The Trouble With Leaving Town.

The problem with leaving Eugene for any amount of time (even two days) is you see how normal the rest of the world really is and you wonder if we are mislead, arrogant or can’t see ourselves as we really appear to the outside world.

I read the Oregonian for a few days and when I come back, open the RG and find 40-square miles surrounded by reality. The headlines have nothing to do with my life or the lives of most of the people I know.

I like living in this area (I live in Springfield) but when you get out of town you really discover how different this place is and it’s not all good.

I wonder sometimes if we don’t fall into some false sense of thinking we’re right and the rest of the world is wrong.

When I visit Portland, Hood River or Mount Hood I find the “Hippy Vibe” alive and well but minus the need to fight and argue over every little detail in life. In other places in Oregon they welcome alternative lifestyles but it’s not like a religion. Go to Cottage Grove and you find people who disagree actually get along. No one group runs the show.

I think we need to come down off our high horse for a minute. Perhaps we need to look around and see that the squeakiest wheel really isn’t the majority and probably shouldn’t be running the show.

But I guess if you want to issue blame it should go to each one of us who allows the minority to rule the place we call home.

But that’s takes work and people can’t just sit on their butt and wait for it to happen.

 

2 Comments

• 
  Marshall Moseley December 28, 2011 at 9:33 pm

  >>No one group runs the show.>>

  The United States is currently dominated by far right wing politics — the House and the Supreme Court both have a conservative majority, and the Democratic Senate lacks a veto-proof majority, which means *one group* can and does stop any other group from succeeding at all.

  The fact that there are a few — just a few — cities in the United States where liberal politics hold sway is completely acceptable. Not every region can or should be politically homogenous. Places like Eugene, Northampton Mass, and Santa Cruz CA are few and far between. For every one of them there are dozens if not hundreds of cities throughout the mid-west, south, and rust-belt that are staunchly conservative. (And yes, I can list them if you want me to.)

  In very conservative areas, when a left-leaning Democrat talks about compromise and ‘no one group’ controlling the politics, he or she is laughed at when they are not being insulted and demeaned.

  I’m a centrist Democrat. and there are many opinions on the left side of my party with which I disagree — however, I think there should be at least a few places int the U.S. that mostly represent its point of view.

  And, not to put too fine a point on it, Eugene is run democratically — its officials are elected. So if the people of Eugene choose to take a particular political stance, isn’t that the will of the people? Isn’t that what representative Democracy is all about?
• 
  Greg Ewert December 29, 2011 at 12:17 am

  Whoa!! I’m not the only one to notice . But whenever I mention it, someone hands me a phone number to their shrink.