Good people of the Bay Area, help me dispel or confirm a stereotype? (Los Angeles: employment, taxi)

[phantompilot]

Jeff, as a fellow conservative (Libertarian), let me just confirm the stereotype for you. They don't call it the land of fruits and nuts for nothing. The reputation is well deserved, and a lot of Bay Area people are drooling liberals that essentially have no ability for original thought or independent behavior. They jump on any lefty bandwagon that comes along - whether its the homosexual agenda or AGW or organic food. They are truly herd animals and just like when a dog gets in a pasture of cows, they all kinda go berserk when confronted by rational ideas, even though they may not have seen the dog, but they know the cow next to them is acting skeezy, so they skeeze out too.

So if you're the kind of person who can tolerate being the dog in the cow pasture, or have learned to "bite your tongue" and present a fake, false facade of quiet/relaxed conformity with group think, you'll probably be able to cope. Think of it this way: in the Bay Area, your social circle will usually be limited (by their selection process, not necessarily yours) to either only other conservatives (not rare, but not common), or to all , but then you will only be able to maintain that if you behave socially, in your personal realm, as if you were always at work with total strangers/coworkers and being apolitical/uninvolved/un-opinionated (even while those around you are spouting the most inane commie rhetoric and slander you would ever hope to hear). It is my observation that liberals tend to pattern their political considerations and conversations in the format of never-ending diatribes with class/race/gender-warfare themes. I call it "aggressive liberalism". They are generally looking for some opportunity to be insulted, offended, outraged, or involved. Even if they have no personal stakes in an issue, they can't stand it if they perceive any of their ideological enemies to be succeeding in any aspect of their lives and actively seek out ways they can disrupt that.

So it really just depends on what your tolerance for this kind of deranged infantile behavior is....could you stick it out for a Democratic fundraiser cocktail reception without revealing your opinions and getting into arguments? If not, you probably can't have a diverse social circle here.

Good luck realizing your dreams of riches and possibly relocating to beautiful communities. I hate to break it to you but you would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in all your places with the possible exception of Danville.

Novato is very democratic outnumbering republicans 2-1
Mill Valley - Dem outnumbers Reps 5-1
Orinda - about like Novato , more like 1.75-1 though

[JeffSanDimas]

Originally Posted by phantompilot

Jeff, as a fellow conservative (Libertarian), let me just confirm the stereotype for you. They don't call it the land of fruits and nuts for nothing. The reputation is well deserved, and a lot of Bay Area people are drooling liberals that essentially have no ability for original thought or independent behavior. They jump on any lefty bandwagon that comes along - whether its the homosexual agenda or AGW or organic food. They are truly herd animals and just like when a dog gets in a pasture of cows, they all kinda go berserk when confronted by rational ideas, even though they may not have seen the dog, but they know the cow next to them is acting skeezy, so they skeeze out too.

So if you're the kind of person who can tolerate being the dog in the cow pasture, or have learned to "bite your tongue" and present a fake, false facade of quiet/relaxed conformity with group think, you'll probably be able to cope. Think of it this way: in the Bay Area, your social circle will usually be limited (by their selection process, not necessarily yours) to either only other conservatives (not rare, but not common), or to all , but then you will only be able to maintain that if you behave socially, in your personal realm, as if you were always at work with total strangers/coworkers and being apolitical/uninvolved/un-opinionated (even while those around you are spouting the most inane commie rhetoric and slander you would ever hope to hear). It is my observation that liberals tend to pattern their political considerations and conversations in the format of never-ending diatribes with class/race/gender-warfare themes. I call it "aggressive liberalism". They are generally looking for some opportunity to be insulted, offended, outraged, or involved. Even if they have no personal stakes in an issue, they can't stand it if they perceive any of their ideological enemies to be succeeding in any aspect of their lives and actively seek out ways they can disrupt that.

So it really just depends on what your tolerance for this kind of deranged infantile behavior is....could you stick it out for a Democratic fundraiser cocktail reception without revealing your opinions and getting into arguments? If not, you probably can't have a diverse social circle here.

Good luck realizing your dreams of riches and possibly relocating to beautiful communities. I hate to break it to you but you would definitely stick out like a sore thumb in all your places with the possible exception of Danville.

Novato is very democratic outnumbering republicans 2-1
Mill Valley - Dem outnumbers Reps 5-1
Orinda - about like Novato , more like 1.75-1 though

Thank you. That's generally the impression I got, but I wanted to hear it "from the horses mouth" so to speak.
I'm from a suburb of LA, and while in the areas I spend time in like Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, parts of the SFV and my hometown San Dimas it's okay. My observations of places like the Westside or Hollywood (generally anywhere with rich white people who insulate themselves from the reality of their policies by having lots of money) are the same as you described. I love California and I love the Bay Area for its natural beauty, but I am the type of person who isn't afraid to be the one dissenting opinion. I feel like my life would probably be a bit harder up there because that you described attitude seems more pervasive, whereas here as long as I avoid certain circles I don't get myself into too much trouble.

I wish all the places in California were welcoming to all views, and I didn't have to pick and choose locations (or consider relocating out of my beautiful state, like I'm doing after college) because of things like "will I have to choose between being disingenuous or being ostracized?" Which is unfortunately a reality for west coast conservatives.

Even in places that are über liberal back east like Boston or NYC, I felt that there was more tolerance for dissent..

[Matadora]

Odd how a city that identifies as being "liberal" is full of so much intolerance.

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by JeffSanDimas

Thank you. That's generally the impression I got, but I wanted to hear it "from the horses mouth" so to speak.
I'm from a suburb of LA, and while in the areas I spend time in like Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, parts of the SFV and my hometown San Dimas it's okay. My observations of places like the Westside or Hollywood (generally anywhere with rich white people who insulate themselves from the reality of their policies by having lots of money) are the same as you described. I love California and I love the Bay Area for its natural beauty, but I am the type of person who isn't afraid to be the one dissenting opinion. I feel like my life would probably be a bit harder up there because that you described attitude seems more pervasive, whereas here as long as I avoid certain circles I don't get myself into too much trouble.

I wish all the places in California were welcoming to all views, and I didn't have to pick and choose locations (or consider relocating out of my beautiful state, like I'm doing after college) because of things like "will I have to choose between being disingenuous or being ostracized?" Which is unfortunately a reality for west coast conservatives.

Even in places that are über liberal back east like Boston or NYC, I felt that there was more tolerance for dissent..

Ah, you too are considering fleeing. I'm leaving CA next year for the Midwest because I'm tired of being forced to keep quiet about my views (and I'm also irritated at what the Bay Area is becoming into; another soulless ****hole). A lot of my friends who are conservatives (one who's from Burbank) fled CA for similar reasons that I'm leaving (and for what you want to do). The leftists have created their paradise here.

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by Matadora

Odd how a city that identifies as being "liberal" is full of so much intolerance.

That's the irony of the Bay Area. All the ******* transplants have created their paradise where they can get revenge on the types of people who were the majority where they are from originally.

[Matadora]

Originally Posted by Bonez765

Ah, you too are considering fleeing. I'm leaving CA next year for the Midwest because I'm tired of being forced to keep quiet about my views (and I'm also irritated at what the Bay Area is becoming into; another soulless ****hole). A lot of my friends who are conservatives (one who's from Burbank) fled CA for similar reasons that I'm leaving (and for what you want to do). The leftists have created their paradise here.

The liberals in the Bay Area are more like socialists that see nothing wrong with taking personal freedoms away.

I don't view the liberals here as true liberals...they are a different breed from the liberals that I know and grew up around.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by NewbiePoster

Dude, Republicanism isn't one monolithic thing, it's a spectrum. Some Republicans are cool. It's not like saying you're a leper, and people would run away screaming. It depends on what your views are.

Yes, it is a spectrum. But lots of Bay Area folks treat it as a monolithic thing. This thread gives plenty of evidence of that.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by 04kL4nD

As a gay man, that would be like me moving to Indiana right now, or back to NC where I came from.

I'm gay but conservative leaning. I can't win either way.

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by clongirl

+1

Exactly... When in Rome.

Blech. That's the herd mentality.

I also second Bill Bishops book. This "move to where everyone agree with you" mentality isn't healthy. Bill Bishop is liberal leaning, but I agree with him on this:

The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart: Bill Bishop: 9780547237725: Amazon.com: Books

[Bonez765]

Originally Posted by Matadora

The liberals in the Bay Area are more like socialists that see nothing wrong with taking personal freedoms away.

I don't view the liberals here as true liberals...they are a different breed from the liberals that I know and grew up around.

Liberals are liberals to me. I only see moderates as different but even, most almost always agree with me when they hear my view points (which aren't even extreme anyway; I just make it more extreme than they are to weed out liberals in hiding and to troll them). The liberals here in the Bay really wander around in the inner core areas. I grew up in the North Bay and very few were extreme liberals. Everything changes once you are in Marin County, Berkeley, Oakland, and SF.