The Definition Of Liberal In Portland (Dallas: live, places, map of)

[subsound]

Maybe it's good to have places in their own little bubble, like Portland, Seattle, and Boulder. There you can think of these druggies and mentally ill as poor unfortunate souls just needing food. While if you see them a lot and are exposed to them you see them as the crazy, sometimes dangerous, "poor little tweakers or homeless folks would cut you as easily as look at you". Without that insulation those people wouldn't get help at all, because who wants to give food and shelter to people that are dangerous?

Originally Posted by Cheeto

I'd rather live in an area dominated by these types of people than xenophobic war mongering conservatives, the lesser of two evils I suppose, however I don't consider them true liberals. To me liberalism is about accepting different cultures, understanding your fellow man, and striving to achieve equality. Forcing the working class out of neighborhoods through gentrification, or looking down on people who can't afford hybrids, or actually would like to see homeless people getting help instead of handouts, doesn't reflect a liberated mindset.

Wow, my point is made that it's one side of an extreme or the other.... I guess if I'm only very mildly conservative, don't support military actions, and know a few languages to go see other cultures....I'm xenophobic and warmongering anyways. Isn't that taking a middle ground point of view and forcing it to be your antithesis? That's not really accepting of other peoples viewpoints, and attacking other peoples views is not understanding.

Plus, it's not the liberal mindset to give homeless help but give them handouts? I guess you want to just warehouse them, like Portland seems to be doing already.

[victorianpunk]

After reading this thread, I have one thing people might want to keep in mind...AS "BAD" AS PORTLAND MIGHT BE FOR BEING LIBERAL, WHY DON'T YOU TRY A WEEK IN OKLAHOMA AND SEE HOW MUCH YOU LIKE THE OPPOSITE!
Or Georgia for that matter, outside Atlanta.

Have you ever had three people in a two week period come up to you on the street in Portland and ask "have you found Jesus yet"? Is bible-thumping over there a national pastime? Do any black people who have the nerve to walk into a convience store get asked, AND I QUOTE, "what are you doing here?!" when they go to by a gallon of milk? (organic or otherwise)

All this whining about Portland being liberal...keep in mind that it's easier to ignore liberals (whatever that means anyway) than it is to ignore a bible-thumping, in-your-face colored-people-hating fundie.

[meltinjohn]

I was saying the same thing. Oregon may have rednecks but are they really as bad as down south like people make em out? I for sure doubt it at least from Portland to 45 minutes outside of Portland.
It may be comparable to South FL conservative republicans at the very worst.
I also did not find the bible thumper types there like you can down south. I saw maybe 1 in a 3 week time. If people wanna leave Oregon, it should be to go to a truly better place and not just leave Oregon for Florida or anywhere in the south unless of course their hardcore into music.

[John Shaft]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

All this whining about Portland being liberal...keep in mind that it's easier to ignore liberals (whatever that means anyway) than it is to ignore a bible-thumping, in-your-face colored-people-hating fundie.

No, it's pretty much exactly the same. Except due to "separation of church and state" the media can't throw its weight behind fundamentalism, whereas here the liberal eco-religion is sprawled all over the newspapers.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by karlsch

He analyzed liberal vs. conservative charitable donations. It turns out that conservatives donate quite a bit more than liberals. They also donate more blood and more of their time.

It's because where liberals tend to live are urban areas that aren't cheap. I would bet that the same research would show that liberals spend a higher percentage of their incomes on housing.

Originally Posted by meltinjohn

I was saying the same thing. Oregon may have rednecks but are they really as bad as down south like people make em out?

Just like Portland must endure the sterotype of everyone living there is a hipster liberal and the sterotype that everone 45 mins outside of Portland is a lumber jack right winger, the south endures the sterotype that everyone is a bible thumping, red neck. For the most part, these sterotypes are not true. Putting folks in boxes especially tiny ones does none of us any good.

BTW, someone asked if you had ever been asked about being saved more than 3 times in a 2 weeks. In downtown Portland I was asked that question EVERY day as I walked by the courthouse near Pioneer Square at lunch time. There use to be a guy out there EVERY day preaching, sometimes with a bull horn. I've lived in Durham, NC now for a year.... I've never been asked if I go to church nor have I ever passed a guy on a bull horn trying to save souls at lunch time or any other time for that matter.

[subsound]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

BTW, someone asked if you had ever been asked about being saved more than 3 times in a 2 weeks. In downtown Portland I was asked that question EVERY day as I walked by the courthouse near Pioneer Square at lunch time. There use to be a guy out there EVERY day preaching, sometimes with a bull horn. I've lived in Durham, NC now for a year.... I've never been asked if I go to church nor have I ever passed a guy on a bull horn trying to save souls at lunch time or any other time for that matter.

Obviously it's more important to be a total jerk and force ones opinion on everyone else because they don't know any better. I've never had the in your face attitude as here for it either. I have born again extended family in the Midwest that even queitly pray before eating McD's (I do too, but for living after I eat that crap) but they have never said one word about converting anyone else. Only other pretty hard core religious person I know is a preist, and he's never said a word or been preechy about anything.

Here I've seen people in stores *Screaming* at the top of their lungs that Jesus Saves, and Praise the Lord the store has *X item*, or that jesus will save all us sinners in places like Safeway or on public transit. Thank god for the cheeze wiz.

Other side of the coin too, people will approach one around here to tell you all about the evils of all sorts of eco sins, or political sins, or whatever cause is destroying society. Near the Wells Fargo building I get a clip board shoved in my face to sign a couple times a week, hoping I'll just sign in support of some social program so they'll move onto someone else.

It doesn't really seem to matter if anyone is far right, left, or in need of meds...people in Portland love to tell you what they think and why you should think the same. The people who love to tell you their opinions really have no interest in any of your opinions though.

[jread]

I found Portland's political/social climate to be almost identical to that here in Austin, though maybe a little more in-your-face than Austin's "live and let live" attitude. Austin is "conservatively liberal" just like Portland is, but not very judgmental. Here you will still see people of all races, walks of life and political leanings living together, partying together, etc. I'm not sure if Portland is the same but I was only there for 5-days.

[meltinjohn]

Austin I heard about and it does seem more cultural there but is it by much? Asians, mexicans, same things as Portland isnt it?
Anyways, those religious freaks someone touched up on. **** em. I cant stand those jerks.
But, at least scientology isnt practiced heavily in Portland, or is it?
Scientology freaks are MUCH WORSE.
About peoples opinions, it seems like it could be this way with the anal hippies. They want to tell their side but once they hear yours. they get discouraged and angry perhaps.
I met this harlot from WA state out here in FL and she was the same frikken way as these ppl like a Seattle type PC *****. I made a reference to black and mild cigarillos and how people of color smoke them, she got so ****ing angry that she tried hitting me. She put herself in the situations where people say things to bug her so that one was designed to bother her at the right time. When people show things bother them, they only bring themselves to more people who will keep bothering them.
Those extreme left wing hypocrites tho, ignorant POS people and no better than an extreme righter.

[suncat]

Originally Posted by meltinjohn

If people wanna leave Oregon, it should be to go to a truly better place and not just leave Oregon for Florida or anywhere in the south.

There ARE better places than Oregon, AND some of them are in the south.
That's a pretty broad brush you're using on a large and diverse region of the country.

[scone]

In the 30 years I lived "back east" I very rarely encountered anything other than mainstream religions, but once I came out West, I was asked to become a Scientologist, born-again, Adventist, New-Ager, Buddhist, etc. And there seems to be a strong psychotherapeutic flavor to all these religions, along with an emotional, almost anti-rationalist bent. It's not just the religions that are different, it's the West Coast culture that underlies the religions.