Cyclists are liberals?! (Retry)

[VeloVT]

Back to the comment that inspired this thread... I think people with road rage will sometimes just yell anything out the window, and it doesn't necessarily reflect any kind of broader social phenomenon.

My boyfriend and I were riding this summer in a part of the state where there are wealthy people with shoreline summer homes, and very poor people who live there year round, and not much in between. We came to a three-way intersection in which we had the right of way (we actually didn't have a stopsign), and some guy in a rusty car, coming from the other direction (also no stop sign, but we would never cross paths unless he were taking a left turn, which he wasn't) yells out the window to us, "single file, f*ckbags!". Whahuh? I'm pretty sure I don't even know what a f*ckbag is, and for the record, we were riding single file and to the left, but for some reason he felt compelled or entitled to yell obscenities at us (even it wouldn't have even been possible for to obstruct his passage since we were going in opposite directions, each on our respective sides of the yellow line, and there was no other traffic)...

So I wouldn't be surprised if the subtext of the "liberal" comment was more economic than political.

EDIT:
Although I don't know, Kfergos, according to the results of your poll, he might have been right . I would not necessarily have expected that either... and it may have to do with something regarding TE demographics... are we representative? It seems like there is a greater number of TE'ers from the pacific northwest and California than other parts of the country (which makes sense given TE's real-world location). Wonder if that if of consequence?

[Eden]

EDIT:
Although I don't know, Kfergos, according to the results of your poll, he might have been right . I would not necessarily have expected that either... and it may have to do with something regarding TE demographics... are we representative? It seems like there is a greater number of TE'ers from the pacific northwest and California than other parts of the country (which makes sense given TE's real-world location). Wonder if that if of consequence?

Don't discount that this is the internet too. Though it is not a total bastion of liberalism, it does tend have slightly more left leaning demographics.

[CyclaSutra]

After years of eschewing bumper stickers, I finally put two on my Toyota this year: "Grow Cycling" and "Coexist." Benign enough, eh? No retaliation that I can tell, yet, but I did get a person in a colorful VW van with bikes attached yell something and flash the peace sign out the window this summer a couple days before the Rainbow Family gathered nearby. I think maybe he liked the stickers?

I think TE'ers probably lean a little bit bit more liberal because we're mostly women, and we care more about the right to choose -- choose to cycle, choose to vote, choose whether or not to have a child -- because these are not rights that were inalienably ours not so long ago, and we've had to fight for them.

I am not active in politics because I'm a journalist, and I try to maintain whatever impartiality I can. I don't belong to any political groups, because people trying to discredit you could point to your membership in said group as a political leaning. All that being said, I mostly write and edit about fun or noncontroversial things like Girl Scout cookie sales, art openings, missing deer heads, stinky paper towels, obituaries, etc. so maybe I go overboard in my apolitical care. I'm also a perceiver instead of a judger, so I can see both sides. (ENTP)

Many people have assumed that I'm a liberal because I'm A) a woman and B) a journalist. I won't say that they're far off-base, but I vote for the candidate who I believe is either A) best suited for the job or B) the lesser of all evils. I would say that I'm socially liberal, but a little more fiscally conservative than most liberals. I think partly that comes from growing up poor but with parents too proud to accept any government help. Because the poll is so black-and-white, I did click "Liberal," as I guess it's the most accurate choice for me.

In Wyoming, you must register as Rep or Dem to vote in the primary. I am registered as a Rep (unless I change it at the polls because I feel strongly that year about voting for a Dem) because most of the local politicians (county commission, etc.) are running on the Republican primary ticket, and you would lose your voice in the primary if you didn't vote Republican. Generally, there are very few or no Democrats running against each other in the primary. When I told my lesbian sister that I was registered as a Republican, she was aghast. "Things you didn't know about your sister!"

Locally, I always vote for pathways. I almost always vote for the women who choose to run. I almost always vote for the kooks with radical ideas. Nationally, these trends are not so true for me ...

[Tuckervill]

Don't discount that this is the internet too. Though it is not a total bastion of liberalism, it does tend have slightly more left leaning demographics.

It does?

I can't imagine how that would even begin to be measured.

I think it may appear left leaning in some ways, because I think left leaning people are more likely to be hanging in open forums where all kinds of people may happen by. I think more conservative people may be less willing to tolerate jostling around with people who have fundamental ideas different from their own, and thus prefer more private communities. (This is my own personal opinion formed from my experiences of creating forums around a certain lifestyle choice, back when the internet was new.)

Karen

[Biciclista]

yes, true. More young people are liberal. More older people are not. The internet population tends to be a lot younger than the general population.

I am surprised however at how big the percentage difference is here. Part of it is surely the age thing.
Are liberals more apt to be interested in physical exercise? in getting on bikes and riding?
interesting anyway!

[Crankin]

What do you mean the age thing? A good many of us are over 50...
Are we supposed to be conservative because of our age? I have found that political leanings have more to do with 1) what part of the country you live in and 2) the political beliefs of your family. Both of those are generalizations, but ones that I have found are more true than age.
I have lived in the northeast, the south, the west, and back to the northeast.
There's a reason i moved back here!

[Biciclista]

Crankin, I am 56 and as liberal as they came. I said statistically there are more conservatives our age than there are in their 20's, that's percentages and it doesn't mean YOU are a conservative..

What do you mean the age thing? A good many of us are over 50...
Are we supposed to be conservative because of our age? I have found that political leanings have more to do with 1) what part of the country you live in and 2) the political beliefs of your family. Both of those are generalizations, but ones that I have found are more true than age.
I have lived in the northeast, the south, the west, and back to the northeast.
There's a reason i moved back here!

[smilingcat]

Crankin, I am 56 and as liberal as they came. I said statistically there are more conservatives our age than there are in their 20's, that's percentages and it doesn't mean YOU are a conservative..

I think it was Sir Winston Churhill who snorted "When you are young and not a liberal, you have no heart. And when you are old and not a conservative, you have no brain" Atleast, something like that. The German movie "Edukators" was based on this concept. And as we get older, more people become conservatives. Ein muss sihet Film. Ja? It should have English subtitle. I highly recommend it so do my friends.

[Eden]

It does?

I can't imagine how that would even begin to be measured.

I think it may appear left leaning in some ways, because I think left leaning people are more likely to be hanging in open forums where all kinds of people may happen by. I think more conservative people may be less willing to tolerate jostling around with people who have fundamental ideas different from their own, and thus prefer more private communities. (This is my own personal opinion formed from my experiences of creating forums around a certain lifestyle choice, back when the internet was new.)

Karen

I know I've seen studies that back this up. Though at the moment I'm only finding evidence that points in that direction. The largest demographic in internet usage would be described as young, college educated, relatively well off, urban or suburbanite. They also are more likely to live in a "blue" state. High Internet penetration can be found along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in the Rocky Mountain States. Meanwhile, in the interior of the country, especially in the Midwest and the South, Internet use lags greatly behind the national average. I'll hazard that people who are in this group are probably more likely to self identify as liberal than conservative. (these statistics come from a Pew Research web site) That is of course not to say that people who do not fit this demographic never use the internet or that all people who do fit this demographic are also liberal- they just are not the majority. I'll see if I can find something more definitive.

Also I'm sure that this will change. People who use the internet today, I think, are still considered to be "early adopters". Once more people begin using the internet and it becomes as ubiquitous as television, the internet community will be much more likely to have the same demographic as the actual community. People will just gravitate to different sites as they gravitate to different tv programming.

[Tuckervill]

You're probably right. I just think the saturation rate is as deep as it's going to get...that we're past the "early adopters" stage. But then, I've been online since 1994. (Compuserve! I chatted with someone in Australia. woowoo!) Even my parents, in their 70s, have been online for 8+ years.

I sense more acceptance and embracing of the internet in that aforementioned community on the conservative side.

The people who are never going to be online are going to die off soon. The people growing up today have always been online. There will always be the ones who eschew technology, and those who have it and don't use it.

I recently got a Blackberry, which means I can get the email and internet virtually anywhere. I used to believe I didn't need this, but it has been very helpful on my current trip (I'm gone from home for a month--starting week 3 today). Even though I have my laptop, I don't have to hunt for a signal to look up directions. I can do it on the fly. This is where I think the big change in the way people use the internet is occurring. I'm by no means an early adopter of this technology!

You're probably right, though.
Karen