A Blip in a Sea of Blue

I was born and raised in Queens. I even have a patch with the name on the sleeve of my denim jacket.

In most majority-Democrat states, when you break down the voting results by county, you’ll see that each state carries a conservative presence geographically. This is a widely recorded phenomenon, and the relationship between urban areas and Leftist thought is an interesting one: perhaps it’s the increased presence of mixed cultural traditions in urban areas that often contain a greater immigrant population and a high population density. As you look at the areas approaching cities, the voting trends become bluer and bluer.

Sometimes you see anomalies, though. The last time the state of New York voted red in a presidential election was 1948, and New York State is well-known for being reliably blue (regardless of the surprising red presence in upstate New York). But in New York City, you can still see blips of red, literally out of the blue. You can see the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election here. I live in one of those red blips. In 2016, I remember being a sophomore in high school and tearing off the Trump 2016 stickers put up all over street poles in my neighborhood, and now, in 2020, I give the new Trump stickers an amused smile and shrug it off. I’d prefer Trump over a man that’d most likely pander to the incoherent noise of the Left, of whom the Far Leftists are the loudest.

The 2016 election was unlike one the United States had ever seen before, considering the power of the Internet and the odd political polarization that occurred to nearly all media sources over the course of Obama’s presidency. I mean, it was one thing to have a stance on the wars in the Middle East, but there was some odd development on the Left where critical theory began to hit the mainstream. I’m not really sure where that came from, but I’d probably blame the Internet. It allowed for the development of many communities that could not have come to creation under most other circumstances, which could then grow and spread. While growth is often good, I’m not sure you’d want a tapeworm growing in your stomach.

But it’s not like my hometown is an Internet community. I’m left wondering what it is about these blips that makes them so. Staten Island has been majority red for ages, and I’ve been told that it’s because a lot of First Responders live there… which is odd, because I thought that the Republican party was the party of a hands-off government, and First Responders are part of a government agency— doesn’t make much sense, if you ask me. I suppose the Left’s fixation on social policy shook off some of their former members.

The political compass is often a useful tool to visually represent ideologies, not only dividing the spectrum by left and right but also on an authoritarian-libertarian scale. Some left-wing ideologies, in that context, now have a lot in common with right-wing ideologies, having the government enforce what people can and can’t do, can or can’t say.

The Left picked up an aggressive, authoritarian flavor, even towards the wealthy and the State (which is ironic considering that that so many Democrats are wealthy and/or politicians). Even when they don’t start off wealthy, time really does change things, now doesn’t it? I’m amazed that 2020 Presidential Candidate Biden hasn’t been canceled, considering some of his fascinating comments, but I suppose the cancel-happy Leftist can’t do that, because then who’s the alternative? The Donald (Dot Win)?

Maybe that makes sense. Maspeth and the surrounding areas are just nowhere-like enough to pick up a libertarian tendency, especially when there’s such a growing authoritarian presence in the city. We get the luxury of living in an area where your neighbor’s politics don’t really matter: because nothing much matters here. It’s not like there’s even a subway stop within reasonable walking distance. It’s surreal. I wonder what’s so special about it.