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Gawd, I had enough of that in Marin, am just back from years overseas and checking out Santa Cruz. It's a great place in terms of beach, size, general friendliness of strangers (smile as you walk by) but the longer I'm here the more I feel a kind of religious, fundamentalism to the New Age people and its as oppressive as any other kind of religious fundamentalism. They assume without question that their way is the only way - yuck/creepy/cultish.
Anyone else feel this way about Santa Cruz? How do you deal with it?
If you already have to put up with major greed on the part of landlords I'm not sure I want to deal with a bunch of faux spiritualists with an axe to grind as well.
Gawd, I had enough of that in Marin, am just back from years overseas and checking out Santa Cruz. It's a great place in terms of beach, size, general friendliness of strangers (smile as you walk by) but the longer I'm here the more I feel a kind of religious, fundamentalism to the New Age people and its as oppressive as any other kind of religious fundamentalism. They assume without question that their way is the only way - yuck/creepy/cultish.
Anyone else feel this way about Santa Cruz? How do you deal with it?
If you already have to put up with major greed on the part of landlords I'm not sure I want to deal with a bunch of faux spiritualists with an axe to grind as well.
Why don't you just live in San Jose. It's not like anyone has a gun to your head to live in Santa Cruz, right?
Hi, husband of OP here. We were in San Jose today (well, Campbell), and it didn't look too bad actually. No beaches, though
My feeling is that the pseudo-spiritualists I've seen avoiding compassion around town would be fun to "play with" for personal amusement, but if it's too prevalent a disease then its just not worth bearing the nausea.
SC seems quite nice, and I've enjoyed what I've seen of it this past few months, but the pseudo spiritualism is a bit of an eyesore. Of course, its hard to find any honest hearts almost anywhere these days, so SC isn't an aberration.
Another amusing thing about SC is the big-car proliferation. Half the worlds fuel consumption must occur right here! ... well, the bigger the car ...
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Why don't you just live in San Jose. It's not like anyone has a gun to your head to live in Santa Cruz, right?
As clearly stated in the OP, there is much to like about SC, but it there are also drawbacks. All towns have pros and cons and anywhere we go, we will have to combat some cons - lack of transport, crime, falseness, unemployment ... defensiveness?
If there was a way to deal with living amongst prolific faux-spiritualism without too much involuntary regurgitation, it would mean SC could still be an option for us. If its generally let run rife unchecked, then, indeed, we'll continue down the list of options.
... or maybe we won't find a place because we're not letting the universe take care of it
Well, I have lived in Los Gatos and have spent ALOT of time in Santa Cruz. It's like Santa Cruz is its own little world. It's somewhat secluded from any other city and the weather is very different 20 mins in any direction away from SC. The area is filled with Liberals, (up to you if that's good or bad) but the people seem to be very "relaxed" almost too much so. It has a college atmosphere but the locals are not going to be the easiest to gel with.
But, I think it's worth it, most the time. The area is just great! There is so much to do, the beach is great (not for swimming) and like I said before there are cities and warm weather within a short drive. If I had a choice, I would probably choose to live permanently in city nearby and just frequently visit. It's very expensive and I would prefer a little more sunshine.
Location: Monterey Bay, California -- watching the sea lions, whales and otters! :D
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ohureo:
Gawd, I had enough of that in Marin, am just back from years overseas and checking out Santa Cruz. It's a great place in terms of beach, size, general friendliness of strangers (smile as you walk by) but the longer I'm here the more I feel a kind of religious, fundamentalism to the New Age people and its as oppressive as any other kind of religious fundamentalism. They assume without question that their way is the only way - yuck/creepy/cultish.
Anyone else feel this way about Santa Cruz? How do you deal with it?
I'm in Santa Cruz and I don't have a problem with New Agers -- I just do my own thing. What surprised me about Santa Cruz, though, was all the regular Christian fundamentalist churches! That I didn't expect. There are plenty of hardcore evangelical-type churches here. I live near Mt. Hermon, which is a Christian "town," with its own post office. I also live near a camp that often has week-long events, including many Korean Christian events (the writing is all in Korean).
Yes, there are the Buddhists, and New Agers and all of that, too, but there is still a large component of those who have a traditional religion, or none at all.
If you live in Santa Cruz, you would most likely find many people who share similar values. There's always good and bad in places, but you might agree that the wharf and beaches and cool places in Santa Cruz could be worth ignoring some New Age weirdos or heavy fundamentalists.
Marxism - pure and simple - use the people against the people
It used to be a conservative, predominantly Portuguese fishing community... then came the Marxist / Leninist professors using their wide-eyed mayhem-loving student-apostles as cannonfodder (after successfully getting university student inmates to be able to vote in the local elections) to tear apart the town. Consider the likes of UCSC Prof. Angela Davis (the Communist Party candidate for Vice President in 1988), and the school-funded Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Resource Center, and Mike Rotkin, who ultimately became mayor of Santa Cruz, a professor of Marxist theory at UCSC who wrote his master's thesis on how leftists can take over a municipal government which was then put into actual practice in the entire county - with especially devastating results Santa Cruz and Watsonville. During his tenure the city library went through a purge of books (the good ones of course) and I have friends who used to go through their dumpsters and retrieve literally thousands and books... when the library staff figured this out, they resorted to waiting until late at night right before garbage pickup day to dump their books to prevent the "salvaging" of these books which rightfully belonged to the public. Just like Hitler and Lenin did - they burned them tho...
Gawd, I had enough of that in Marin, am just back from years overseas and checking out Santa Cruz. It's a great place in terms of beach, size, general friendliness of strangers (smile as you walk by) but the longer I'm here the more I feel a kind of religious, fundamentalism to the New Age people and its as oppressive as any other kind of religious fundamentalism. They assume without question that their way is the only way - yuck/creepy/cultish.
Anyone else feel this way about Santa Cruz? How do you deal with it?
If you already have to put up with major greed on the part of landlords I'm not sure I want to deal with a bunch of faux spiritualists with an axe to grind as well.
Wow. Not at all. I don't feel or experience that in any way.
Who are you hanging with and where are you hanging out?
What experiences are you speaking of and are you projecting and / or making assumptions about people?
If anything, Santa Cruz is incredibly tolerant and not into imposing trips on anyone .... generally speaking of course ... but i certainly don't experience anything like what you're speaking of and feel very free to be who i am spiritually and otherwise ... and i've been here for quite some time.
There are quite a few Buddhist centers but i don't think you're referring to them.
Baba Hari Dass and Mt. Madonna Center have been here since the 70's but those folks (many who have been around since then) aren't interested in imposition either so i assume you're not referring to them.
Hmmmm, who else? .... lots of folks that are "new age" (whatever that means - actually, what do you mean?) but not in an obnoxious way in my experience.
Christians (fundamentalists and otherwise) are here and there but they're everywhere ... nothing new.
I'm interested to know exactly what you're talking about. Curious. Do you have a little chip on your shoulder? 'cause S.C. area is basically live and let live but i've found that with heavy attitudes of any kind, you'll attract some sh_ _.
I dunno, hang out in Sedona, AZ or Santa Fe, NM ... now i can see how that could be annoying if the new age thing isn't your thing but as long as people are harmless, i don't have issues with them.
The frustration with landlords ... i'm right with you on that one. That's the only complaint i have about S.C.county (beside the tics sucking on my dog!). The housing situation here is deplorable. I've been in far too many rental situations where i feel like a sucker living in a sub-standard structure on their property with little privacy and paying way too much for it so the land-rich/cash-poor homeowner can pay their mortgage .... and/or they're just plain greedy. I'm so frustrated now that i'm about to bolt but i really love Santa Cruz so i'm still here. I may be in a tent ... but i'm still here.
Hi, husband of OP here. We were in San Jose today (well, Campbell), and it didn't look too bad actually. No beaches, though
My feeling is that the pseudo-spiritualists I've seen avoiding compassion around town would be fun to "play with" for personal amusement, but if it's too prevalent a disease then its just not worth bearing the nausea.
SC seems quite nice, and I've enjoyed what I've seen of it this past few months, but the pseudo spiritualism is a bit of an eyesore. Of course, its hard to find any honest hearts almost anywhere these days, so SC isn't an aberration.
Another amusing thing about SC is the big-car proliferation. Half the worlds fuel consumption must occur right here! ... well, the bigger the car ...
As clearly stated in the OP, there is much to like about SC, but it there are also drawbacks. All towns have pros and cons and anywhere we go, we will have to combat some cons - lack of transport, crime, falseness, unemployment ... defensiveness?
If there was a way to deal with living amongst prolific faux-spiritualism without too much involuntary regurgitation, it would mean SC could still be an option for us. If its generally let run rife unchecked, then, indeed, we'll continue down the list of options.
... or maybe we won't find a place because we're not letting the universe take care of it
Santa Cruz, though it's laid back and live and let live, is actually a rather intense and often chaotic place. And i'm speaking energetically but not as a new ager but rather as someone who's relatively tuned in and observant and relatively objective. It's not necessarily an easy place particularly if you're really sensitive and/or very controlling.
And what i've noticed here over the years, as i said to your husband, is that if you're carrying a heavy attitude you're going to attract some sh_ _.
Also, if you get out of the intensity of Santa Cruz proper and experience Soquel and / or Aptos, you may have a different experience.
Also, i'm quite familiar with a number of Buddhist Centers here (Land of Medicine Buddha especially as a friend of mine works and lives there) and i'm wondering if you've spent any time in any of them.
I don't have a clear picture of who you are and perhaps you're turned off by anyone who is expressing themselves spiritually in a way that is other than conventional Christianity? curious.
And if you 2 are sincere in your spirituality and can't find others here who are similarly sincere (and there are many), then maybe it's just not the right place for you. I dunno.
And i asked your husband this because i'm sincerely interested (as well as curious) ... what kinds of experiences have you actually had here that have left you with these impressions?
And finally, why not just let people be who they are? If you're judging so (as it seems you both are) why? Why need it concern you if other people aren't following your rules of behavior. That's what doesn't fly here ... you won't be happy in Santa Cruz if you have a need to judge and control.
Last edited by rubyskye; 06-08-2008 at 04:10 PM..
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... well, the bigger the car ... 
Marxism - pure and simple - use the people against the people
