I recently moved to California. Before i moved, people asked me “why are you moving there, its so bad?”. Now that I’m here, i understand it less. The state is beautiful. There is so much to do.
I know the cost of living is high, and people think the gun control laws are ridiculous (I actually think they are reasonable, for the most part). There is a guy I work with here that says “the policies are dumb” but can’t give me a solid answer on what is so bad about it.
So, what is it that California does (policy-wise) that people hate so much?
Exactly right! Conservatives will say this about literally any nearby city, the only thing I’ve been able to come up with is that they’re petrified of the city, just pure fear. Even something as small as Madison they’ll dogwhistle up and down on because they’ve never been and they’re terrified of it. Anything new or different is bad, of course.
I don’t know that they’re actually afraid. I think they are just signaling group affiliation and have chosen to side with the bosses.
Oh no I’ve seen pure fear, bringing rural friends to my city to hang out has had legit fear with them. It’s stuff that will pass, but simple things like jumping on a train to go downtown or walking down a busy street will freak them out. Crowds and people sure, but there is truly a layer of fear that they’ve been taught about going into cities