An Alaska state of mind
Tuesday September 9, 2008
Categories: A Sense of Place, Republicans
I wish to bring to your attention this really insightful comment from one of the comboxes below, by Richard, who says that to understand why Sarah Palin doesn't fit neatly into settled political and cultural categories, you need to understand...
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Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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Don't know about Alaska, but I like what Juan Cole has to say:
"John McCain announced that he was running for president to confront the "transcendent challenge" of the 21st century, "radical Islamic extremism," contrasting it with "stability, tolerance and democracy." But the values of his handpicked running mate, Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers. On censorship [i.e., book banning -O] , the teaching of creationism in schools, reproductive rights, attributing government policy to God's will and climate change, Palin agrees with Hamas and Saudi Arabia rather than supporting tolerance and democratic precepts. What is the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick."
All that, plus in an incredibly short time in office she's engaged in petty personal politics/abuses of power, and lied about her positions. What's not to like?
-Oss
Wow - and yes. "In Alaska one will find a strong influence of what some have termed the "leave us alone" coalition."
If you look at how Palin has governed -- what she's pushed and what she hasn't -- what emerges is a person with openly stated, traditional moral values, but enough of the Alaska libertarian impulse to avoid trying to impose them by means of government action. Dare I say it, a de facto fusionist. I'm grinning from ear to ear.
The very intelligent things that Richard has to see about Alaska remind me very much of what things are like in the small towns in the South and in the Midwest in which I have lived or spent time -- which is why I think people like Sarah Palin so much in places like that and are willing at least to consider taking a chance on her. The emergence of the ideology that Richard describes on the national stage would be a very good thing for the country -- and not least for the left-liberals, urbanites, and secularists in the country who might finally learn that they have less to fear from small towns than small towns have to fear from them.
I think there may actually be some good out of a Palin Vice Presidency. There will, as there always are, tremendous numbers of people who will respond so negatively to her that they will go out of their way to prove that they are not like her. Thus, instead of turning the country in the direction she wants, it will automatically go in the reverse direction.
"Don't know about Alaska, but I like what Juan Cole has to say:"
Juan Cole is a liar and a lunatic...
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html
The most abused word in our social discouse is "tolerance." It means "indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own."
To put it another way, you don't tolerate things you like or agree with; you tolerate things you don't like or disagree with. Many calls from the left for "tolerance" are really calls for people to change their minds, and start approving of things they now disapprove of. That's a perfectly fair thing to ask -- I'd like the left to change their minds about a lot of things, too, of course -- but it's disingenuous to characterize it as a call for tolerance.
If you look at how Palin has acted as governor of Alaska, it fits the actual meaning of tolerance quite closely.
A statistical cautionary note about the "small-townness" of Alaska: Of the state's 677,000 residents, nearly 300,000 live in greater Anchorage. (Those are 2007 census estimates.) About two-thirds of the state's population is categorized as urban. Higher percentages of the populations of Alabama, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina are rural.
allbetsareoff
Yes, but even if 250000 live in the Anchorage area, they still have the leave me alone attitude and seem small. Richard is exactly right about the culture and anthropology of Alaska. Whenever one gets on a plane from Seattle to Anchorage they see someone they know or recognize. When we go fishing each year for salmon on the Kenai and Kasilof rivers, we see at least 10 people we know from the "greater Anchorage area". Anchorage is just a bigger "small town" than Wasilla, Palmer, Soldotna, Fairbanks, Juneau. After those little communities the town size drops to "village" and your talking 100 to 1000 people. Forget anonymity! EVERYTHING you do is front and center!
Has anyone seen the sign that says:
McWhatshisname
PALIN
It's hilarious. I have been wondering if we've all forgetten that it is McCain who is running for president and will be holding the veto pen.
Yeah Shelley, one of the things I like about going back to visit family in AK, is once you hit Seattle, you're bound to run into someone you know.
I now live in a midwest city roughly equivalent in size to Fairbanks. In the Fairbanks/North Pole area it was common, especially in winter to see 4-5 cars pulled over helping someone who had broken down. In three years I've never such a thing here. And I consider Jeff City a pretty friendly town actually.
Apparently it has been debunked, but I don't see what the big deal is over if she ever belonged to the Alaskan Independence Party. Heck, we elected a governor from that party. Very few think it will ever happen. But is it a forbidden idea? At least 3 other states also have independence parties. Hawaii is one of them.
Is the "comparing those you disagree with to Muslim terrorists" a whole new law or just a corollary to Godwin's Law? Just wondering.
There is a lot of truth in the way Richard describes community life in Alaska. I lived there for about three and a half years, and thereafter never again enjoyed the type of friends, community and trust my family found there. We never locked our homes or cars, but I doubt it's as true today as it was then. My wife cried for three days straight after we came back to the Washington, DC area.
Even so, people like ossicle never fit in because BS artists (e.g., "the values of... Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers.") were known to all.
Even so, people like ossicle never fit in because BS artists (e.g., "the values of... Sarah Palin, more resemble those of Muslim fundamentalists than they do those of the Founding Fathers.") were known to all.
A few months ago (May 1st, actually), on my inbound flight to Barrow, I sat just one seat up and one over from some rather self important egomaniac who did nothing but brag about how he knew all of the media executives and lots of other supposedly impressive people all over the world. He was trying to impress the YL sitting beside him with his "worldliness". It's about an hour's flight from Fairbanks in, and he managed to maintain this unceasing flow from before he got onboard to after they got off the plane in Barrow. As best I could tell, he was assigned to BASC in some capacity for around a year. He reminds me of a LOT of the laughable characters who post their silly rants here all the time.
In contrast, the guy who sat across the aisle from me was part of Search and Rescue for Barrow and surrounding area. He was interesting to talk to, and not full of himself.
Far more interesting and knowledgeable, as well, was the "white guy" with the sled dogs, who keeps a team in shape year round, and for fun takes people out with the dogs to keep them in shape and give them a chance to run. It helps pay for the food, as well. Seriously, where else in the world will you see traffic signs that tell you that the snowmobiles use the CENTER lane, cars to the edges?
All around, the average Alaskan has a rather self effacing humor about Alaska's oddness as compared to the lower 48, but a well deserved "leave me alone" attitude, as the know-nothings down south insist they're far more qualified to run things up there.
[Gosh, Rod! Thank you again!]
In terms of Alaska -- even Anchorage -- being small enough to run into someone you know almost anywhere, Shelley in AK might agree with my wife, who once said that if you go to four events a year in Alaska, you will meet or see nearly everyone else in the state. Her list of four includes: the Iditarod Start; the AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives) Convention; State Fair in Palmer; and the Great Alaska Shootout.
And Shelley is right. Live in Alaska any length of time, and if you're flying through Sea-Tac, you will see someone you know (or at least recognize) in an Alaska-bound Alaska Airlines departure area.
And Cleveland's wife is correct. The thing that makes the Last Frontier so special is the people. As a friend in a church home group years ago during our first tour of duty in Anchorage once told us, words I will never forget: "You come for the scenery; you stay for the people".
Rod, I don't know if that sort of environment qualifies as "crunchy" or not, but then, along about mid-November, most of the state qualifies as pretty "crunchy" in at least one key regard!
Richard
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