tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6421367977598373300.post7269290788181749390..comments2023-08-22T05:06:48.916-07:00Comments on JR Snyder Jr: Geography of the MindJR Snyder Jrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09825473115986190389noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6421367977598373300.post-1001905930458331032011-03-03T15:57:48.311-07:002011-03-03T15:57:48.311-07:00Arizona has a great poke-the-feds-the-eye mentalit...Arizona has a great poke-the-feds-the-eye mentality ever since I can remember way back to the sixties. Post-1993 when we got a lot of Southern Californians (we call them "dumb callies" here) and Midwesterners ("mindlesswasters") moving here, some of that was diluted out for awhile. It's funny, since the economic crisis they seemed to have become converts, those that haven't left anyway.<br /><br />Phoenix was number six on Forbes "America's Emptiest Cities" list http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/12/cities-ten-top-lifestyle-real-estate_0212_cities_slide_12.html<br /><br />I have cousins who live in upstate NY, although I've never been there I get that it is unique from the rest of the state. This same group of cousins also live in the Jacksonville/St Augustine area, also among the list of emptiest cities. I lived there for a few years in the seventies working on a project for AT&T and I know my cousins pretty well. The ones who left upstate NY permanently have mixed emotions about it now, the ones still there love it. I think they're all sorry in a way they left Arizona in the eighties though, especially those in FL.JR Snyder Jrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09825473115986190389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6421367977598373300.post-64572396620344391272011-03-03T14:52:32.413-07:002011-03-03T14:52:32.413-07:00I tried to comment on this last night and managed ...I tried to comment on this last night and managed to somehow wipe it all out between previewing it and posting it. That's just as well because it was pretty long-winded. That happens sometimes.<br /><br />I know what you mean about having to be a real Arizonan to understand the state. It's a lot like how I feel about the North Country here in NY. Other people can pass through it or hear about it and appreciate it to a degree, but I think you have to feel a place to really understand it. I don't think there's any way to feel it without either being there or having been there a lot. I think it has to get inside your heart, which I guess leaves an awful lot of people on the outside looking in. Their loss. :)<br /><br />For me- as someone who knows almost nothing about Arizona which I haven't learned from your blog or my godfather (who lives there)- I'd never claim to begin to understand it (though that whole Taft switcheroo story is beautiful and goes a long way to explain things) but I love that it's there and is standing up for itself. And I know that even in this liberal pit of NY, a whole lot of people look up to Arizona. You'll never hear it on the news, of course, but if you came here and asked around, you'd be surprised how many people love Arizona for fighting the do-nothing dictatorial mess that our federal government has become. It's inspiring. It really is.<br /><br />OK...slightly less long-winded, maybe. Anyway, another great post, JR. Thanks for putting it up.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com