Volstead Lounge
Small Towns Can and Do Thrive
RECEIVED Sun., May 6, 2007
Dear Editor,
I didn't bother to read this article [“Letters @ 3am,” March 30], but I expect it is just another Chronicle misinformation piece. I expect Michael Ventura purposefully provoked many of the responses he got.
I'm from a small town, and nobody there seriously blames the liberals for anything. The ones who do are usually the zealots who get on everybody else's nerves.
And racism isn't as bad as stereotypes would have you believe. Our class president was black. His father is a highly respected black minister who lost a race for mayor a few year's back, but the point was he ran, and he received most of his votes from whites. Also the three most popular restaurants in town are a Chinese buffet run by honest-to-God Asians, a burger and gyro drive-in run by Greek immigrants, and a wonderful Mexican joint run by a family of Mexican immigrants.
The cycle of small towns dying happens every few generations, and the lesson is adapt or die. My town has a Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and all the other big corporates, and our economy does great. Why? Because we diversified. We have a prison, several manufacturers, and our traditional small businesses keep on going. Agriculture and construction are still doing well, and our rise in property values recently sparked a tax revolt. Our old drive-in movie even reopened.
The Republicans took over politically there, mainly because all the old FDR yellow-dog Democrats have largely died off. But the Republicans haven't duped anybody. They support many things small town people believe in, and the Democrats just have nothing to offer small towns anymore. Let them take a strong stand on issues like ending foreign oil dependency, and the pendulum will swing back.
I didn't bother to read this article [“Letters @ 3am,” March 30], but I expect it is just another Chronicle misinformation piece. I expect Michael Ventura purposefully provoked many of the responses he got.
I'm from a small town, and nobody there seriously blames the liberals for anything. The ones who do are usually the zealots who get on everybody else's nerves.
And racism isn't as bad as stereotypes would have you believe. Our class president was black. His father is a highly respected black minister who lost a race for mayor a few year's back, but the point was he ran, and he received most of his votes from whites. Also the three most popular restaurants in town are a Chinese buffet run by honest-to-God Asians, a burger and gyro drive-in run by Greek immigrants, and a wonderful Mexican joint run by a family of Mexican immigrants.
The cycle of small towns dying happens every few generations, and the lesson is adapt or die. My town has a Wal-Mart, Pizza Hut, McDonald's, and all the other big corporates, and our economy does great. Why? Because we diversified. We have a prison, several manufacturers, and our traditional small businesses keep on going. Agriculture and construction are still doing well, and our rise in property values recently sparked a tax revolt. Our old drive-in movie even reopened.
The Republicans took over politically there, mainly because all the old FDR yellow-dog Democrats have largely died off. But the Republicans haven't duped anybody. They support many things small town people believe in, and the Democrats just have nothing to offer small towns anymore. Let them take a strong stand on issues like ending foreign oil dependency, and the pendulum will swing back.
Blake Smith
