Live in Portland and agree with the man’s comments about Portland. It’s been mostly peaceful and not anything close to what Trump says. But the left is totally full of shit when they say Portland is thriving. I will say it has gotten better since 2020 but it has a long way to go. We have a more moderate mayor, a better police chief and a less ideological, tougher on crime DA. We’re making strives in the right direction.
I describe myself without shame (which is not to say without embarrassment) as a libertarian (note the lower case L). I was raised a good progressive and remained one into my early 20s (born in 1961) when I read Charles Murray’s “Losing Ground.” But that didn’t convert me: it just made me come to believe that we need to be more careful when we write legislation that becomes regulations that establish departments who establish divisions who establish bureaus who create compliance and field offices. It’s a management problem!
Without I hope abusing the “progressive whose been mugged” aphorism, when I took a job in a building at the corner of Wilshire and Rampart in LA in the Summer of 1989 reality gave me a nice hard slap on the face. We had a speaker visit during United Way week (remember those?) from the downtown homeless shelter (the Weingart Center, I want to say) who left a bunch of food/shelter “vouchers” with us that could be exchanged at the center for food and shelter. They asked us to give panhandlers these vouchers instead of cash. Someone asked why. “Because they spend cash on drugs and alcohol.” As those words sank in I thought “Brilliant! This is just the kind of adjustment good progressives ought to be willing to make to their behavior!” The sea change came the next day as I walked up Rampart to The Original Tommy’s. “Spare change?” “Sure, here you go buddy!” only to have the voucher slapped out of my hand accompanied by a powerfully delivered “fuck you!” That was probably 1990. That led me to supporting Paul Tsongas (the most conservative Democrat in the field) in 1992. Someone I would have casually labeled a fascist only a few years earlier. I settled for Clinton and found myself defending him from charges of fascism for signing the “ending welfare as we know it” legislation.
Over the next several decades I began to realize that, for the most part, the “not a dime’s worth of difference” euphemism used to describe the two major parties was fundamentally correct. I opposed Bush 2’s invasion of Iraq but had no difficulty imaging a president Al Gore doing exactly the same thing. I haven’t voted for a major party candidate since (though, if I hadn’t lived in Delaware at the time, I probably would have voted for Obama in 2008; it’s electorally liberating to live in a state where your vote for president doesn’t matter).
Anyway: here is where I ended up. I am a libertarian who loves American and the American project. My libertarianism — i.e., what makes me not “extreme” — is that I am also a strict constitutionalist which means I’m a strict federalist. I’ve also reconciled myself to the truth that Churchill was right about democracy: it’s the worst system ever, except for every other system. The constitution’s framers believed this. I am reconciled to the idea that sometimes (often), majorities are going to want laws (or regulations), wars, spending, etc., that I don’t want. They will often oppose constraints on government power that I favor. And if we ever decide to try the federalism thing again, I’ll have to deal with the fact that that some states are going to police the individual and corporate behavior in ways I don’t think they should be policed.
My reaction to the SCOTUS’ decision in Dobbs is a great example. On the abortion question, the progressive/libertarian side of me says “your body, your choice.” The human side says, “but surely a line should be drawn somewhere prior to crowning? [The original ruling in Doe, by the way.]” I eventually reached the conclusion that no one has “a right” to an abortion, it is therefore not protected by the 14th amendment (or its emanations or penumbras) and that as a constitutional matter majorities in individual states could make their own rules on the matter. I would dislike rules that prohibit it outright and in all cases (which I don’t think any states actually do) and I would dislike rules that allow it right up to the moment of birth (which the state I am currently in - California - does).
Anyway, a bit of a ramble. Probably should have sent it to TFC in an email!
My family "fled" Portland in early 2021, and by Portland I mean a suburb 10 miles south which we loved but alas property taxes were 2x what we pay now, for a property 1/2 the size.
I did however live in the urban core from 2006-2017, and my employer of 20 years remains headquartered downtown so I feel I can speak to the [de-]evolution of the city over that time.
During the late 2000s / early 2010s, Portland was an amazing place to be single in your 20s. To say nothing of its vaunted strip-clubs-per-capita metric, the city was (to me) safe, walkable, with a good public transportation system, the restaurants world class, and the breweries and wineries bountiful. There's also just A LOT of other young single people there. Living in a Boise suburb now, I miss the dining options dearly.
Over time however, that same public transportation system saw an increasing number of high-profile crimes (including a fatal stabbing on the MAX light rail that a friend of mine witnessed firsthand), the homeless count exploded, and somehow adjacent Beaverton (land of Nike, strip-malls, and sprawl) has taken over as the destination for dining and breweries. The commercial real estate situation is apparently a disaster and, anecdotally, there are more companies leaving than coming. I'm sure there's plenty of readily available data to support this.
I will say, downtown and the 3-4 block radius surrounding the under-siege Federal Building have dramatically improved from the absolute ghost town of 2020-22 (when Starbucks are closing up shop, you know it's bad, and yes Portlanders do patronize Starbucks). And yeah, maybe it could only go up from there. In a recent visit, there's quite a bit more energy around those same blocks, which was refreshing. The politicians (and politics) remain as loony as ever but I admittedly stopped paying close attention. We've got our own crazies over here to worry about.
I lived in Hillsboro, Beaverton and the dorms of Portland State and then Chinatown around the same time you did. It was amazing. It was a beautiful city. I left for NYC and been back many times but the latest was in 2023 and it was horrible. My old building on NW 5th and Davis was surrounded by very unwell people. Most of the vibrant spots I used to walk downtown were sad and deserted. The Target at Pioneer Square had 3 cops. None of the people I know who live in the suburbs want to come downtown. I didn't recognize the city I grew up in.
I know that building well! My best friend lived there circa 2008. It was an oasis in a sea of insanity - those 2-3 blocks of Chinatown were probably the worst section in the entire city around that time. We affectionately called it Zombieland... but this was before most of Chinatown, Old Town and downtown would all kind of look the same.
I didn't realize it got that bad there so quickly. I left a little before that. It was bad right by where my ex worked at Cascadia Behavioral center on Flanders across the street from the Chinese Gardens but the Park Blocks were super nice and I walked my dog there every day at any hour of the night. The city just feels sad and a ghost town relative to how it was before. I miss it terribly.
I'm now too old to start a punk band, although I do possess the necessary lack of musical talent. Should I get bored in retirement and try the old-man punk thing, thanks to Brian S I now have two excellent ideas for a band name: "Asshole Cypriot Pigeons" and "The Temu Goebbels Gang". And “No More Canned Tuna” would make a great song title.
Live in Portland and agree with the man’s comments about Portland. It’s been mostly peaceful and not anything close to what Trump says. But the left is totally full of shit when they say Portland is thriving. I will say it has gotten better since 2020 but it has a long way to go. We have a more moderate mayor, a better police chief and a less ideological, tougher on crime DA. We’re making strives in the right direction.
Subject: Uncle Donny’s Frog Boil
Thank you, Matt N, for this.
I describe myself without shame (which is not to say without embarrassment) as a libertarian (note the lower case L). I was raised a good progressive and remained one into my early 20s (born in 1961) when I read Charles Murray’s “Losing Ground.” But that didn’t convert me: it just made me come to believe that we need to be more careful when we write legislation that becomes regulations that establish departments who establish divisions who establish bureaus who create compliance and field offices. It’s a management problem!
Without I hope abusing the “progressive whose been mugged” aphorism, when I took a job in a building at the corner of Wilshire and Rampart in LA in the Summer of 1989 reality gave me a nice hard slap on the face. We had a speaker visit during United Way week (remember those?) from the downtown homeless shelter (the Weingart Center, I want to say) who left a bunch of food/shelter “vouchers” with us that could be exchanged at the center for food and shelter. They asked us to give panhandlers these vouchers instead of cash. Someone asked why. “Because they spend cash on drugs and alcohol.” As those words sank in I thought “Brilliant! This is just the kind of adjustment good progressives ought to be willing to make to their behavior!” The sea change came the next day as I walked up Rampart to The Original Tommy’s. “Spare change?” “Sure, here you go buddy!” only to have the voucher slapped out of my hand accompanied by a powerfully delivered “fuck you!” That was probably 1990. That led me to supporting Paul Tsongas (the most conservative Democrat in the field) in 1992. Someone I would have casually labeled a fascist only a few years earlier. I settled for Clinton and found myself defending him from charges of fascism for signing the “ending welfare as we know it” legislation.
Over the next several decades I began to realize that, for the most part, the “not a dime’s worth of difference” euphemism used to describe the two major parties was fundamentally correct. I opposed Bush 2’s invasion of Iraq but had no difficulty imaging a president Al Gore doing exactly the same thing. I haven’t voted for a major party candidate since (though, if I hadn’t lived in Delaware at the time, I probably would have voted for Obama in 2008; it’s electorally liberating to live in a state where your vote for president doesn’t matter).
Anyway: here is where I ended up. I am a libertarian who loves American and the American project. My libertarianism — i.e., what makes me not “extreme” — is that I am also a strict constitutionalist which means I’m a strict federalist. I’ve also reconciled myself to the truth that Churchill was right about democracy: it’s the worst system ever, except for every other system. The constitution’s framers believed this. I am reconciled to the idea that sometimes (often), majorities are going to want laws (or regulations), wars, spending, etc., that I don’t want. They will often oppose constraints on government power that I favor. And if we ever decide to try the federalism thing again, I’ll have to deal with the fact that that some states are going to police the individual and corporate behavior in ways I don’t think they should be policed.
My reaction to the SCOTUS’ decision in Dobbs is a great example. On the abortion question, the progressive/libertarian side of me says “your body, your choice.” The human side says, “but surely a line should be drawn somewhere prior to crowning? [The original ruling in Doe, by the way.]” I eventually reached the conclusion that no one has “a right” to an abortion, it is therefore not protected by the 14th amendment (or its emanations or penumbras) and that as a constitutional matter majorities in individual states could make their own rules on the matter. I would dislike rules that prohibit it outright and in all cases (which I don’t think any states actually do) and I would dislike rules that allow it right up to the moment of birth (which the state I am currently in - California - does).
Anyway, a bit of a ramble. Probably should have sent it to TFC in an email!
My family "fled" Portland in early 2021, and by Portland I mean a suburb 10 miles south which we loved but alas property taxes were 2x what we pay now, for a property 1/2 the size.
I did however live in the urban core from 2006-2017, and my employer of 20 years remains headquartered downtown so I feel I can speak to the [de-]evolution of the city over that time.
During the late 2000s / early 2010s, Portland was an amazing place to be single in your 20s. To say nothing of its vaunted strip-clubs-per-capita metric, the city was (to me) safe, walkable, with a good public transportation system, the restaurants world class, and the breweries and wineries bountiful. There's also just A LOT of other young single people there. Living in a Boise suburb now, I miss the dining options dearly.
Over time however, that same public transportation system saw an increasing number of high-profile crimes (including a fatal stabbing on the MAX light rail that a friend of mine witnessed firsthand), the homeless count exploded, and somehow adjacent Beaverton (land of Nike, strip-malls, and sprawl) has taken over as the destination for dining and breweries. The commercial real estate situation is apparently a disaster and, anecdotally, there are more companies leaving than coming. I'm sure there's plenty of readily available data to support this.
I will say, downtown and the 3-4 block radius surrounding the under-siege Federal Building have dramatically improved from the absolute ghost town of 2020-22 (when Starbucks are closing up shop, you know it's bad, and yes Portlanders do patronize Starbucks). And yeah, maybe it could only go up from there. In a recent visit, there's quite a bit more energy around those same blocks, which was refreshing. The politicians (and politics) remain as loony as ever but I admittedly stopped paying close attention. We've got our own crazies over here to worry about.
I lived in Hillsboro, Beaverton and the dorms of Portland State and then Chinatown around the same time you did. It was amazing. It was a beautiful city. I left for NYC and been back many times but the latest was in 2023 and it was horrible. My old building on NW 5th and Davis was surrounded by very unwell people. Most of the vibrant spots I used to walk downtown were sad and deserted. The Target at Pioneer Square had 3 cops. None of the people I know who live in the suburbs want to come downtown. I didn't recognize the city I grew up in.
I know that building well! My best friend lived there circa 2008. It was an oasis in a sea of insanity - those 2-3 blocks of Chinatown were probably the worst section in the entire city around that time. We affectionately called it Zombieland... but this was before most of Chinatown, Old Town and downtown would all kind of look the same.
I didn't realize it got that bad there so quickly. I left a little before that. It was bad right by where my ex worked at Cascadia Behavioral center on Flanders across the street from the Chinese Gardens but the Park Blocks were super nice and I walked my dog there every day at any hour of the night. The city just feels sad and a ghost town relative to how it was before. I miss it terribly.
Snek. What’s that, Dutch?
I'm now too old to start a punk band, although I do possess the necessary lack of musical talent. Should I get bored in retirement and try the old-man punk thing, thanks to Brian S I now have two excellent ideas for a band name: "Asshole Cypriot Pigeons" and "The Temu Goebbels Gang". And “No More Canned Tuna” would make a great song title.
Thanks Brian for your testimony!
I don't live in Portland and I only visited once, but I just want to voice my support for Matt's response to the last email.
At least the proponents of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis have an ethos. Nihilists, they are not.