How liberal/open minded is Austin Comapred to... (Houston, San Antonio: ski resort, how much)

[jwb123]

Austin isn't as liberal as it is indifferent to the individuality and eccentricities of others. People adorned with symbols of expression, or vocal with their strident views mostly get yawns from those of us who are use to that.

Again, I have to totally agree. I would use the label as indifferent, vs. liberal. It's just more like "Yea whatever..." sort of vibe, not "Oh my gosh, how shocking..." and liberal, in the sense of Seattle at least, is kind of a negative, or at least gives off a negative tone... like, "I have the RIGHT to act out in any way I want, positive or negative and you WILL notice it and CARE!!!!"

If Seattle is Liberal, I would say Austin is Libertarian!

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by Austinitegirl

...We may not quite be the hemp-wearing, organic-gluten-free-lactose-free-free-range-chicken-pooped-on granola-eating, birkenstock-wearing, Wheatsville co-op shopping, So-Co living, make-our-dogs-eat-vegan-dog-food, patchoulli-smelling farts, recycle-our-toilet-paper kind of liberals, but we don't walk around with shaved heads and black army boots either.

Your entire post was one of the funniest I've read in a long time, but I had to single-out that brilliantly over-the-top description of the most extreme version of a stereotype. Genius!

Your characterization of West Texas is interesting. I think you have to be more specific, that's a vast region with a lot of variety and there's a strong libertarian streak in central-west Texas (the Free-Thinker movement from Germany was located in the Hill Country, after all), the border towns are semi-liberal due to the cultural mixing, but if you're referring to Midland or Amarillo then I agree. Those are some seriously conservative places.

[TheHarvester]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

If Seattle is Liberal, I would say Austin is Libertarian!

Yup.
Austin's response to attention-seekers is basically

[austin-steve]

I would say Austin is Libertarian!

To add to that, I think most people are Libertarian and don't know it. Or they are at least closer in a broader range of areas and issue to being Libertarian than they are Republican or Demorcat.

[Mom2Feebs]

Austin is considered a blue state.

[twange]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

To add to that, I think most people are Libertarian and don't know it. Or they are at least closer in a broader range of areas and issue to being Libertarian than they are Republican or Demorcat.

I agree with that...now the party just needs a good, strong candidate to throw a banana peel under the current "thing" that our two-party system has become...

Ok, I sense this topic is veering left...or maybe right...or...

[jwb123]

Austin is considered a blue state.

I didn't know Austin was considered a state at all!

[TheHarvester]

Travis County has more people than Vermont or Wyoming, so why not become a state? We already have the capitol, and we don't fit very well with the rest of Texas.

Let's start a secession movement! And while we're at it, we should buy the rights to produce US flags with 51 stars.

[karnival96]

Originally Posted by TheHarvester

Austin is in Texas (if ya know what I mean), but it has sections of the central city that vote like Berkeley. It's difficult to respond to this comparison question, especially considering the fact that there is no universal definition of "liberal" or "conservative." During my lifetime these words have changed meaning as many times as Madonna has changed her hair style, image and personality.

The San Francisco Bay Area is obviously the largest concentrated location of leftists in the USA, but there are less-populated areas of Vermont and Massachusetts that surpass the Bay Area for extreme liberalism.

Los Angeles is socially liberal in certain areas, not in others. It's a mega-city with multiple smaller cities contained within, there's no way to compare it. West Hollywood will vote overwhelmingly in favor of gay rights but might vote more conservatively on economic issues, for example. And the Hispanic segments of LA will be more socially conservative because of the obvious influence of the Catholic Church, but they'll be more "liberal" about immigration and economic issues.

What does any of this mean? My take on Austin is that it's extremely progressive in the inner city, but the farther away from central Austin you get, the more conservative it gets. Williamson County, our largest suburban county, is ultra-conservative. To the south of Austin you'll find counties that have moderate voting records but that's driven by poverty and high concentrations of immigrants. Does it make you "liberal" if you happen to be a minority and/or an immigrant who happens to vote based on what you can get from the government? I think it's more complex than that.

In short, it's very difficult to compare politics here vs. the places you listed. The best thing I can say about Austin is that the progressive/leftist types here tend to be a lot more open-minded, less partisan and more independent than those I know on the west coast. You can express your views safely here no matter what you believe. But that only applies to the libertarian/funky side of Austin, especially South Austin. It's a "live and let live" type of liberalism, not a dogmatic fascist-leftist liberalism that excludes dissenting points of view.

TheHarvester,

You put together a very well thought out and nuanced answer to the original question, but I have a point of contention with you on one issue.

With your question:

"Does it make you "liberal" if you happen to be a minority and/or an immigrant who happens to vote based on what you can get from the government? "

you seem to imply that minorities and/or immigrants vote for liberal government based on what they "can get from the government" . I believe that is just plain wrong. As a "minority" myself I know about the long tradition of voting Democratic in my community and it has a lot more to do the with sense that the other party demagogues racial and social issues in its attempt to win the narrow-minded redneck vote. Issues like affirmative action, voter fraud, welfare queens, gay marriage, illegal immigration, prayer in school, etc. are specifically trumped out and played up to appeal to a certain segment of the voting population at the expense of those targeted groups. I don't get or expect anything from the people I vote for other than decent public infrastructure, good schools and functional government services. Although it doesn't benefit me in any way, I do believe that the government has some responsibility to assist those who are unable to assist themselves (i.e. uninsured children, poor elderly people, the disabled, etc.) Also, my community recognized the folly of this pointless war in the Middle East (and of xenophobic warmongering in general ), a long time before the rest of the country began to realize that they were duped.

Most people that I know of who are like me, similarly aren't getting and don't expect a darn thing from the government. The unfortunate truth is that most of the minorities who are dependent on the government (with the exception of the elderly) are not voting anyway.

[love roses]

As someone who tends to be a little right of center, you're also implying..That I'm a narrow minded redneck. This is exactly the kind of stuff that doesn't usually happen in Austin, unlike Miami, SF, New York, Or L.A. Harvester and I may disagree on some points, but stereotyping him, or vice versa, isn't something people here usually do. Like others have said, it's more Libertarian than anything. Besides, I've come to the conclusion that the Dems and Repubs are just flip sides of the same coin.