that's hilarious, Basil. "We're better than you! But without you, we're just broke, angry French-wannabe's". They have to be the only ones in the world that WANT to be French.
Canada vs. America
- Thread starter GhostToast
- Start date
there was a techno song by either the propellerheads or prodigy (i think) that had some spoken parts that went a little something like this
We thought you might like to begin your tour here.
Is there anything of yours that we might take with us to commemorate our visit? (i think it was an alien)
Take California.
We thought you might like to begin your tour here.
Is there anything of yours that we might take with us to commemorate our visit? (i think it was an alien)
Take California.
I dunno if you can take either the propellorheads or prodigy's lyrics and generalize them to the American population at large....
When i am 83 and looking back on my life, considering my regrets..... hating SoCali will not be one of them
Yeah CA is kind of a wildcard.
To begin with, conservative America (which is a vocal minority) absolutely hates California because it is a bastion of liberal thought. You have Berkeley, San Fransisco, etc etc. Not surprisingly, California is also where many originally "intelligentsia" concepts got started, for example the Internet and computing itself exists as it does today in large part thanks to various schools, organizations, and businesses in California.
So you have that part of the CA-hate. There's also the fact that California is seen as the bastion of "the liberal media", largely due to Hollywood -- if you don't know a lot about U.S. histroy, there was a period during the cold war when many people in Hollywood were blacklisted and called out for being communist. Look up "McCarthyism". That general feeling amongst the right-wing that Hollywood (also variously representing media in general) harbors "America-haters" still exists.
There are also people who CA-hate for non-political reasons. Californians are ascribed various attributes: fake, snobbish, too happy, ignorant, detached from reality, etc. The general idea is that Californians don't really represent "real people" or the "average American", and thus because California is unrepresentative it should "fall into the ocean" or whatever.
People that like California generally share two traits: a)They've actually been there; and b)They aren't miserable, jaded people. They like California because it's always 72 degrees and partly cloudy, there's enough beach for everyone and when you're sick of that you can drive a couple of hours and be in the mountains, you can get to know our friendly, hardworking neighbors to the south, the climate is perfect for preserving classic automobiles, and so on.
There are other CA-haters who are just jealous of the above.
Nad then there's the who nor-Cal vs. so-Cal thing. That's an entirely different issue.
In many ways, California is entirely different than the rest of the U.S. In other ways, it perfectly resembles a microcosm of the U.S. It may actually be this dichotomy that's at the true heart of CA-hate.
To begin with, conservative America (which is a vocal minority) absolutely hates California because it is a bastion of liberal thought. You have Berkeley, San Fransisco, etc etc. Not surprisingly, California is also where many originally "intelligentsia" concepts got started, for example the Internet and computing itself exists as it does today in large part thanks to various schools, organizations, and businesses in California.
So you have that part of the CA-hate. There's also the fact that California is seen as the bastion of "the liberal media", largely due to Hollywood -- if you don't know a lot about U.S. histroy, there was a period during the cold war when many people in Hollywood were blacklisted and called out for being communist. Look up "McCarthyism". That general feeling amongst the right-wing that Hollywood (also variously representing media in general) harbors "America-haters" still exists.
There are also people who CA-hate for non-political reasons. Californians are ascribed various attributes: fake, snobbish, too happy, ignorant, detached from reality, etc. The general idea is that Californians don't really represent "real people" or the "average American", and thus because California is unrepresentative it should "fall into the ocean" or whatever.
People that like California generally share two traits: a)They've actually been there; and b)They aren't miserable, jaded people. They like California because it's always 72 degrees and partly cloudy, there's enough beach for everyone and when you're sick of that you can drive a couple of hours and be in the mountains, you can get to know our friendly, hardworking neighbors to the south, the climate is perfect for preserving classic automobiles, and so on.
There are other CA-haters who are just jealous of the above.
Nad then there's the who nor-Cal vs. so-Cal thing. That's an entirely different issue.
In many ways, California is entirely different than the rest of the U.S. In other ways, it perfectly resembles a microcosm of the U.S. It may actually be this dichotomy that's at the true heart of CA-hate.
You touched on something there, BC. It really is more of So Cal that is not liked. Morality has always been highly under attack since the 1920's in the Hollywood and surrounding areas, the influx of immigrants (legal or not) bolstered the underclass in the same area in the last 30 years and is the foundation of enormous gangs, and the uber-rich that do enjoy the beautiful beaches and the large incomes from movie making etc, do live in a fluffy-land that is completely detached from reality.
I prefer the climate of Northern Cali. A good vibe also flows up North. The south part is hot and icky. There is smog to boot and not really any fantastic scenery to speak of (Unless you like those Hollywood Hills filled with houses and pools) I've been a few times and if I never went much more South than SanFrancisco it wouldn't kill me. I basically have three main criteria for a places that warrant multiple visits... Trees (of the evergreen variety), fun people and most importantly... RAIN.
Tomorrow my mind will have changed and these criteria will be void.
Tomorrow my mind will have changed and these criteria will be void.