tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post114638448197689287..comments2023-12-28T21:22:10.935-07:00Comments on Jill Outside: We are not unique snowflakesJill Homerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02983065990450931943noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146588937598490042006-05-02T10:55:00.000-06:002006-05-02T10:55:00.000-06:00Jill,Could not agree with you more. Mighty Whitey...Jill,<BR/><BR/>Could not agree with you more. Mighty Whitey 100% transferred in, and, like that screed generator (nameless dude who wrote Monkey Wrench etc) who misinterpreted his surroundings and its import when he finally extricated self from city... Actually its not different than when someone goes Catholic, or Muslim, or ElRon Hubbard. They are uncertain (and in Alaska's case there exists a surfiet of prompts), and awed, at the same time... for their passport is thin. Think of the same folks, or anyone landing for the first time in Nepal... as we did last November, or Saudi Arabia, the empty quarter as we did in 2000, or any of the 37 countries we've been in over the last 6 months. Ya could go ga ga, and insist by hype that everyone share your awe, deriding those who don't. But in that folks reveal themselves as not the bold; "no beaten paths for me", but rather early quitters, as there is a chunk more to see than Alaska. While letting my lover Rod drone on about Alaska, I IDd within the first visit; Solstice x 2, and that is about all the schedule can afford. Heck, we've been on this mission for 6 years, and are only now starting to get into South America. I came, I saw, I saw, I came, I stored, and I moved on. 'Guero - Here in the Spice Garden, Penang Malaysia.Wexpathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03834684135903985325noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146547269167645372006-05-01T23:21:00.000-06:002006-05-01T23:21:00.000-06:00Wow ... My very own controversy! And here I though...Wow ... <BR/><BR/>My very own controversy! And here I thought I was just running a benign begger's bike blog. <BR/><BR/>A great majority of Alaskans were transplanted here at some point. The reason most of us come here is because it’s a unique and wonderful place (really, what have I been writing about for the past six months?) The only point I was trying to make is that I don’t believe that gives Alaska a birthright to skim off a greater number federal favors than the rest of the country. Ted Stevens has used the argument “The just doesn’t work in Alaska” numerous times. My only question is - why not? What makes Alaska so special? <BR/><BR/>As far as consumer goods, I don’t mind paying more for the privilege to live up here. It’s free enterprise, and I don’t expect the produce, soda pop and travel companies to reach into their pockets to accommodate the fact that I live thousands of miles from where those goods are produced. It’s worth it to me to live in such an amazing place. I also wouldn’t mind paying state taxes and sales taxes or give up my future PFD on principal, or reach into my own pocket for road funds if it means protecting and building the things that are important to me. But that’s just my point of view. I respect people who feel differently, or who don’t feel that bike paths, green space and wildlife refuges are important. <BR/><BR/>And thanks, Jim, for sticking up for me. It seems obvious to me that free enterprise, voluntary gifts and government spending are completly and utterly seperate entities. But I enjoyed the hyperbole, Anonymous. Nothing really lights up a vaguely political like making it personal.Jill Homerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02983065990450931943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146533889287480682006-05-01T19:38:00.000-06:002006-05-01T19:38:00.000-06:00eeeeeeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146523315826287742006-05-01T16:41:00.000-06:002006-05-01T16:41:00.000-06:00Of course, last I checked the contributions that J...Of course, last I checked the contributions that Jill is soliciting are voluntary. Lots of bloggers do the same thing. Some people are able to put words on paper or on a computer screen, and some other people read them and enjoy doing so. So it seems like a fair trade to contribute a few bucks to something you enjoy (not unlike member-supported public broadcasting), if you want to. Of course, you could just read what Jill writes, enjoy it, and not pay (I haven't), and nobody will complain about you getting enjoyment for nothing.<BR/><BR/>That's different than using tax dollars from the federal budget for a "bridge to nowhere" while bitching about a measly 3% sales tax.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146507512940501842006-05-01T12:18:00.000-06:002006-05-01T12:18:00.000-06:00All valid points.And yet, no one has addressed tha...All valid points.<BR/><BR/>And yet, no one has addressed that she's knocking people for being on the dole, hands out, when she's doing the same thing with her blog.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146507001945795602006-05-01T12:10:00.000-06:002006-05-01T12:10:00.000-06:00to anonymous - i can't speak for jill; but i think...to anonymous - i can't speak for jill; but i think when she writes of alaskans, she writes of the majority - and the majority live in and around the anchorage and kenai peninsula area. <BR/> the cost of food, gas, and basic necessities in these areas (and fairbanks as well) are overall pretty comparable with prices in the lower 48. even prices in parts of the interior are comparable. maybe it's been awhile since you've been down there. of course, certain places that you can only reach by boat, plane, snowmachine or dogsled are in many ways going to have a higher cost of living. but in many other ways have a significantly lower cost of living, especially if folks are taking advantage of their subsistence designations - which drastically reduces the need for outside goods. a common misperception about alaskans is that most people up here 'live off the land.' the percentage of folks who derive most of their household resources from the land is far less than the ~20% of the population who live in rural areas with the subsistence designation. another common misperception is that it's mostly natives who do this, when it's actually about 50-50. <BR/>true alaskans aren't so hung up on proving that they are alaskan and always finding a way to bring up how long they've lived here. in my experience, that's reserved for the transplants who so want to be perceived as 'rugged alaskans.' <BR/>to be an alaskan means so many different things to so many different people, and differs widely according to the region where a person lives. being an alaskan is going to mean something very different to someone living in a small town on the inside passage than it will to someone living in barrow, or slana, or mcgrath, or homer, or anchorage, etc., etc. alaska is an immense and incredibly diverse state. <BR/>what makes someone an alaskan? they live in alaska - end of debate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146506379690984652006-05-01T11:59:00.000-06:002006-05-01T11:59:00.000-06:00Looks to me like all three 'anonymous' posts so fa...Looks to me like all three 'anonymous' posts so far have come from the same person.<BR/><BR/>I am also a transplanted Alaskan. I live in Fairbanks where it is easy to get by if you don't insist on living in a big place or driving a fancy car (or an SUV that you never take off the road, but you just have to have it so you feel safe and can take the kids to school and get lots of groceries), and I don't think things are that much more expensive here than compared to the rest of the United States. It's true, we do get gouged on traveling to the Lower 48 and on shipping things up here, but I don't see much difference in the prices of other things.<BR/><BR/>Do I refuse, on principle, to take the dividend? No. Do I think some of the politics pushed through by Uncle Ted are ridiculous? Yes. I accept life in Alaska with all its quirks - military personnel who complain endlessly because Fairbanks doesn't have a real mall or an Olive Garden, but then claim to be residents after they leave so they can claim a check; people who tell me they moved to Alaska to get out in the wilderness, then buy a house in a subdivision in Eagle River; friends who save $30K to buy land and build a cabin, but continue to rent because they can't find the 'right' land or the 'right' land costs too much. <BR/><BR/>A lot of what I love about Fairbanks is changing. It was a small city with a small-town feel (everybody knows everybody else in some way) but some big-city amenities (3 theater companies, 8 Thai restaurants, a million coffee huts), but it is slowly becoming very mainstream. Perhaps this became more evident when I noticed a subdivision being built next to the Farmers' Market or hear about plans to build a second WalMart. We are no longer very different from the Lower 48, but I can't picture leaving Alaska yet. For better or for worse, it's the home I have made for myself.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10831854971366586942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146499647713502582006-05-01T10:07:00.000-06:002006-05-01T10:07:00.000-06:00You've been bugged by the sense of entitlement? Th...You've been bugged by the sense of entitlement? This from a woman who asks people for donations so she can afford to ride her bike? Good God, that's hypocritical. <BR/><BR/>You know what Alaskans hate? People who come up from down south and think they've got us all figured out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146490828776058002006-05-01T07:40:00.000-06:002006-05-01T07:40:00.000-06:00there's a whole big state up there, jill, that you...there's a whole big state up there, jill, that you've not lived in. homer is very different from southeast, or western alaska, or fairbanks, or a whole lot of places, and you've not been there long enough to really make such assumptions, with all due respect. go spend some time in sitka, off the road system and still rurally designated for subsistence. watch the people there and ask "how many of us actually do?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146452000761878552006-04-30T20:53:00.000-06:002006-04-30T20:53:00.000-06:00I often wonder how Ted Stevens continues to be re-...I often wonder how Ted Stevens continues to be re-elected...but obviously it's because he represents the typical Alaskan's thoughts and attitudes. I lived ten years in southeast Alaska. It's probably one of the most beautiful spots in the world and yet money and jobs were always more important to the residents than maintenance of the pristine environment, the true value of the place. I didn't read the ADN editorial yet, so maybe should have held my comments until then.<BR/>By the way, I'm visiting my son in Homer this week. I'll be watching for your bike. I've been lurking for weeks.Heatherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17076712897616547149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146450754953206792006-04-30T20:32:00.000-06:002006-04-30T20:32:00.000-06:00Alaskans do spend more for EVERYTHING, including t...Alaskans do spend more for EVERYTHING, including travel, food, and all that jazz. And even if they are "paid to live here" (which is a gross mischaracterization of why they get that check, but whatevah), I agree that Alaskans aren't always the adventurers that they like to think they are. But most also don't have blogs where they brag about their athletic achievements and beg for money either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146441239874238882006-04-30T17:53:00.000-06:002006-04-30T17:53:00.000-06:00The feds bought it (AK) for a cool 7 million, they...The feds bought it (AK) for a cool 7 million, they eminent-domain > 2/3rds of it, and it's been largely a welfare state ever since. Even the "ancient ways" of native subsistence have been rediscovered atop modern 4-wheelers and snow machines. Yet, in spite of all that, AK remains a place like no other in America. <BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.rknibbe.com/qstar/2005/07/06.html" REL="nofollow">Gosh we miss her</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146414790335780742006-04-30T10:33:00.000-06:002006-04-30T10:33:00.000-06:00Well, aside from state fishing licenses, Alaskans ...Well, aside from state fishing licenses, Alaskans pay more for almost everything. <BR/><BR/>All of the very few Alaskans that I know are transplants- FWIW.filtersweephttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10047969887452082144noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18615538.post-1146408813587613102006-04-30T08:53:00.000-06:002006-04-30T08:53:00.000-06:00Interesting. One would think that Alaskans are a b...Interesting. One would think that Alaskans are a bunch of rugged individualists. But, nope! They have their hands out just like everybody else, maybe more. It should be noted that Alaska has often been the recipient of a hugely disproportionate amount of federal pork-barrel spending. So it seems even more crazy that they feel shortchanged, apparently.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com