Thanks for posting this. The writer loses a wee touch of credibility when he mentions four stroke snowmachines. (Four strokes are only recently around and he mentions them as if from a while back.) No matter, I’ll give him a pass... at least he got snowmachine correct.
I’m afraid that much, not all, but much of what the writer refers to no longer applies in the urban areas here. I’ve only been here 12 years, but I can see a difference.
The stupidity of the public school educated youth in Anchorage is breathtaking. The amount of liberal crap that one has to tolerate about town is a real pisser. Our open border has allowed CA, OR, WA and CO scum to flow in unabated.
Ted Stevens has allowed the notion that a government job, or a pork barrel job, is a good job to grow in the mindset here. It’s amazing how many people think they have good jobs, when all they are doing is pushing paper around for the attenuators and regulators and takers. Trying to tell someone they are earning 65k a year in a job that is actually a net economic negative and doesn’t help the world is a real challenge. I get really angry about this. The feds and the state simply have too many people up here.
Still, I think the ratio of dumbass to decent fellow is pretty low in Anchorage and much better in real Alaska. Anchorage is not Alaska, but you can get there from here. Cliché yes, but based in truth.
In Anchorage the homeschooling community thrives. Most people get the notion that guns don’t kill people, people do. The smiles from strangers are real and more frequent than in other cities this size. There are pockets of ghetto that are approaching ugly, but I know of no true ‘no go zones’ like in so many cities. The “I’ll help you because some day you may help me” attitude still lives. I live in Anchorage by choice and one of the many reasons is there are more Americans per capita here than any place I have been. The saying used to be, “Alaska is what America was.” Today it is, IMO, more accurate to say, “Alaska is closer to what America was.”
Now I want to move to Alaska.
Thanks for the wonderful description of your state. Sounds like a great place to live!
You commented, “I’ll help you because some day you may help me” attitude still lives.
That attitude still lives here in the upper Midwest as well, at least in the rural and suburban areas. We women still lend our neighbors a cup of sugar. Everyone knows who the kids in the neighborhood belong to and we keep an eye on them. We take in each other’s mail when we’re on vacation. In the summer, we share a beer or two. The best time is in the winter after a big snowfall. All the guys show off their cylinder index and blow out the whole neighborhood. It get’s a little old in March though as the enthusiasm level goes down a bit. LOL