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I grew up on generational property in rural Oregon (near Josephine county. OP says that it's in central Oregon, which isn't even remotely true), and it's true t
by dgzl 8y ago
I grew up on generational property in rural Oregon (near Josephine county. OP says that it's in central Oregon, which isn't even remotely true), and it's true that there's plenty of anti-tax sentiment, including from myself.
Grants pass town (Josephine county) is generally a bad place to be, with lots of bad drugs and crime. But the country nearby has really scenic lakes and mountains, and is a good place to live if you have property. It's about an hour drive to anything better (Jackson county), so it's somewhat isolated.
It looks like the county wanted to levy property tax from $0.58 per $1000 of value, to $2.57 per, which was their plan to fund the sheriff Dept., DA, and juvenile detention. The people fought back and won. [0]
A small town near where I grew up ceased it's police force, and is instead patrolled by county sheriffs stationed in nearby towns. The truth is there are many people out here who just want to live their private country lives, many of who have small income, and spend their year fishing and hunting for food.
It's hard to expect people who want to live small lives to pay for other people to have bigger lives, especially when the gap is large. Oregon isn't too bad of an example, but I was living in Illinois recently, and I saw the same situation there but much more drastically imposed. Chicago is obsessed with huge funding and high taxes, and the rest of the state is being dragged along unwillingly with an entirely different view. Unfortunately Chicago is about the only interesting thing in Illinois, so you can imagine which side gets votes.
[0] https://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/josephine_county_begins_disman.html https://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/05/josephine_...
- poulsbohemian 8y ago> (near Josephine county. OP says that it's in central Oregon, which isn't even remotely true), References to geography in Oregon are funny. Portlanders always refer to Bend (for example) as "Eastern Oregon" even though it is the center of the state. Actually, it's to the west-center if anything. Wallowa, Union, Baker counties might as well be the other side of the planet. ;-D
- dgzl 8y agoI don't think I've ever heard someone call Bend Eastern Oregon. That's just ignorance
- krupan 8y agoThe dividing line is the Cascade Mountains. If you've ever seen both sides of those mountains in Oregon or Washington, you know why: very different climates.
- ip26 8y agoNothing new there. Colombus, OH is in the "Midwest", despite being nearly in line with the Jacksonville Atlantic coastline.
- dgzl 8y agoAfter living in Michigan for a while, I've learned that just because you use EST does not mean you're I'm the East coast.
- ubernostrum 8y agoIt's hard to expect people who want to live small lives to pay for other people to have bigger lives This is a beautiful short talking-point answer that glosses over a lot of awful. The track record of American political movements dedicated to the principle you've articulated above is... appalling. Not even as a matter of subjective taste; as a matter of demonstrable historical record. The shocking state of rural Appalachia, which launched the "War on Poverty", was the result of generation after generation of people who voted to "live small lives" and "just "live their private country lives", and forgot that they weren't just making that choice for themselves as individuals -- they were also forcing that choice on their neighbors and their children, who got trapped in the resulting cycle of poverty. I am perfectly comfortable telling you that you should not be allowed to vote your neighbors and children into that situation, and that they should have the right to interfere with your attempt to do so.
- dorchadas 8y agoNot to mention that as soon as something happens that hurts their small lives...they want other people to pay to fix it.