tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post111016737218297667..comments2024-03-12T22:31:46.500-04:00Comments on What Would Phoebe Do?: Responding to an accusation of "David Brooksian rumination"Phoebe Maltz Bovyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17996039330841139883noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-1113789016529527262005-04-17T21:50:00.000-04:002005-04-17T21:50:00.000-04:00I've lived in two very Red States and two very Blu...I've lived in two very Red States and two very Blue parts or very Blue states, oh, and urban Sacramento, which is very purple. <BR/><BR/>If you want your kids to be provincial, in a blue way, just look at the last election map, county by county. Chicago, urban Michigan, New York and very South Florida are your best bets, along with the Bay Area, Santa Monica (and other areas of LA, but it depends--most places won't shun or crucify conservatives, too laid back. U usually have to find cold NE'n cities, and cold NE'n people for that), and much of Seattle. Oh, or, duh!, anywhere in Massachusetts. That state is 13% Republican. Wow. <BR/><BR/>Now to be preachy, your kids won't be very Progressive if they don't have to figure out why they're Progressive, by being challenged in their ideas. Dare to escape your comfort zone. It's like kindergarten, you've got to go learn to get along with the other kids in class. <BR/><BR/>I'm neither red nor blue, so I'm just gonna go somewhere diverse poltically/racially/religiously and let my kids see and hear everyone. I don't want them stifled by Left or Right Orthodoxy.Traveling Mattiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11724502853555940242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-1110205729166910152005-03-07T09:28:00.000-05:002005-03-07T09:28:00.000-05:00I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is not the redde...I live in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is not the reddest of the red and it's more urban and suburban that rural. The consumer culture is fine -- restaurants, museums, shops, etc. But the people...<br /><br />They're so conservative I can't have a conversation about politics without getting really pissed off. The worst thing is the assumption that everybody's conservative. So, I'll get in a conversation with other parents at my kids' school, and they'll feel perfectly comfortable stating that, for instance, gay teachers should be fired, expecting that everybody agrees with this "commonsensical" opinion. Same with religion: First time I meet anyone, the second question is, "Which church do you go to?" Everyone goes to church, right?<br /><br />It's this assumption of being red that makes feel totally alienated. I want to move somewhere where the assumption is the opposite, where jaws will drop if you start arguing that kids should be hit upside the head by teachers, or you can't have gay teachers.<br /><br />The question is where? NJ? NY? CT?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7146512.post-1110188096192349492005-03-07T04:34:00.000-05:002005-03-07T04:34:00.000-05:00I like how Mr. Drum is completely ignorant of what...I like how Mr. Drum is completely ignorant of what I consider to be the most important role of cities--that of the protector of "others." For centuries, cities have served as a meeting place for subcultures of all kinds: religious, racial, and sexual. <br /><br />Mr. Drum's analysis clearly indicates that he's never faced the dilemma of being a young gay man traveling in rural towns--or even some Chicagoland suburbs--in the Midwest, where, like it or not, it's <I>not</I> okay to be gay. Luckily (!) I've never faced the dilemma of having to travel to such places with a boyfriend, but I can assure you that it's not something I look forward to.<br /><br />So in short, Mr. Drum, I'm simply not very persuaded by the fact that you "don't get this." Because some of the rest of us...well, we do.<br /><br />From <I>The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert</I>:<br /><br />"We all sit around mindlessly slagging on that vile stinkhole of a city of ours, but in some strange way it takes care of us. I don't know if that ugly wall of suburbia has been put there to stop them getting in, or us getting out."Nickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14363311128428661742noreply@blogger.com