Liberals have a strong presence in most major cities across America. There are many ways to identify a liberal city. All too often, however, these markers are taken for granted.
A lot of people assume that all liberals like expensive wine and vegetarian food. While those things may be identifiers of being a liberal, they’re not enough.
It takes more than just fancy snacks and bottles of red wine to prove you’re an advocate for social justice. It also requires supporting LGBTQ rights, feminism, affordable health care, and environmental protection.
There are several sources where you can look to determine if your town is truly liberal or conservative. Some sources include magazines, newspapers, TV shows, and even Google searches.
By studying how different parts of society interact with each other, we can get a better picture of what ideologies exist where. This way, we know who leans more towards the left, right, or somewhere in-between.
This article will talk about some easy ways to tell whether your hometown is very liberal, moderate, or conservative.
Differences between liberal and conservative
Liberals believe that every person is an integral part of one community or society, not just individuals. Therefore, they feel it is your duty to help others in any way you can.
This concept comes from the philosopher John Locke. According to him, each individual has natural rights that grant them certain freedoms. These include life, liberty, and property.
Property includes things like money, houses, and land. For example, if someone else is trying to take advantage of these liberties, then you have the right to defend yourself by taking action.
It is their responsibility to protect those rights, not yours. This also means that as members of one community, we should be looking out for each other.
If everyone was only concerned with helping themselves, many bad things would happen. No one would trust anyone else because people would neglect their responsibilities.
That wouldn’t make for very happy people or safe communities. So, it is our job to put ourselves in another person’s shoes and see how we could possibly benefit them.
Another important aspect of this theory is equality. All humans are equal — no one is more powerful than the next. It is up to each person to show respect to all others and give them the same opportunity to succeed.
Conservatives believe in inequality; some people are better than others and deserve more opportunities.
Examples of liberal and conservative cities
The term “liberal city” is typically used to describe large metropolitan areas with vibrant economies, low crime rates, and rich cultural offerings.
Some examples of famous liberal cities are San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and London. All of these cities have won multiple awards for their beautiful natural landscapes, interesting museums, and impressive performing arts venues.
However, while some people may consider these cities to be very liberal, that doesn’t mean they’re always full of liberals! In fact, most big cities offer enough diversity in terms of cultures, nationalities, and religions that anyone can feel comfortable here.
Furthermore, not every place in America has an affluent population like you might find in a wealthy suburb or small town. Therefore, it’s common to find lots of urban villages and neighborhoods where social justice issues are actively discussed and practiced.
Comparing liberal and conservative cities
Let’s look at some examples of how different people perceive the same city to be more or less liberal.
A student could compare the perception of liberals in their town with that of conservatives in another town, and then determine whether one group is more biased than the other.
They could do this by looking up local news articles and seeing what political statements each article makes. They would also have to check out which politicians are mentioned in those stories and who voters for mayor and council members are.
By studying these things, they could determine if there are more liberals or conservatives in your area.
The only thing necessary to know about most voters is that they either vote for Democrats or Republicans. Most people are not very politically active beyond voting every two years, so knowing nothing else about them can sometimes be tricky.
Thinking about how liberal your city is
Even though most people associate liberalism with big government, strong national brands, and expensive drinks, that’s not what it always represents. In fact, one of the biggest reasons why some cities are considered more liberal than others is because they’re too conservative!
Liberalism is actually characterized by less centralized power in politics and society, individual autonomy, and equal opportunity. These things don’t cost money so much as them is something we should admire about liberals!
There are many ways to determine just how liberal or conservative your town is, and the easiest way to start is by thinking about whether it supports socialized medicine. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking — doesn’t every major city have socialized medicine?
Well, yes, but only because those governments want to promote their own businesses! For example, if you need healthcare really bad and there isn’t any private hospitals within walking distance, going into a public hospital can be an extremely good option.
Thinking about how conservative your city is
The next thing to do in the process of determining if your city is more liberal or conservative is thinking about what makes up the community you live in and how these components influence the political climate.
There are many different types of people who make up a community, with each having their own set of beliefs and values. These differing beliefs can be shaped by things such as where they work, what schools their children attend, and which churches they belong to.
Work places tend to have an environment that is either very liberal or very conservative. For example, companies that promote diversity and free speech are considered liberals while others that are more politically neutral or even socially conservative are other terms for “liberal”.
School districts and universities are also influenced by the type of education they provide and whether or not it is promoting social equality. Churches are similar, some being more liberal than others.
The way individuals choose to spend their time outside of work and school is another factor, something we call leisure time activities. Some people prefer going out drinking, shopping, or gambling, all of which expose them to ideas that are opposite of Christian morals and culture.
Leisure time activities often show what people want from life, so studying how people behave during non-work hours is a good indicator of what kind of person they are.
Deciding how liberal or conservative your city is
There are several ways to determine if your hometown is more liberal, neutral, or conservative. You do not have to look at it only through political lenses either, like state governments or Congress.
Other factors to consider include: what kind of businesses there are, what kind of services people have access to, and whether those services are free or paid for by private sources or public funds.
Political affiliation is just one piece of who someone is. What matters more is where their loyalties lie — does this person work hard and honestly, helping others? Does she show compassion and love towards her fellow human beings? These qualities make someone trustworthy and moral.
It also depends on what they believe in and why. People may be very politically active because they feel that their beliefs are unfairly targeted and persecuted. This could motivate them to defend these beliefs against other people’s attacks.
Overall, what makes someone liberal is believing in equality, justice, and freedom for all.
Determining how liberal or conservative your country is
It’s hard to tell how liberal (or conservative) your city is unless you live in it.
We tend to associate large cities with being more liberal, but that isn’t always the case. Some small towns are just as politically active as their bigger counterparts!
It’s also important to remember that not all people living in larger cities have the same political views as others in their community.
For example, there will be at least one person in every office building, mall, or restaurant area where politics is discussed. These individuals will almost certainly belong to the right of the party, making the rest of us seem like liberals.
Determining how liberal or conservative your state is
In order to determine just how liberal or conservative your city is, you have to look at both statewide policies as well as local ones. Policies that are not confined to your county or state level can influence what kind of community you want to live in.
For example, if you lived close to where I grew up, you would probably be very shocked by some of the things you would see go down in your town. For instance, people protesting outside a restaurant because they heard it was hiring only non-Hispanic workers.
This type of protest does not occur too often, but it is important to know about them so you are never caught off guard. It also makes you feel like there is no place for you here, which isn’t a great feeling.
If you lived in another part of the country, you might find yourself having similar experiences.
