Berkeley, like San Francisco, just can't seem to pull its head out of it own Counter Culture Asshole (tm). Even when that asshole shits all over the streets and they have to walk in it daily. Even when it helps shut down decades old institutions that provide local jobs and tax revenue.
Ah, like they care. The more homeless and crusty punks the better, right?
Now in this article, local business owners (like the Cody's owner) bash on the cities policy regarding Telegraph Avenue. I think its great. But one does have to ask how many times they themselves may have helped keep "the man" from keeping the streets safe and clean.
Now I admit competition (like from Amazon.com) is to blame also. But I've shopped on Telegraph for over 10 years, and I can only take it about once a year. The place is a dump.
Good Bye Codys
5 comments:
I completely agree with your sentiment towards Telegraph. I would really like to look at records and hats and pants and chocolate shakes but the gauntlet of shitbags who feel entitled to the change in my pocket keep me far away from those stores.
Lets just say that Berkeley helped me become the man that I am today. So I guess, in some way, it is worth something.
Blogust,
I understand what you are saying. There was a point in my life where I was tired of tried-and-true ways of living life and I started giving ear to other opinions. At my soul I can't live in a standard "middle America" kind of way, if you will. You can't either. So, in general, I like the freaks. I like examples of self expression and a different-strokes-for-different-folks kind of attitude.
But there is a point a which a line gets crossed. Maybe its where simple self expression becomes protest or smugness. It becomes hate filled. It promotes values which just end up hurting people in the name of self expression so that its no longer self expression but manipulation or an excuse to just paint what is good in society as bad.
This line crossing is what Berkeley shows to me. Can't quite put a word on it but it falls in to what I describe above:
A counter culture movement that doesn't really seem to exist for anything good. It just exists to eventually cause lots of bad in society and the people involved in its lies.
Its quite ironic that counter culture movements exist in the name of promoting freedom, enlightenment, or self expression. And they do to a point. But to me the true fruit of these philosophies just seem to be harmful on many levels.
counter culture hates freedom
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