I've been lazy this morning. Haven't gotten anything done yet. Part of that is because I don't feel so hot. Felt like this all week. Blech.
However, going to get to work shortly and get things done. Starting with daughter's room.
I went to karaoke last night for a little while. I think I'm going to go to a smaller place. In general, karaoke doesn't feel the same here as it did in Texas. That's not a surprise. People here are not nearly as supportive of each other here as there. I noted the same thing in Colorado, which was more supportive than here. There was more of a community vibe.
That's still something I cannot stand here. In New Mexico, they talk a lot about community. Really? These people build fences around their fucking walls! Walk down the street and (if it's not a planned housing community which prohibits it), you find the fence on one property adjacent to the fence on the next property. My neighbors have two fence lines in front of their house.
I even wrote to the tourism department to criticize their ad campaign, "New Mexico True". It is intensely obvious they have not test marketed this campaign outside of the state. The ad campaign says, "We know how to spell chile." People from outside the state will take this as being a racist statement. Otherwise, it really has no meaning. "We like our cars low to the ground." Okay, except for some car fanatics, it again comes across as racist because low riders are mostly a race-specific phenomenon. "We know what it means to be local." Most people from outside the state are going to hear this as meaning outsiders are not welcome.
The goal of a tourism campaign is to attract people with money to spend and possibly to attract outside investors to the state. It shouldn't be a feel-good message for the people already living there. When you advertise racism and that outsiders are not welcome, you fail on all counts.
This state cannot afford to keep going this way. It has been documented that the state population has decreased in recent years, while every other state has increased population. A recent study has also backed up what I have been saying for years. The job market has shrunk considerably since 2008/2009. Even as the rest of the country is in recovery, NM continues to bleed jobs. With people and jobs leaving and the economy relying so strongly on federal money, there is no money within the state to create jobs. It falls on outside investors.
Because so much of this falls on cultural norms, there is no hope for New Mexico at this point. This state is going to have to collapse in economy and population before it recovers. Then it will stand a chance of recovery with imported money and people. The only other hope is for the younger generations but the younger generations have learned their attitudes from the older generations and primarily continue the same anachronistic "traditions".
By the way, those "traditions" are never based on complete fact. They talk about doing things the same way as 300 years ago. Yeah, kind of leaving out the short life span, slavery, servitude and capital punishment for disobeying a superior. Also leaving out the lack of electricity, plumbing and communications. Among other things.
The "local" attitude leaves out the fact that so much of the economy relies on federal money and jobs. That most building materials, food and technology come from out of state. If this state tried to survive on what is produced locally, it would be completely empty, except for isolated farms and ranches.
However, going to get to work shortly and get things done. Starting with daughter's room.
I went to karaoke last night for a little while. I think I'm going to go to a smaller place. In general, karaoke doesn't feel the same here as it did in Texas. That's not a surprise. People here are not nearly as supportive of each other here as there. I noted the same thing in Colorado, which was more supportive than here. There was more of a community vibe.
That's still something I cannot stand here. In New Mexico, they talk a lot about community. Really? These people build fences around their fucking walls! Walk down the street and (if it's not a planned housing community which prohibits it), you find the fence on one property adjacent to the fence on the next property. My neighbors have two fence lines in front of their house.
I even wrote to the tourism department to criticize their ad campaign, "New Mexico True". It is intensely obvious they have not test marketed this campaign outside of the state. The ad campaign says, "We know how to spell chile." People from outside the state will take this as being a racist statement. Otherwise, it really has no meaning. "We like our cars low to the ground." Okay, except for some car fanatics, it again comes across as racist because low riders are mostly a race-specific phenomenon. "We know what it means to be local." Most people from outside the state are going to hear this as meaning outsiders are not welcome.
The goal of a tourism campaign is to attract people with money to spend and possibly to attract outside investors to the state. It shouldn't be a feel-good message for the people already living there. When you advertise racism and that outsiders are not welcome, you fail on all counts.
This state cannot afford to keep going this way. It has been documented that the state population has decreased in recent years, while every other state has increased population. A recent study has also backed up what I have been saying for years. The job market has shrunk considerably since 2008/2009. Even as the rest of the country is in recovery, NM continues to bleed jobs. With people and jobs leaving and the economy relying so strongly on federal money, there is no money within the state to create jobs. It falls on outside investors.
Because so much of this falls on cultural norms, there is no hope for New Mexico at this point. This state is going to have to collapse in economy and population before it recovers. Then it will stand a chance of recovery with imported money and people. The only other hope is for the younger generations but the younger generations have learned their attitudes from the older generations and primarily continue the same anachronistic "traditions".
By the way, those "traditions" are never based on complete fact. They talk about doing things the same way as 300 years ago. Yeah, kind of leaving out the short life span, slavery, servitude and capital punishment for disobeying a superior. Also leaving out the lack of electricity, plumbing and communications. Among other things.
The "local" attitude leaves out the fact that so much of the economy relies on federal money and jobs. That most building materials, food and technology come from out of state. If this state tried to survive on what is produced locally, it would be completely empty, except for isolated farms and ranches.
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