Guest Post: 7 reasons I feel at home in liberal towns
We love it when we find other 7 Reasons pieces on the internet, especially good ones. We found this one via Twitter. It’s written by Vince Marotte, who is the Internet Pastor at the Gateway Church in Austin, Texas. He’s kindly given us permission to use it. It was originally posted on his blog, where you can also read about his love of Radiohead and He-Man blankets (he’ll fit in quite well here then).
When I was laying the groundwork for planting a church last year, one important value I had was planting in a city where I fit in. Long story short; the profiles kept pointing to liberal towns. Which I could have told you prior to taking assessments and doing the interviews. On a side note, the church we’re planting is now going to be on the Internet…based in Austin.
In conversations with people back in California and the various other places I have people, I often mention the fact that I really dig Austin because it’s a liberal town. When I say that, I mean it in the most broad sense and I’m not even thinking about politics; let’s face it, when it comes to the issues that actually make the world go around the difference between Democrats and Republicans is nominal at best. Not to mention the fact I don’t subscribe to either paradigm; I’m a Pro-Life Libertarian for what it’s worth, which means I’m more conservative than Republicans and more liberal than Democrats…if that’s possible.
7 reasons I feel at home in liberal towns:
1. Less Hummers. Historically I drive small cars and I can’t stand getting stuck behind monster trucks when I’m going down the freeway. Not to mention the taking up of two parking spots. I won’t say drivers are better in liberal towns…but they do less damage in their Volvos and hybrids.
2. Educated Population. I suck at small talk and I don’t watch much in the way of sports, college basketball being the one exception. In a highly educated liberal town I find it much easier to find people to talk with about things like the Large Hadron Collider, flaws in the federal reserve system and whatever was on NPR this morning. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with blue collar towns…it’s just not my thing.
3. Protestors. I’m someone that thinks the American population needs to take to the streets a little more often; it’s a great way to keep our government in check, because our power to vote doesn’t seem to be working. I can’t quite pinpoint the exact reasons why there seem to be more protesters in liberal towns, but my best guess is that most liberal towns have a generous surplus of college students and a larger single population in general. Married people with kids a far less likely to take the day off work to go protest the WTO, Monsanto, war or whatever.
4. Whole Foods. I love me some Whole Foods. I’m a foodie and a hack chef and I can always count on Whole Foods to have the goods. Not to mention the fact that my family eats organic, natural, grass fed…blah blah blah. It’s clear that Whole Foods targets liberal towns as their market.
5. Local Everything. Liberal towns are good to their local businesses. Educated liberals tend to care about stuff like that where as in conservative towns people have become dependent on Wal-Mart and Costco.
6. The Arts. I love music and art. Liberal towns are really the only place where music and art scenes flourish. Again, this has something to due with the population of single people, and they are willing and able to do the starving artist thing.
7. People Give You the Benefit of the Doubt. At the center of a conservative view of politics is the concept that mankind is inherently evil; whereas at the core of a liberal view is the opposite, that mankind is inherently good. These thoughts are quite often subconscious and not often completely understood by either side of the concepts and there are exceptions to the rule. All that to say the people in liberal towns general give everyone the benefit of the doubt and it creates good energy. I will say that a proper understanding of either view can lead you to think positive of everyone.
Maybe the sociologists out there can help me complete my thoughts?
