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That democrats have their own version of xenophobia isn't surprising, but I don't know that it can be clearly attributed to wealthy progressivism. The ideas are

That democrats have their own version of xenophobia isn't surprising, but I don't know that it can be clearly attributed to wealthy progressivism. The ideas are inherently reactionery and not very progressive. I think it shows that party lines don't neatly capture ideological divisions, especially in cities that overwhelmingly lean towards one party. In other words, SF being all blue doesn't mean it's all progressive, it'll still have its fair share of right-leaning xenophobes. In a different environment where the Republican party had less of a broad stigma, I suspect a lot of these people wouldn't identify as Democrats. As much as this sounds like a "no true Scotsman" argument, it doesn't make sense to me that NIMBYism is actually seen as a progressive stance.

TulliusCicero 7y ago
The point of the article is that people who are ostensibly progressive (and do vote that way state-wide and nationally) are actually reactionary jerks for local issues, yes. They're all for helping the poor and working class, until it may bother them at home. Then it switches to the ol' "fuck you, got mine".
- themacguffinman 7y ago
  Right, but blaming "wealthy liberals" as the headline suggests seems to miss the point. I think this has less to do with wealthy people or hypocrisy in politically liberal people, and more to do with the fact that everyone is blue in SF, even the conservatives. The author seems to be pointing at naturally conservative people and going "you voted democrat, why aren't you living up to progressive values?". Maybe there is a faction that are hypocritical about this for local issues, but is that actually the main driving force behind the housing crisis? It seems to me that there's a lot more actual conservatives in SF than maybe the voter party registration gives credit for, and blue SF politicians know that they have to represent those people as well.
  - TulliusCicero 7y ago
    They're not conservatives by the usual definition. If you want to say, "well on this issue they're actually behaving in a very conservative fashion" I'll agree with you; nevertheless, by the usual standards of conservative and liberal/progressive, they're voting very liberal at least for state and national-level issues.

TulliusCicero 7y ago

The point of the article is that people who are ostensibly progressive (and do vote that way state-wide and nationally) are actually reactionary jerks for local issues, yes. They're all for helping the poor and working class, until it may bother them at home. Then it switches to the ol' "fuck you, got mine".

themacguffinman 7y ago
Right, but blaming "wealthy liberals" as the headline suggests seems to miss the point. I think this has less to do with wealthy people or hypocrisy in politically liberal people, and more to do with the fact that everyone is blue in SF, even the conservatives. The author seems to be pointing at naturally conservative people and going "you voted democrat, why aren't you living up to progressive values?". Maybe there is a faction that are hypocritical about this for local issues, but is that actually the main driving force behind the housing crisis? It seems to me that there's a lot more actual conservatives in SF than maybe the voter party registration gives credit for, and blue SF politicians know that they have to represent those people as well.
- TulliusCicero 7y ago
  They're not conservatives by the usual definition. If you want to say, "well on this issue they're actually behaving in a very conservative fashion" I'll agree with you; nevertheless, by the usual standards of conservative and liberal/progressive, they're voting very liberal at least for state and national-level issues.