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Gerund posted:If you think you're in a political party, why do you think so little of the philosophies and people that it is made of that you imagine any future to be ridden with bureaucrats and carpetbaggers? If you don't think you're in a political party, why let your work be leveraged by those who do view it as a leg up into the bureaucrat strata? In many cases in history, parties that start out on the left and genuinely are for the workers shift right over time as careerists and people bandwagoning on their success join, and the party becomes more moderate as "winning the election" overrides "do good by getting into office." That's not as much a danger for SA (especially currently), but for any third labor or left unity party that forms, it would be. To be clear, I'm not against elections or governing, and if we can run people and win, and even get a majority on a legislator, that would be amazing. All I'm saying is that elections should not be the pure end goal of a movement, but a tactic to accomplish the goals of that movement. I hope that SA can become an anchor that strongly affects legislator, or overhauls some of the awful laws out there. You're right that SA owes a ton to Sawant's election. When I say elections are a tactic, I'm not trying to downplay their importance, merely say they're not the only thing that should be on the table. I do disagree that they're the only way to provoke fast, strong, lasting change. First, you need a majority on a legislature, which is no easy task. Well crafted legislation can withstand changes in the legislature (Social Security being a good example), but any gains made that way can always be undermined by future legislatures.
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May 7, 2014 01:49
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SyHopeful posted:Emphasis mine. How would you interpret that? It's a credit against the Federal minimum wage. They're perfectly free to count tips as a credit towards meeting that minimum wage threshold, and won't get in trouble with the Federal government for doing so. It's just entirely irrelevant because that wage is substantially lower than the State of Oregon's minimum, which doesn't allow tip credit. Paying less than the state minimum or applying tip credit towards that minimum is a contravention of State (not Federal) law, and any violation would be prosecuted by the State rather than the Federal government. They're two separate floors that are monitored and enforced by different entities, it's just that one of those floors is so much lower than the other that it should be irrelevant unless you're really intent on violating the law.
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May 7, 2014 02:42
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So is Seattle or Portland doing anything about the elephant in the room of skyrocketing rent and real estate prices? I could literally buy a new house for 200-300k or pay rent from 400-700 dollars for a decent 1bedroom anywhere outside of Portland or Seattle. Guess I'll have to wait for the baby boomers to die off before I buy a house.
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May 7, 2014 02:43
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Doing anything to lower real estate values would both cut tax revenue from property tax and piss off all the baby boomers who have their retirement tied up in it. Where are you finding a decent 1 bedroom outside seattle for <$700? Either your definition of decent is wildly different from mine or you're off by a couple hundred bucks.
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May 7, 2014 04:44
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Chantilly Say posted:Answering "here's how you're misusing/misrepresenting the data you've quoted" with "I don't actually care about the issue much" is, strangely, not the most solid retort. Senor P. posted:So is Seattle or Portland doing anything about the elephant in the room of skyrocketing rent and real estate prices? So not anytime soon? (Also that is not accounting for the bigger game ... see the end of the post.) http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2019996116_amazonrealestate27.html quote:Amazon's influence also extends beyond the office sector. Owners and developers of apartment buildings, condo towers, hotels and retail space are cashing in on the company's growth as well. quote:Amazon has been at the center of the region’s tech boom and its growth has drawn migration to the urban core. From 2000 to 2012, the population of downtown Seattle grew by more than 26%(1), compared to 17% for all of Seattle and only 14% nationally. quote:Amazon.com continues to gobble up office space in its hometown, expanding with a new 10-year lease for about 140,000 square feet at the Metropolitan Park North building. quote:Home price rising more slowly, but for-sale signs remain scarce ... and of course: quote:Wall Street investors have been scooping up single-family homes at the lower end of the market and turning them into rentals, particularly in South King County and Pierce County. This is part of a big national story though. (Wall street stripping homes off the market to create a more permanent renter-class, then packaging the rental profits into some kind of new derivatives. Have we heard this before?) http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2023084679_institutionalinvestorsxml.html quote:Wall Street buyers snap up thousands of local homes for rentals http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/01/blackstone-rental-homes-bundled-derivatives quote:Wall Street's Hot New Financial Product: Your Rent Check
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May 7, 2014 05:04
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Yeah, once I saw Berkshire Hathaway: the realtor signs popping up throughout the neighborhood I knew that the market was only going to get worse for new housing. Thankfully this literal rent-seeking is a few strong legislators away from being sucked dry as tax revenue. Just a minority of two of solid, well-vetted wonks would wield power to alter the landscape! Which is why, again, I think that you're over-representing grand sweeps of history by easy-to-describe blocs rather than the reality that governments are made of people that have to shake hands, kiss babies, and actually face the music from a party that has a soul. Its better to put a second and third and fourth good legislator into the body rather than promote fatalist whocareism if you don't see a route to the full lock stock and barrel control of a local government. edit: the thesis being if you're going to counter by saying that elections aren't the only method of fast, lasting and large change in society its on you to suggest something realistic and better. Gerund fucked around with this message at 06:30 on May 7, 2014 |
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May 7, 2014 06:24
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Honestly I think the biggest problem with third parties is that most people talking about them don't get how the current parties work. They're essentially coalitions of parties to begin with. A theoretical alliance of 35% centrist dems and 20% lefty socialists would be wrangling with eachother about who to run and what to prioritize completely regardless of whether they formally were the Democrats/Greens or just the Democrats. They'd be wrangling coalitions no matter how the parliamentary process works. That's why/how the Tea Party ideology overtook the Republican party: they dominated the coalition process within the party. 2010 was huge for them not because the (R)s won but because that win gave them dominance within the party. Just like how the DLC overtook the leftish Democrats back in the day. Everyone interested in pushing leftist third parties should get involved in Democrat-ic politics, full stop. No matter how Socialist Seattle might go, it will always work best on the national stage by working with/within the dominant left coalition.
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May 7, 2014 06:49
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Gerund posted:Thankfully this literal rent-seeking is a few strong legislators away from being sucked dry as tax revenue. Just a minority of two of solid, well-vetted wonks would wield power to alter the landscape! It definitely seems more hopeful here though. The only thing I can say about (S)CA is ... its all the OC in the end. 
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May 7, 2014 06:57
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Senor P. posted:So is Seattle or Portland doing anything about the elephant in the room of skyrocketing rent and real estate prices? FRINGE posted:This topic is not going anywhere, which is why I edit-deleted my post. If I am going to effortpost its not going to be to yell at that guy again. Saying someone misread something only seems true if the rest of the audience isnt reading the stuff. Go read the stuff.
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May 7, 2014 17:23
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FRINGE posted:Amazon seems to be the master of housing costs, and arbiter of development. (In Seattle.)
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May 7, 2014 17:52
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Uranium Phoenix posted:Just to add to this and plug these awesome organizations, 15 Now is trying to start up pushes for a higher minimum wage everywhere they can, not just in Seattle. If you're interested in starting a local 15 Now branch or joining one in your area, check them out. Or, if you're in Seattle, the petition drive to get the stronger $15/hour without all the lovely loopholes and phase-in is starting in a few weeks. They could use all the help they can get. Also, if you don't have time to spare, even small donations help because they don't have a ton of resources. We've been following the minimum wage movement in Seattle down here in California. I started a $15 hr minimum wage initiative campaign in my hometown of Davis. Two weeks ago, I attended a meeting in Oakland where several different regional movements to raise the minimum wage were present. Saru Jayaraman chaired the meeting, along with folks from the Berkeley Labor Center. Inspired by the efforts in Seattle, Socialist Alternative chapters have started in Oakland and San Francisco, as well as Sacramento. As soon as the Mayor's proposal in Seattle happened, I started getting contacted by folks from across the country interested in starting their own minimum wage movements in their local jurisdictions. We couldn't make the big convention in Seattle because our campaign is running pretty hot, but the national head of SA flew in from New York and met with us. I was just talking to the national director of 15 now and the SA guy yesterday on a conference call. My sense is that they're so busy with the initiative up in seattle that they're not equipped to really start fostering the activities of other chapters. So I've started putting together a spreadsheet of activists in small towns from across the country... I've been making calls all day, advising these folks on organizational tactics, and doing research into the initiative campaign laws of various jurisdictions. I'm pretty tempted to start a thread on this, both to inform people and to encourage folks to start their own chapters, since it's really taking off in a lot of locations across the country.
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May 7, 2014 22:04
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When people start in on the "ALL THE PRICES WILL DOUBLE!" fears, theres a few short videos that get the general point across without taking too much time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcaeLmybCY
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May 8, 2014 06:59
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Here are a couple examples of local street signs I mentioned. They are for Portland alley, a half-block up from Portland street (yes, Eugene has a Portland street), Old style sign:  New style sign:  The newer signs are much easier to read at a glance in general.
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May 8, 2014 21:31
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Those don't look anything like Portland street signs; they're not at all obscured by a tree, and nobody has turned them 90 degrees so they're facing the wrong direction.
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May 8, 2014 21:33
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Thanatosian posted:Those don't look anything like Portland street signs; they're not at all obscured by a tree, and nobody has turned them 90 degrees so they're facing the wrong direction. Also, they're present.
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May 9, 2014 04:37
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In Eugene, you know you're on High Street because all the signs have been stolen.
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May 9, 2014 05:18
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That mixed-case case font for street signs is currently the official design standard. The old, all-caps font is technically discernable from further away, but the preponderance of vertical lines involved makes it harder to read fast if you are elderly, don't see well, and don't think as fast as you used to, which on average you are and don't and don't. Mixed-case signs make the road safer for all of us.
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May 9, 2014 05:24
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Thanatosian posted:nobody has turned them 90 degrees so they're facing the wrong direction.
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May 9, 2014 05:40
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The-Mole posted:In Eugene, you know you're on High Street because all the signs have been stolen. Seattle: 
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May 9, 2014 06:05
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The-Mole posted:In Eugene, you know you're on High Street because all the signs have been stolen. There are also: Baker Boulevard Stoney Ridge Drive Leisure Lane (although I'm not sure it's technically a marked street anymore) and Nixon Street
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May 9, 2014 08:58
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CaptainSarcastic posted:Nixon Street They didn't. Please tell me they named it after a different Nixon than you-know-who.
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May 10, 2014 01:17
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Hedera Helix posted:They didn't. If it's any consolation it isn't in with the rest of the Presidents so Jackson and Polk won't have their names sullied by the association. 
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May 10, 2014 01:37
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I'm honestly not sure if Nixon street is named after the ex-President or not, but it is still an oddity. I'm pretty sure it is the street I lost my virginity on, too, although that is really neither here nor there.
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May 10, 2014 02:06
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http://www.seattlepi.com/news/us/article/Campaign-to-turn-away-same-sex-couples-suspended-5466970.php So apparently a group put a measure on the ballot in Oregon to protect "religious freedom" in the way of not serving gays, but the day afterwards, decided it was going to lose and has decided to not actively support it?
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May 10, 2014 02:49
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Hedera Helix posted:They didn't. There's a Nixon Street in Lakewood, across from Steilacoom Park. It looks like a little slice of white senior citizen suburb paradise; they're right to invoke the protective totem of Tricky Dick.
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May 10, 2014 03:31
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SedanChair posted:There's a Nixon Street in Lakewood, across from Steilacoom Park. It looks like a little slice of white senior citizen suburb paradise; they're right to invoke the protective totem of Tricky Dick. That explains the militant police here. I want to move desperately.
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May 10, 2014 09:07
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Is moving to the PNW from Texas worth it? More specifically, is it worth it if I don't have a college degree?
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May 11, 2014 12:23
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Is moving to the PNW from Texas worth it? More specifically, is it worth it if I don't have a college degree? What do you want to do with your life? What are your thoughts on dampness and grayness?
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May 11, 2014 14:45
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Is moving to the PNW from Texas worth it? More specifically, is it worth it if I don't have a college degree? Moving to Somalia from Texas is worth it. PNW is even better than that. I have a college degree but couldn't find a job to use it so I just have a grunt job with union benefits, it's pretty good actually.
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May 11, 2014 15:52
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Is moving to the PNW from Texas worth it? More specifically, is it worth it if I don't have a college degree? If nothing else, it would be beneficial to visit during winter before you make the decision to move to Oregon or Washington. The weather during those months isn't quite constant rain, so much as it is gloomy and gray, and it would be best if you knew ahead of time whether you could stand it being like that for half the year.
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May 11, 2014 17:44
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Hedera Helix posted:If nothing else, it would be beneficial to visit during winter before you make the decision to move to Oregon or Washington. The weather during those months isn't quite constant rain, so much as it is gloomy and gray, and it would be best if you knew ahead of time whether you could stand it being like that for half the year. This is good advice. People who grew up in the PNW take the clouds and wet for granted. But I've met many people who have moved here from sunny states that just couldn't get use to the weather here. It is almost like it causes a kind of claustrophobia. Also, while the rain isn't constant, the clouds and cool temperature means that things will stay wet all day long.
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May 11, 2014 19:54
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Beowulfs_Ghost posted:This is good advice. The weather is quite nice for light-sensitive eyes. Hardly anyone wears sunglasses other than on sunny days, and I see more tuques with sport decals than ballcaps.
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May 11, 2014 20:43
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Gerund posted:The weather is quite nice for light-sensitive eyes. Hardly anyone wears sunglasses other than on sunny days, and I see more tuques with sport decals than ballcaps. I wear a ballcap more to keep the rain of my glasses than to keep the sun out of my eyes.
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May 11, 2014 23:48
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When it's overcast, sustain yourself by plunging into the rainforest and smelling the damp earth and moss 
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May 12, 2014 00:25
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And if you go in September, you mind find a treat popping up out of the moss.
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May 12, 2014 00:33
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SedanChair posted:When it's overcast, sustain yourself by plunging into the rainforest and smelling the damp earth and moss Dont do this!
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May 12, 2014 00:37
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SALT CURES HAM posted:Is moving to the PNW from Texas worth it? More specifically, is it worth it if I don't have a college degree? On the pro side, there are very few cockroaches in the Pacific Northwest. That might be a positive. Because I want to keep this thread relevant to bigger issues, are you thinking of moving to the Pacific Northwest out of some type of social/political motivation? Do you want to live in a city that is a city and not just an endless suburb? Are you interested in a variety of artistic and cultural activities? Do you like to bicycle? And, are all of those things worth the fact that things might be more expensive and that jobs might be harder to come by?
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May 12, 2014 01:39
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I moved from Dallas to Seattle when I was younger and I love it here. I've never found the rain any kind of issue compared to the blistering heat/tornado/hailstorm cycle. I always have ended up wearing thicker jackets than everyone though  The biggest culture-shock temperature wise is actually moving from an air conditioning culture to a uh..not air conditioning culture. I don't miss it one bit. I do miss pools though.
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May 12, 2014 10:57
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If it weren't for the dampness and the rain, the PNW wouldn't be as green as it is. It's what makes hiking around the are so amazing. Also I hope no one's commute was affected by the fiery crash on I-5 near the I-90 interchange. Surprised there were only minor injuries from that.
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May 12, 2014 18:26
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seiferguy posted:If it weren't for the dampness and the rain, the PNW wouldn't be as green as it is. It's what makes hiking around the are so amazing. I've hiked in the rain-shadow (and farther east) and it's just as amazing.
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May 12, 2014 18:30
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