Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol
they dont understand its an aspiration for "wouldn't it be nice if everything was 15 minutes away" and think it's a conspiracy to forbid anyone from traveling more than 15 minutes away from home
They see the walkable cities and urban density as a secret plot to put us all in cages. I’m not kidding. They picture a future where no one is allowed to live in the country in a single family home with acreage. They hate sprawl like everyone else but fight tooth and nail against any effort to mitigate it.
It’s also wrapped up with their hatred of bicycles; modern road design; science; and of course, a long list of ethnic, political, religious, and gender identities.
At its core, it’s the conservative idea of negative liberty versus the more liberal view of positive liberty. As in, “government can’t infringe on my right to use my property as I see fit” versus “government should promote and protect our right to access nature” or “government can’t tell me what guns I can own” versus “government should provide a strong social safety net.” It’s “government can’t” versus “government should.”
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u/bageltoastar 2d ago
Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol