Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In short, to live in Seattle as somebody who is not fervently and rabidly deep blue (and I mean deeeeeeep blue) is to sign an unwritten contract that you will have to hold your tongue as people openly insult your beliefs and then claim that they are being bullied if you state in any way, no matter how mildly, that you disagree, that you will sit silently in any conversation that angles political in the slightest and let the "approved" viewpoints be the only ones discussed
In what circustances would such a conversation take place? Politics only came up in conversation once, in my 20 years of living in Seattle, and that was in a private conversation at someone's home, not in public somewhere, or at work.
You either lived in a completely different area than the rest of us or you were so desensitized to it that you didn't realize it happening as it was. Or else you shared the viewpoints and confirmation bias made you think it was all fine. Frankly, it's the Millennials that are the worst about it up here, endemic of being the overshare generation.
The topic never came up, so there was no confirmation bias to share. OK, except once, in 20 years, and that was when I was a student. Where are these conversations taking place, in your experience? I don't even know my Millennial friends' political views, and they don't know mine. An occasion hasn't come up to express them. Nobody cares, among the people I know. It's not relevant to day-to-day life, shared projects or hobbies, cultural interests, and so forth.
To add on to this, this also means never even remotely revealing your leanings even just a little on social media (if you partake of it). You'll meet people up here, add them on FB or whatever your particular brand of poison is, and you will - guaranteed - see an incessant amount of poorly thought out far left statements made by a goodly chunk of them. You will never be able to reply or have a civilized debate about it or to point out how the meme of the day is wrong. You will also never be able to say anything that reveals you agree with any little thing done by any member of the area's non-approved political parties, even if you largely disagree with a large chunk of what that individual does.
In short, to live in Seattle as somebody who is not fervently and rabidly deep blue (and I mean deeeeeeep blue) is to sign an unwritten contract that you will have to hold your tongue as people openly insult your beliefs and then claim that they are being bullied if you state in any way, no matter how mildly, that you disagree, that you will sit silently in any conversation that angles political in the slightest and let the "approved" viewpoints be the only ones discussed (and that you will not walk off and talk to someone else during that topic, which can take a long time), that you will tolerate daily protests that increase your commute time home by time measured in hours, that you will never say anything derogatory about the approved political party in any medium, in person or digitally, no matter what they do (up to and including pedophilia), and that you will either fall in line and become a good little citizen of the approved set of viewpoints, or else hide in shame or face being ostracized.
And that's not an exaggeration. My wife and I both are very middle of the road, everybody do what makes you you so long as it doesn't impede on someone else's attempts to do likewise, and that area made us feel like right wing extremists. It was very hard to find an appropriate circle of friends that wasn't off their rockers in that regard, both due to reduced numbers of those types of people as well as them being harder to find because they were trying to abide by the above contract. Can't even count how many people we met, thought seemed nice, added on some sort of media, realized they were completely unhinged but tried to ignore it, and ultimately ended up having to end the relationship because their viewpoints on politics were bleeding over into everything, making it impossible to avoid, and they got triggered at any point you stated you weren't really interested in hearing it because you disagreed.
You either lived in a completely different area than the rest of us or you were so desensitized to it that you didn't realize it happening as it was. Or else you shared the viewpoints and confirmation bias made you think it was all fine. Frankly, it's the Millennials that are the worst about it up here, endemic of being the overshare generation.
I could not agree with you more. I've had several Facebook friends unfriend me simply due to my political views. The hysteria on the Left since Trump's election has been nuts, but Seattle is worse than other cities. Most of my friends are NYC liberals: they lean left on cultural and social issues and are moderate on fiscal issues and really liked Obama but are well-educated, successful, sensible. I have no problem with that. Seattle liberals, however, tend to be of a different breed. They are wildly far left, many of them are Bernie loving socialists who hate capitalism and America. They look down on those who disagree with their politics, viewing them as morally inferior. At work, I have to keep my mouth shut lest I hurt my professional mobility. Socially, the city is filled with weird hippy socialist types who look like they haven't taken a bath in a while and dress like total crap. It's disgusting.
I could not agree with you more. I've had several Facebook friends unfriend me simply due to my political views. The hysteria on the Left since Trump's election has been nuts, but Seattle is worse than other cities. Most of my friends are NYC liberals: they lean left on cultural and social issues and are moderate on fiscal issues and really liked Obama but are well-educated, successful, sensible. I have no problem with that. Seattle liberals, however, tend to be of a different breed. They are wildly far left, many of them are Bernie loving socialists who hate capitalism and America. They look down on those who disagree with their politics, viewing them as morally inferior. At work, I have to keep my mouth shut lest I hurt my professional mobility. Socially, the city is filled with weird hippy socialist types who look like they haven't taken a bath in a while and dress like total crap. It's disgusting.
lol! You're REALLY hanging out with the wrong crowd! Or living in the wrong part of town. Are you on Capitol Hill, or something? Maybe you should move somewhere in the north end, anywhere. Seattle is so much more than the small bit you're obsessing on.
lol! You're REALLY hanging out with the wrong crowd! Or living in the wrong part of town. Are you on Capitol Hill, or something? Maybe you should move somewhere in the north end, anywhere. Seattle is so much more than the small bit you're obsessing on.
Nope. I would never live in disgusting capitol hill. Compared to NYC, yes, the people here dress like crap and are not as successful and sophisticated.
In what circustances would such a conversation take place? Politics only came up in conversation once, in my 20 years of living in Seattle, and that was in a private conversation at someone's home, not in public somewhere, or at work.
You're either a very unusual anecdotal exception, or you're attempting to drive a false narrative. Hell, at my OFFICE up there in Seattle, there was not a month went by that there wasn't some sort of email sent from a worker bee to the ENTIRE BUILDING that was dripping in political commentary or ramming of a belief set down everyone's throat. And that was a professional environment. I'd say a good 6 out of every 10 people we added on social media, we either had to mute or just outright cut ties with because of the incessant partisan parroting (related note, we find ourselves cleaning up our Facebooks a little more today with the people who don't understand/are completely ignorant to the U.S.'s completely valid problem with Paris Agreement yet spouting off the party line and us taking the opportunity to identify people we'll likely never see again that we can safely cut ties with). Protests in Seattle every day, people screaming in your face some agenda or another. Political conversations in cafeterias, at the table next to yours in the many restaurants who think it's a good idea to put tables 6 inches apart from one another, etc.
It. Was. EVERYWHERE. And if you didn't see it, you either didn't get out or were part of the problem.
I could not agree with you more. I've had several Facebook friends unfriend me simply due to my political views. The hysteria on the Left since Trump's election has been nuts, but Seattle is worse than other cities. Most of my friends are NYC liberals: they lean left on cultural and social issues and are moderate on fiscal issues and really liked Obama but are well-educated, successful, sensible. I have no problem with that. Seattle liberals, however, tend to be of a different breed. They are wildly far left, many of them are Bernie loving socialists who hate capitalism and America. They look down on those who disagree with their politics, viewing them as morally inferior. At work, I have to keep my mouth shut lest I hurt my professional mobility. Socially, the city is filled with weird hippy socialist types who look like they haven't taken a bath in a while and dress like total crap. It's disgusting.
Same. Most of my registered Democrat friends are of similar ilk to yours - "liberal elitist"(that's not an insult) who lean way left socially and hang out in the middle economically. Personally, my household is socially left (but not AS left as them, as we're more the "within reason" types ex. we aren't going to subscribe to a 48 gender theory or claim a public works project should be halted because a rare guppy might have its habitat encroached on) and economically a lot further to the right of these types, but we all get along just fine. The reason being, those types of liberals aren't militant. We're thick as thieves, and even occasionally engage in political debate by which neither one of us ever changes the others' opinions, but we still have respect for the positions and appreciate the mental exercise.
The Seattle brand of liberal is not only militant, but seems to be trying to pull off the "elitist/more enlightened" aura, but doing it very poorly because they lack the fundamental knowledge that gives them t he ability to confidently and competently defend their positions. I analogize it to what it looks like when east coast new money tries to act like old money - they simply can't pull it off, and it makes their attempts seem all the more hamfisted and boorish. If you disagree with a Seattle liberal on literally anything, you're a racist, or a homophobe, or a bigot, or you're an uneducated redneck, or a "Trumptard", or some other slur that they pull out of their tiny deck of responses, because they realize they can't articulate or defend their positions logically. I recall one instance where I made some comment about how I liked that there was finally a politician in office that was speaking out against the H-1b visa abuse in this country and, in response, got completely attacked by someone I had had in my home before and was friendly with because I was "humanizing" Trump and how they couldn't believe that they had actually spent time with a white nationalist Trumpster. Because apparently wanting to protect high paying tech jobs in America and prevent the downward salary pressure brought on by cheaper imported labor that's hurting all of us in the industry makes you a racist. Literally, a friendship that up to that point had been completely amiable (because we made a point to skip on by any poorly thought out ideologies they tried to push down everyone's throats), and the mere mention of positivity of someone of the unapproved political party triggered them and made them decide they had to personally attack someone they were friends with.
That incident summed up Seattle for us perfectly.
Or, to fast forward to just today, there was a building-wide email for the Seattle office (which I'm still on the mailing list for even though I've transferred) taking up a collection to help pay Kathy Griffin's legal bills as she "fights back" against "Trump's bullying". Again - office email. Professional environment.
Same. Most of my registered Democrat friends are of similar ilk to yours - "liberal elitist"(that's not an insult) who lean way left socially and hang out in the middle economically. Personally, my household is socially left (but not AS left as them, as we're more the "within reason" types ex. we aren't going to subscribe to a 48 gender theory or claim a public works project should be halted because a rare guppy might have its habitat encroached on) and economically a lot further to the right of these types, but we all get along just fine. The reason being, those types of liberals aren't militant. We're thick as thieves, and even occasionally engage in political debate by which neither one of us ever changes the others' opinions, but we still have respect for the positions and appreciate the mental exercise.
The Seattle brand of liberal is not only militant, but seems to be trying to pull off the "elitist/more enlightened" aura, but doing it very poorly because they lack the fundamental knowledge that gives them t he ability to confidently and competently defend their positions. I analogize it to what it looks like when east coast new money tries to act like old money - they simply can't pull it off, and it makes their attempts seem all the more hamfisted and boorish. If you disagree with a Seattle liberal on literally anything, you're a racist, or a homophobe, or a bigot, or you're an uneducated redneck, or a "Trumptard", or some other slur that they pull out of their tiny deck of responses, because they realize they can't articulate or defend their positions logically. I recall one instance where I made some comment about how I liked that there was finally a politician in office that was speaking out against the H-1b visa abuse in this country and, in response, got completely attacked by someone I had had in my home before and was friendly with because I was "humanizing" Trump and how they couldn't believe that they had actually spent time with a white nationalist Trumpster. Because apparently wanting to protect high paying tech jobs in America and prevent the downward salary pressure brought on by cheaper imported labor that's hurting all of us in the industry makes you a racist. Literally, a friendship that up to that point had been completely amiable (because we made a point to skip on by any poorly thought out ideologies they tried to push down everyone's throats), and the mere mention of positivity of someone of the unapproved political party triggered them and made them decide they had to personally attack someone they were friends with.
That incident summed up Seattle for us perfectly.
Or, to fast forward to just today, there was a building-wide email for the Seattle office (which I'm still on the mailing list for even though I've transferred) taking up a collection to help pay Kathy Griffin's legal bills as she "fights back" against "Trump's bullying". Again - office email. Professional environment.
Seattle.
Your experience is identical to mine. I moved to Seattle in January, and during my final round interview in December, the hiring manager openly was making fun of Trump DURING THE INTERVIEW. I laughed nervously and quickly changed the subject. At work, politics comes up several times a week, and one time when I expressed my views, my colleagues gave me a weird look. One of them said, "No way you voted for Trump. You're way too educated for that."
Seattle liberalism is very militant, vocal, and self-righteous, but is not backed up by intellectual substance. Every discussion I've had here boils down to them telling me that I'm a racist, fascist, sexist, and that Trump is destroying the country. My NYC friends on the other hand engage me on policy, and we have substantive discussions although we fundamentally disagree.
Ugh, this city is so obnoxious. Can't wait to move back to NYC or LA.
Your experience is identical to mine. I moved to Seattle in January, and during my final round interview in December, the hiring manager openly was making fun of Trump DURING THE INTERVIEW. I laughed nervously and quickly changed the subject. At work, politics comes up several times a week, and one time when I expressed my views, my colleagues gave me a weird look. One of them said, "No way you voted for Trump. You're way too educated for that."
Seattle liberalism is very militant, vocal, and self-righteous, but is not backed up by intellectual substance. Every discussion I've had here boils down to them telling me that I'm a racist, fascist, sexist, and that Trump is destroying the country. My NYC friends on the other hand engage me on policy, and we have substantive discussions although we fundamentally disagree.
Ugh, this city is so obnoxious. Can't wait to move back to NYC or LA.
Welp, if you make it down here to LA, the first scotch is on me . I get that we're currently in our honeymoon phase here, but the difference in the "feel" and "pulse" of the city is already night and day better than it was for us in Seattle - and, let's face it, Los Angeles is a pretty left leaning city, too. But they're nothing like Seattle. This feels like a place we can thrive and not have to try to hide our middle-of-the-road ideals.
Funny related note, as I was writing up my previous post, another email hit my Outlook linking to a change.org petition asking the other world leaders to impose sanctions upon the United States for backing out of Paris. Think about that for a moment - citizens actually asking the rest of the world to actively harm their neighbors, coworkers, friends, and even their own families because they A) don't like the non-approved party leader and B ) they don't have the slightest clue of the actual reasons why we pulled out of it (that being, that we were already on track to compliance with what the agreement is stipulating, but that our "role" in it was to give taxpayer money to the rest of the world so they could build clean energy for "free", too, to the tune of about $600 out of the pockets of every federal-level taxpaying adult, plus interest). And, of course, were I to dare to point out the economic problem of what was to be our role in that whole agreement...hoo-boy, would that be an upward mobility killer for me professionally. Seattle.
I mean, talk about open displays of hating your own country and actively attempting to subvert it. In an OFFICE correspondence.
You're either a very unusual anecdotal exception, or you're attempting to drive a false narrative. Hell, at my OFFICE up there in Seattle, there was not a month went by that there wasn't some sort of email sent from a worker bee to the ENTIRE BUILDING that was dripping in political commentary or ramming of a belief set down everyone's throat. And that was a professional environment. I'd say a good 6 out of every 10 people we added on social media, we either had to mute or just outright cut ties with because of the incessant partisan parroting (related note, we find ourselves cleaning up our Facebooks a little more today with the people who don't understand/are completely ignorant to the U.S.'s completely valid problem with Paris Agreement yet spouting off the party line and us taking the opportunity to identify people we'll likely never see again that we can safely cut ties with). Protests in Seattle every day, people screaming in your face some agenda or another. Political conversations in cafeterias, at the table next to yours in the many restaurants who think it's a good idea to put tables 6 inches apart from one another, etc.
It. Was. EVERYWHERE. And if you didn't see it, you either didn't get out or were part of the problem.
Wow. Seattle has changed, then. And where I worked, at the UW. nobody emailed the entire building or the entire office about anything not work-related. Workers in my office were watched, and weren't allowed to take personal phone calls, or waste time on the internet. But we didn't get the kind of workers who would use their jobs to spew political opinions. This is starting to sound more and more like a generational/Millennial thing. It also sounds like y'all are taking FB too seriously.
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 06-02-2017 at 01:02 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. I get that we're currently in our honeymoon phase here, but the difference in the "feel" and "pulse" of the city is already night and day better than it was for us in Seattle - and, let's face it, Los Angeles is a pretty left leaning city, too. But they're nothing like Seattle. This feels like a place we can thrive and not have to try to hide our middle-of-the-road ideals. 
