The difference between Conservative Mariposa and Democratic California, Culturally and Politically
Mariposa is politically and culturally opposite from many places in California. The big question many Mariposans have is, why? I have included statistics and interviews to prove that Mariposa is a completely different place from the rest of California.
My first example of how Mariposa is drastically different is the political makeup of the county. According to Wikipedia, almost 60% of Mariposans voted Romney in the 2012 election. This is compared to a voting block of about 35% for Obama. In contrast, California had over 60% of the population voting for Obama with only about 35% voting for the republican candidate. These statistics have been mirrored for the prior 5 presidential elections also. This majority is caused by the liberalization and population increase of huge cities on the coast like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. However, the conservative nature of Mariposa is caused by the ¨old-fashioned¨ culture.
To further this point, I think that the opinions on politics of many Americans are formulated based on culture. The way a person lives can affect the way a person thinks or votes. This is why Mariposa is so conservative, our people value things that will make their way of living easier. According to Nathan Vereschagin, an MCHS student, ¨The people here are typically considered rednecks, and we definitely fall into that stereotype, culturally and politically. Voting conservatives into office makes our lives easier, and it is good for everybody in general. People who live in the city and benefit from our hard work have no clue what we go through.¨ A government filled with liberal ideas would be detrimental to our culture as we know it. For example, according to the California Department of Justice, Mariposa citizens own and buy the most guns per capita out of all the state. The leftist idea of gun control would put huge restrictions on the way we could buy and use weapons. You seem like you have a lot of knowledge about this subject.This directly affects the way we live because guns are such a big part of our lives. We use them for defense, hunting, and recreation. The folks in the big cities don’t care about all of the good uses of our weapons, only the negatives. People in Mariposa feel like nobody can understand the way we live, because it is different from the majority of the Californian population.
Another prime example of the difference is the way our citizens act. Mariposans tend to be kinder, more caring, and more polite than our city friends. According to Nathan, ¨In Mariposa, people open doors for you, they wave to you, they are just genuinely nice. Also, the cops are great to citizens, and they actually care.¨ When asked if these traits had anything to do with the conservative majority in our town, he replied with a firm ¨Yes!¨. Mr. Finney supposes that the kindness of Mariposa is caused by the number of people who are related. However, I could not find any relation statistics that backed up his point. I believe this cultural difference is caused in part by the political leanings of the people. These issues go hand in hand concerning the state as a whole also. People from California are viewed as being from the coast or big city, driving small eco-friendly cars, and voting democrat. These stereotypes are generally true for the majority of the population of the state. Sadly, these traits of the city life are also associated with being rude, selfish, and uncaring. I wonder if this has anything to do with the liberal leanings of the big cities?
This brings me to my final point, the difference between right and left anywhere in America. The cultural aspects of these ideologies are very opposite, similar to the way the leanings rank on the political scale. In my opinion, the conservatives are the ones who really care, the ones who are generally nicer, and the only ones we should elect to run our great country. The stereotypes of Mariposa vs. California definitely prove this point. If the whole U.S. was more like Mariposa and less like California, we would be a lot better off. While democrats like to live for the moment, have fun, and be happy now, Conservatives look ahead to the future. They tend to be happier later in life, because they strive to get jobs with good pay, save their money, and plan for their retirement. This would explain why Mariposa is so happy and why we have so many retirees. On the other side, most young liberals are making bad life choices, they don’t have good jobs, and they aren’t planning for the future. They won´t be happier later in life. Mariposans are dramatically happier and healthier than California as a whole.
