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Very interesting to observe that Alaska is politically conservative, yet shows "liberal" values in important ways. I visited parts of the state again this summ

by jrapdx3 12y ago

Very interesting to observe that Alaska is politically conservative, yet shows "liberal" values in important ways. I visited parts of the state again this summer, and impressed with it's the breadth of its multicultural history and the extent it's celebrated and preserved. There is enormous environmental awareness and effort made to take care of the state's natural bounty is notable. I always much to learn about things and places I've never seen or known about first hand. To the extent "conserve" is the root of "conservative" that must be regarded as indeed a positive attribute.

jandrewrogers 12y ago
This is not that surprising. In terms of the well-known regional cultural identities in the US, Alaska is a mix of Cascadian culture (i.e. the Portland/Seattle/Vancouver arc) and Sagebrush culture (i.e. the intermountain West). The environmental awareness comes from the Cascadian culture. The Sagebrush culture comes with the political view that how a person chooses to live their life is none of the government's business, which has socially liberal political effects. The multiculturalism comes from both. Sagebrush regions are politically confusing to people from other parts of the US. The background culture tend to be socially conservative, and ironically also among the least religious regions of the US, but in Sagebrush culture there is a strong distaste for dictating how your neighbor lives their life. It is politically libertarian, which has socially liberal effects, even though the people tend a bit more conservative in their personal lives. This leads to the famous legal minimalism of the Sagebrush parts of the US, where laws common in other States do not even exist for many things and the laws that do exist tend to be atypically permissive. Very "live and let live".
fleitz 12y ago
The words conservative and liberal in American politics are more of a collection of platform policies than an ideology.

by jrapdx3 12y ago

jandrewrogers 12y ago

This is not that surprising. In terms of the well-known regional cultural identities in the US, Alaska is a mix of Cascadian culture (i.e. the Portland/Seattle/Vancouver arc) and Sagebrush culture (i.e. the intermountain West). The environmental awareness comes from the Cascadian culture. The Sagebrush culture comes with the political view that how a person chooses to live their life is none of the government's business, which has socially liberal political effects. The multiculturalism comes from both. Sagebrush regions are politically confusing to people from other parts of the US. The background culture tend to be socially conservative, and ironically also among the least religious regions of the US, but in Sagebrush culture there is a strong distaste for dictating how your neighbor lives their life. It is politically libertarian, which has socially liberal effects, even though the people tend a bit more conservative in their personal lives. This leads to the famous legal minimalism of the Sagebrush parts of the US, where laws common in other States do not even exist for many things and the laws that do exist tend to be atypically permissive. Very "live and let live".

fleitz 12y ago

The words conservative and liberal in American politics are more of a collection of platform policies than an ideology.