Madison: Good place to speak your mind?

[organica]

Originally Posted by golfgal

I also don't think that your 'education' will go over well in most areas of Wisconsin, which you may or may not know is one of the top beef producing states in the US.

Thanks for reinforcing my point.

[Ruslynn]

Organica:

While I may or may not agree with your beliefs, I hope I can answer your original question - NC vs. WI. A year ago, I moved from Wilmington, NC to Green Bay, WI. It was a dramatic climate change for me (I'm your typical sun loving southern girl), but it was not a big change culturally. Wisconsin has a lot more conservatives than I originally thought. It's a state that makes it's living on agriculture & cattle, so it is very similar to the south. If you're looking for a place full of like-minded individuals, you've got a 50/50 chance in Wisconsin. Hope that helped and good luck with your move.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Ruslynn

Organica:

While I may or may not agree with your beliefs, I hope I can answer your original question - NC vs. WI. A year ago, I moved from Wilmington, NC to Green Bay, WI. It was a dramatic climate change for me (I'm your typical sun loving southern girl), but it was not a big change culturally. Wisconsin has a lot more conservatives than I originally thought. It's a state that makes it's living on agriculture & cattle, so it is very similar to the south. If you're looking for a place full of like-minded individuals, you've got a 50/50 chance in Wisconsin. Hope that helped and good luck with your move.

It's important to point out that Madison is an island of liberalism (or "progressivism" if you prefer) in a mostly rural, conservative, blue-collar state. Culturally, I don't think Madison and Green Bay could be further apart and still be in the same state.

My couple years as a Madison resident gave me the impression that preachy progressives are quite welcome there. I guess part of my cynicism comes from having lived one block from the capitol building, and I got tired of hearing the blaring bullhorns in my own living room from all the various demonstrations staged there. My favorite was when the International Socialist Organization staged a rally there opposing the death penalty. I guess nobody had pointed out to them that Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.

I think part of the problem you may have in Asheville, and might also encounter in Madison, is that you're dealing with two types of people: those that already share your point of view and so you'll be preaching to the choir, and those who don't share your point of view but have become quite adept at tuning it out because they're bombarded by it everywhere they go. I think part of the resistance may be that they've heard it 10,000 times before and are not interested in hearing it for the 10,001st time. You can only give someone a "save the whales" speech so many times before they just don't want to hear it any more.

By the way, I can tell you as a conservative who spends plenty of time in not-so-conservative environments, the "I don't want to hear your point of view" phenomenon is quite often a two-way street. A "progressive" community is not necessarily an open-minded community.

[organica]

Ok, I already like Wisconsin. If I were having this conversation with folks in the south, my head would have been on a stick and my body would have been cooked for breakfast (or donated to Burger King).

Thank you for listening and making educated responses. Just that alone is enough to consider moving to WI. I would rather spend my life among *educated* people that may or may not agree with me rather than uneducated people that want to remain uneducated (even if they have to fight for it!!).

Drover: I would get tired of living next to bullhorns as well. Quite loud. Yes, I can understand people that would oppose my point of view would block it out when they hear it all the time and have already decided they won't agree. They just don't understand. Just like how I can't understand many views on the right side of the aisle. Oh, and we can't really "save the whales" anymore. They're pretty much extinct already. Oopsy!!

Ruslynn: Thanks for the insight. A 50/50 chance is better than our current 5/95 chance!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by organica

Thank you for listening and making educated responses. Just that alone is enough to consider moving to WI. I would rather spend my life among *educated* people that may or may not agree with me rather than uneducated people that want to remain uneducated (even if they have to fight for it!!).

I just want to warn you once again that most of Wisconsin is not like Madison or Milwaukee. Much of Wisconsin is just as rural and just as provincial as the rural South. Rural Wisconsin is basically the same as the rural Carolinas except there's snow, Canadian-type accents, and virtually no black people.

I will say though that Madison seems much more vibrant and lively than Asheville does. Asheville just seemed to have much more of a "we'll get around to it tomorrow" kind of approach.

[organica]

Thanks Drover, we plan to get something close to Madison. Maybe within the city limits. We'll see.

I agree with your description of Asheville. It's tough to get things done around here. There aren't even any sidewalks here except for the main downtown area.

[strwiz]

I must say that as a life long resident of Madison, I believe your opinions about vegetarianism, the environment etc would resonate with many people. In fact, even if people were sincerely interested in engaging you in an intelligent debate about global warming or alternative lifestyles they might demur, due to the overwhelming sense of political correctness that usually permeates the rarified Madison air. Like many self-styled 'liberal' institutions Madison claims to welcome diverse opinions....so long as they don't differ too much from the prevailing PC trends. At which point they morph from "diverse" to "ignorant" points of view. Now if you were fundamentalist Christian Bush supporters, you might have some problems...

[Bo]

Originally Posted by organica

Thanks Drover, we plan to get something close to Madison. Maybe within the city limits. We'll see.

I agree with your description of Asheville. It's tough to get things done around here. There aren't even any sidewalks here except for the main downtown area.

This thread is over a year old, but did you end up making the move? If so, did you like what you found in the Madison area?

[Megan1967]

You will find many like minded people in Madison, however, you will find a live and let live attitude. People here don't generally try to forcibly educate others even when they believe strongly in something. I happen to agree with everything you post, but I would be put off by the militant vibe I've gotten from your posts. That said, one of my best friends (who moved to Portland because she couldn't stand Madison) is just like you in that respect. I don't agree with her methods, I do agree with her basic tenants.