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Oh yea, I agree the natural beauty is astounding. It's the extreme left wing, near Bolshevik culture and attitude that has destroyed it for me. I say this as a

Oh yea, I agree the natural beauty is astounding. It's the extreme left wing, near Bolshevik culture and attitude that has destroyed it for me. I say this as a lifelong democrat.

98Windows 6y ago
lol wtf, how is SF in anyway extreme left wing or Bolshevik?
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  I don’t know about SF specific policies, but I’ve met some people that consider parental leave, non compete bans, sick leave, environmental laws, and basically anything else to help the general public to be “extreme left”.
- pyrrhotech 6y ago
  I guess you've never had protesters try to block you from getting to work because you're an evil capitalist actually trying to provide value for society?
  - rsynnott 6y ago
    Public protest is not a sign of ‘Bolshievism’. You get that basically everywhere.
    - pyrrhotech 6y ago
      Of course not, and I've attended public protests. But a public protest of the core tenets of capitalism--not just its excesses--is as close to Bolshevism as you can get. Bolsheviks started as a fringe group like Antifa, but look where they ended up. Reasonable moderates need to stand up for a form of regulated capitalism, one that protects workers and the environment, and reasonable tax policies that redistribute some of the elites' wealth to form social safety nets, but we also need to be wary of and even fight against any potential rise of radical, wealth-destroying and authoritarian socialism.
- typon 6y ago
  It's only Bolshevik to Americans who don't actually understand the meaning of that word, or any related concept for that matter because of the incessant propaganda they're subjected to
jeffdn 6y ago
I'd hazard a guess to say that actual Bolsheviks would be appalled by American liberals, many of whom engage in conspicuous consumption and are vastly more interested in the appearance of affecting change than in the actual work required to make it happen. There is a vast difference between American liberals and left-wing politics.
- Nasrudith 6y ago
  The Bolsheviks still had the complete case of "missing the goddamned point" and beligerence such that they put totaltiarians in power. I am afraid that "more interested in the appearance of change" applied to them as well. Hell they fit the exact same framework of "fanatical hatred for those with more minute policy distinctions". Their most damning flaw was that they were in the end more interested in killing anyone better off as a scapegoat and dogma policing than them than doing anything to make life better. They aren't the same (thank god - the original Bolsheviks were psychotics!) but plenty of resemblences. There is still the absurd supply-and-demand denialism common to both the area and the self-proclaimed left-wing. Then there is the whole "fight new higher density housing as gentrification" making everyone worse off as the supply doesn't rise but rents do anyway.
fermienrico 6y ago
I agree, SF/Oakland/Berkeley do not resonate with me as a life-long democrat as well. Extreme-left wingers in my view stand head to head with extreme-right wingers. These people are the cancer of the society IMO.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  One bit of broader context to keep in mind is that "extreme" left-wingers in the US are merely 'the left' by, say, European standards, where the US as a whole is seen as a right-leaning country.
  - natechols 6y ago
    We have actual Maoists in the bay area - they're a tiny faction and utterly irrelevant, but they're very good at getting attention and they like to poison the atmosphere for everyone. There are no Maoist governing parties in Europe that I'm aware of, and hardly any Marxists either.
    - peacefulhat 6y ago
      Communist parties in America are nothing but there are communist parties with seats in national legislatures throughout Europe. They’re not specifically Maoist because that doesn’t make any sense for developed countries.
    - dragonwriter 6y ago
      > There are no Maoist governing parties in Europe that I'm aware of There aren't any Maoist (or any of the other descendants of Leninism) governing parties in the Bay Area, either.
  - throwaway13337 6y ago
    This is often repeated but, as an American who lived in Europe for some years, it doesn't appear to be true. There are right wings in Europe that carry very strong albeit slightly different conservative beliefs. In any society, there will be conservative views and liberal ones. It just seems like there is a difference in how those beliefs are exercised. Extremism in one side just brings extremism to the other side.

Oh yea, I agree the natural beauty is astounding. It's the extreme left wing, near Bolshevik culture and attitude that has destroyed it for me. I say this as a lifelong democrat.

98Windows 6y ago

lol wtf, how is SF in anyway extreme left wing or Bolshevik?

lotsofpulp 6y ago
I don’t know about SF specific policies, but I’ve met some people that consider parental leave, non compete bans, sick leave, environmental laws, and basically anything else to help the general public to be “extreme left”.
pyrrhotech 6y ago
I guess you've never had protesters try to block you from getting to work because you're an evil capitalist actually trying to provide value for society?
- rsynnott 6y ago
  Public protest is not a sign of ‘Bolshievism’. You get that basically everywhere.
  - pyrrhotech 6y ago
    Of course not, and I've attended public protests. But a public protest of the core tenets of capitalism--not just its excesses--is as close to Bolshevism as you can get. Bolsheviks started as a fringe group like Antifa, but look where they ended up. Reasonable moderates need to stand up for a form of regulated capitalism, one that protects workers and the environment, and reasonable tax policies that redistribute some of the elites' wealth to form social safety nets, but we also need to be wary of and even fight against any potential rise of radical, wealth-destroying and authoritarian socialism.
typon 6y ago
It's only Bolshevik to Americans who don't actually understand the meaning of that word, or any related concept for that matter because of the incessant propaganda they're subjected to

jeffdn 6y ago

I'd hazard a guess to say that actual Bolsheviks would be appalled by American liberals, many of whom engage in conspicuous consumption and are vastly more interested in the appearance of affecting change than in the actual work required to make it happen. There is a vast difference between American liberals and left-wing politics.

Nasrudith 6y ago
The Bolsheviks still had the complete case of "missing the goddamned point" and beligerence such that they put totaltiarians in power. I am afraid that "more interested in the appearance of change" applied to them as well. Hell they fit the exact same framework of "fanatical hatred for those with more minute policy distinctions". Their most damning flaw was that they were in the end more interested in killing anyone better off as a scapegoat and dogma policing than them than doing anything to make life better. They aren't the same (thank god - the original Bolsheviks were psychotics!) but plenty of resemblences. There is still the absurd supply-and-demand denialism common to both the area and the self-proclaimed left-wing. Then there is the whole "fight new higher density housing as gentrification" making everyone worse off as the supply doesn't rise but rents do anyway.

fermienrico 6y ago

I agree, SF/Oakland/Berkeley do not resonate with me as a life-long democrat as well. Extreme-left wingers in my view stand head to head with extreme-right wingers. These people are the cancer of the society IMO.

crooked-v 6y ago
One bit of broader context to keep in mind is that "extreme" left-wingers in the US are merely 'the left' by, say, European standards, where the US as a whole is seen as a right-leaning country.
- natechols 6y ago
  We have actual Maoists in the bay area - they're a tiny faction and utterly irrelevant, but they're very good at getting attention and they like to poison the atmosphere for everyone. There are no Maoist governing parties in Europe that I'm aware of, and hardly any Marxists either.
  - peacefulhat 6y ago
    Communist parties in America are nothing but there are communist parties with seats in national legislatures throughout Europe. They’re not specifically Maoist because that doesn’t make any sense for developed countries.
  - dragonwriter 6y ago
    > There are no Maoist governing parties in Europe that I'm aware of There aren't any Maoist (or any of the other descendants of Leninism) governing parties in the Bay Area, either.
- throwaway13337 6y ago
  This is often repeated but, as an American who lived in Europe for some years, it doesn't appear to be true. There are right wings in Europe that carry very strong albeit slightly different conservative beliefs. In any society, there will be conservative views and liberal ones. It just seems like there is a difference in how those beliefs are exercised. Extremism in one side just brings extremism to the other side.