I understand that there are urbanites who contemptuously declare that everyone in the country needs to get out of their car, like, RIGHT NOW. Those people are wrong, and pretty damn obnoxious. But so are the people who react to a post about building parks in DC with vicious diatribes about how horrible cities are and how he wouldn't live in one if you paid him a million dollars. It's exactly the same kind of lifestyle totalitarianism. And it's really, really unnecessary. Proving that there is nothing wrong with your lifestyle does not require you to angrily trash mine.
"Vicious diatribes"? "Angrily trash"? "Lifestyle totalitarianism"? Shiver me economic timbers! My goodness, what happened in Megan's comments to upset the little miss so much? Let's read the comments. Hmm, lots of genuine love of broad, expansive lawns and houses. And a couple of I-don't-understand-Megan's-attitude. Megan chips in:
Well, that's not a surprise. Megan grossly overreacts to criticism. It's sad to see because it's a sign of low self-esteem. (Conservatives, that means she doesn't like herself very much or have confidence in herself.) It's also annoying because she's a professional advice giver. And finally it means her employers have absolutely no idea what they are doing.I'm arguing that DC should build some damn parks so that parents who want to raise children in the city have a shot at doing so. Why this provokes such a hostile reaction is sort of puzzling.
I didn't notice anyone "angrily trashing" her "lifestyle" at all. If I say "I don't like living in big cities and prefer smaller, rural areas," it doesn't naturally follow that I think urban dwellers are all useless and wrong. What a waste of indignation on criticism that doesn't exist outside of her own head. Not to mention, I don't see any urbanites telling everyone to get out of their car, but that could be because I live in L.A. and everybody here understands doing that would shut the entire city down immediately. Another example of Megan taking her own experiences and applying them to the whole of the world.
ReplyDeleteWe have to drive everywhere, even in the city, just like LA. We are just starting to build tall apartment buildings and gain some population density. Our downtown scene is still small, though, and it seems our inner city life might end up revolving around small districts instead. (We also have no zoning to speak of.) But that's an interesting situation that takes research and thinking to discuss, so Megan whines instead.
ReplyDelete