Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
I agree. The constant propaganda from the cycling lobby, their supporters in the media, and their captives on Council about how cycling is the future way of getting around in HRM like it used to be in Beijing in the 1960s becomes very tiresome and irksome considering that only a small handful actually use the expensive infrastructure that HRM has overlaid onto the city's obsolete street network.  |
My biggest issue with a lot of young contemporary planners is their idealism that is bordering on dogmatic levels. A friend of mine is a civil engineer and absolutely HATES planners; he told me something years ago I'll never forget, nor ever un-see. He said, "planners are idealistic, but very rarely pragmatic" and its unfortunate to admit that he is right a lot of the time.
I went to a presentation with the president of the US Planners Association (Mitchell Silver) and enjoyed his enthusiasm and attitudes towards progressive planning ideals, but even then he found himself regurgitating a lot of dogma that didn't seem at all practical. He used to be director of planning for the City of Raleigh and gave examples of their zoning improvements, transit upgrades etc and so after the presentation I was fortunate to have a word with him and asked him if planners in his position have a pragmatic formula for increasing transit ridership for middle/upper-middle class commuters; my point being that Raleigh's climate is extremely humid and unbearable to be outside for nearly half the year and he fumbled and bumbled with incoherent half-answers until he settled on the conclusion that "people who need to take the bus will just take the bus"
It kinda leans towards your cynicism Keith, where at this point people who claim to be "progressive" (as an identifier more than anything) have shifted to borderline authoritarians on these issues. "People will like and support what I TELL them to like, capish?" I've found from my own experiences that many of the most outspoken people who push "progressive" policies are the least likely to follow them, they probably own a detached house somewhere out in Bedford and drive their car to the office every morning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
I will note the following, based on long experience and much observation.
I have found that "progressives", regardless of political party affiliation, do not take criticism or being proven wrong at all well. I have come to believe it is because of the very nature of the label and those who pin it on themselves. By definition, if you are "progressive", you are on the side of the gods. You cannot possibly be wrong. Either what you believe is being done somewhere else so therefore it must be correct, even if too little time has passed to judge the effects (as seems to be the argument that originated this discussion), or it is so mind-blowingly incredible and forward-thinking that nobody with even half a brain could possibly oppose it. Therefore any criticism can only be personal or political, not fact-based or logical.
Meanwhile, "conservatives", again by the nature of the label, are seen as out-of-touch, old-fashioned, and intransigent in their positions, despite the typical benefit of long and practical experience. Never mind if the argument is to put 4-way stops on the 102, or to tax people making over 100K at 90% marginal rates because clearly they are too rich (or use whatever other half-baked example you prefer). Their views simply are seen as clearly and fundamentally flawed by those who call themselves progressive.
The polarization that we see so often now in political discourse is based in large part on this, in my opinion. When you label yourself in such a way that you cannot possibly be wrong in your position, it should not be a surprise.
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I guess my above post covered this quote too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hali87
I used to be more active here but mostly keep to the Canada section now. The personal attacks were a major part of that shift. Among other things, I was casually and baselessly accused of cheating my way through grad school, by someone else who doesn't post often anymore - though some others who are still regular posters have also been weirdly, directly antagonistic towards me, and I got pretty tired of that after a while. I'm not holding a grudge, but I have limited free time and prefer not to fill it with negativity.
I do want to thank OldDartmouthMark for standing up for me a number of times, but he really shouldn't have needed to. For what it's worth, things seem to have gotten a bit better over the last couple years (or maybe I just don't notice it since I don't check this site as often)
If people (on all sides) could resist being snarky I think the quality of discussion would improve a lot.
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Oooh ooh story time! (I've been pretty much gone for the majority of 4 years here gimme gossip)
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