how as young whipper-snappers we made a few waves, there will be happy feelings and utter disbelief from our great-great grandkids who have Cyborg implants that allow them to shoot real laser beams at annoying squirrels.