"... no longer have to worry about what they’re going to be when they grow up or what their political choices will bring. For Villagers, the future is less of a concern than living their best life. Right. Now. Here, baby boomers still reign supreme, in a place that caters to some of their most self-absorbed, self-indulgent impulses. The culture, like the overwhelmingly conservative politics, can feel like a scrupulously maintained bulwark against the onslaught of time and change.... Crime, inequality, homelessness, climate change, racial strife, the high cost of child care and college — these are challenges for other communities to grapple with....
Early one evening, I settle in near the Sumter Landing bandstand to watch the Hooligans, a local favorite that plays all the classics — Pink Floyd, the Clash, the Police, Rod Stewart. At one point, a trim, relatively young woman sporting short dark hair and a golf visor wanders over to ask if I’m the band’s agent.... After quizzing me about who I work for and what I’m working on, she introduces herself succinctly: 'Brenda. Strong conservative and strong Christian.'... [S]he drifts back into the sea of seniors swaying as the band belts out Radiohead’s 'Creep': 'What the hell am I doin’ here? I don’t belong here. …'"
From "The ‘Disney’ for Boomers Puts Hedonism on Full Display" by Michelle Cottle, opinionating from The Villages in Florida for the NYT.
That went up a few days ago, but I noticed it just this morning, when a lot of "To the Editor" letters went up. (The original article lacked a comments section.) Most of the letters complain about the bias and snobbishness. But not all. The last letter in the series says:
When I visited the Villages some years back, I changed my will to indicate that if I ever exhibited any characteristics that could be interpreted as a desire for the Villages’ lifestyle, I was to be considered incapable of making rational decisions and enrolled in an assisted care facility, where I would not be allowed to leave voluntarily.
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My guess is the 'NYT' is trashing The Villages because, from personal experience knowing friend's who have lived there, residents seem to skew heavily conservative.
These are boomers who worked hard, saved their money, never relied on government welfare, and can now spend their days golfing and playing shuffleboard.
Of course, now that the Biden economy has tanked the market, and the Obama economy kept interest rates at zero, they may be buying more well drinks than top-shelf...
The NYTimes and people who read it really are control freaks.
...she introduces herself succinctly: 'Brenda. Strong conservative and strong Christian.'
That didn't happen.
America can well be understood as a Utopia of Utopias.
The Villagers have theirs, Cottle has hers, and we have Althouse.
IIRC, The Villages came out heavily for Trump in 2020.
Let the smearing begin!!!!
If forced to choose between the Villages and the sort of upstate college town I grew up near, I would probably be forced to assisted suicide. However, America has many communities of many types. I choose to live in a diverse small city in a neighborhood with a mix of political and religious views and families in all stages of life.
I have some sympathy for people who want to live in a place where everyone agrees with them about what constitutes the good life though I don't want to be their neighbor.
I would say that the letter applies to much of the NY Times readership. I'm not interested in a "retirement community" just as I would not read the NY Times.
My parents live in The Villages and my experience when I've visited them over the years has always been delightful. Last time I checked, all of the residents live there voluntarily.
Different strokes…
Just more fodder for NYT writers and readers to look down their peckerwood noses at. Fuck ‘em.
Nothing delivers a more pleasant feeling for NYT readers than the chance to demonstrate their superior refinement and sophistication, relative to the fly-over residents. Crime, corruption, homelessness, disorder and filth in the Blue Zone are a small price to pay, for the chance to lord it over the denizens of such appalling places as the Villages.
"Imagine, living in a community with essentially no crime, racial strife, homelessness - how can they stand it?"
The paragraphic insult is actually a solution that works well for everyone. A win all around…
I can imagine a pretty good comedy piece where NY Times readers savor living in a community where the homeless confront you on your way to the store, you practice the art of stepping around human feces and needles on the sidewalk, you put flowers outside burned out stores from that memorable riot that you so believed in, you shout invectives at police cars driving by, you comment on this week’s trend for $950 theft from local stores, your. 2 minutes of daily hate is focused on people who live in The Villages, and you call school authorities to strongly suggest the neighbor kid should be transitioning because you saw him pick up a doll. Ah! The fullness of a good life!
The NYT would prefer seniors to spend a little more time worrying about the less fortunate among us. But they do worry about them. Every time they're standing next to the subway tracks.
Slop for the sneer trough.
What gives these people the right to live anywhere they want?
The last letter is a doozy; forgive me if I hope that person's fears are realized.
All publicity is good publicity. Just reading the article made me think there might be something to moving to The Villages. I'm pushing eighty. I don't see a downside to sunny weather and playing shuffleboard between doctor's appointments....I live in NYC. Nearly everybody's politics is more liberal than mine, but you can tune it out and it doesn't particularly bother me. I used to like the four seasons, but there's absolutely nothing to be said in favor of a cold rain in early March. Even the ducks in Central Park look like they would rather be somewhere else.....Inertia has been the guiding principle of my life so I'll probably die here. I guess that's the reason more people don't move to The Villages. Nothing the writer said turned me off.
What, no 87 year old transgendered convicted murderers dismembering their neighbors in the villages? Perhaps a few hammer attackers on their minorities down there? Sounds boring. Seriously! No strangers flipping toddlers out of their strollers. Who'd want to be a part of it, New York, New York?
OOf, when will we get past all this judginess? Our world would be quite dull if we all thought and did the same. Can’t anyone game this out?
OK, Groomer.
Michelle Cottle seems to be inferring there's some kind of problem with Brenda introducing herself as a "Strong conservative and strong Christian." But I'm pretty sure Michelle would have all the respect in the world if Brenda had introduced herself as, "Brenda. Zim/Zer, Non-Binary, Pan-Sexual, Otherkin, Two-Spirit, Furry, & Pirate." In fact, she would probably screech at all the bigoted "normies" in the room for "assaulting" poor Bren with the "violence" of "misgendering" if they so much as looked Zer the wrong way.
Fairly obviously, Michelle Cottle doesn't want to live in The Villages. But she goes considerably further; she doesn't want anyone living in The Villages. She hates the place as a place, and just knowing it exists somewhere is a trial for her.
Me, I live in South Salem, OR, in a community (no, not a "retirement community") split approximately three ways Democratic, Republican, and Independent. I know all my neighbors and they me. Suits me fine, though Cottle might find it nearly as soul-destroying as those ghastly Florida Trumpers. But the difference is that I don't think whatever 90% D neighborhood she lives in should cease to exist.
From the post:
"The last letter in the series says:
When I visited the Villages some years back, I changed my will to indicate that if I ever exhibited any characteristics that could be interpreted as a desire for the Villages’ lifestyle, I was to be considered incapable of making rational decisions and enrolled in an assisted care facility, where I would not be allowed to leave voluntarily."
Sounds like a reeducation camp or mental institution. How Soviet.
The NYT's readership insulates itself from Crime, homelessness, and racial strife by having enough $$ to live where they aren't affected. Live in a secure building with a doorman and several security guards, and use Taxis to get around to the "Right places" and all the problems of living in Manhattan aren't even visible.
The same is true of rich parts of SF. Or Marin County or Atherton, etc. And I don't think anyone in the rich parts of south Florida or Southern California are affected either. Do your really think all the rich Hollywood liberals in Beverly Hills or Malibu are battling "racial Strife" or "Crime and homelessness".
So why is the NYT"s so butthurt about more or less "average" Boomers "insulating" themselves?
Its sounds very much like the squires and Aristos sneering at those common folks aping their manners. Haha, that Tavern owner's wife may put on airs and own a carriage but she will never be the wife of Sir so-and-so and own Country mansion.
I have a Facebook friend who I last saw in the 5th grade who lives in The Villages with her husband. She and her husband amassed enough to retire over a decade ago, with their 2 children long out of the house. She loves it down there and wants my wife and I to come down and look the place over.
IMHO, utopia = dystopia. Few living in The Villages are doing anything that remotely resembles useful. My last of 5 children graduated college last May, and is now prepping to deploy to Europe. Where May change.
There are no children in The Villages. I’m currently involved with both a Scout Troop and a Cub Pack helping to develop the leaders of tomorrow. My son with 4 children and a 5th arriving soon is doing the same but with Trail Life USA. I could spend my free time at the VFW or American Legion hall and swap stories, but every time I visit they’re full of old people, many the same age as me. They’re hanging around waiting for the end.
If we have a SHTF event The Villages residents will all be prey. Their security, their restaurants and clubs, they’re neatly manicured golf courses all depend on a smoothly functioning economy which allows them to pay for the lifestyle. Another year of Biden that will all be gone.
Ran into another example of economic problems just the other day. After donating platelets went to Boston Market and ordered a large turkey meal, the only reason for me to go there. Off the menu until September I was told. As I left to head for Chick-fil-A the person who just walked in got to the counter and said “I’d like an individual turkey meal…” So I got on the company website and asked “What’s up with this?” The reply was in my inbox today. Supply chain problems. For turkey. For a chain with just under 500 locations. Not many restaurants serve turkey year round, so it’s not like there’s a sudden demand that left them out in the cold. But either there’s a nationwide turkey shortage or nationwide turkey processing/transporting problem. Every grocery store now has empty spots. Empty spots don’t make them money. And it’s random items at random times.
When the supply chain breaks completely, The Villages is screwed. All their investments will see their value drop to zero.
As to the last letter quoted, why would a Will be the means to provide that kind of directive since it has no effect until the testator is dead? I get the letter writer is trying to be edgy and cool but it comes across and odd and dim-witted. If sincere, however, consultation with an attorney to get some proper legal advice seems definitely in order.
The culture, like the overwhelmingly conservative politics, can feel like a scrupulously maintained bulwark against the onslaught of time and change
And that's what really grind the author's gears.
"Fairly obviously, Michelle Cottle doesn't want to live in The Villages. But she goes considerably further; she doesn't want anyone living in The Villages. She hates the place as a place, and just knowing it exists somewhere is a trial for her."
This. What does she care? If you want to do an entertaining satirical send-up of The Villages, that could be funny. But a piece painting them as sinister? C'mon.
There are lots of things I can't imagine liking, including The Villages. So what? I don't have to live there.
Another "Gorillas in the Mist" type essay from yet another New York writer. One can practically see the writer driving through the Village in a mud covered Land Rover, watching the natives engage in their curious customs. Perhaps civilization will come to these backward people someday. Until then, we will record their culture for further study and warn others of the dangers there in. Utter bullshit.
Hilarious article along the Anthropology theme of the left. "Who are these strange creatures who don't want to live in NY City amid feces and riots and homeless camps? They must be really weird and I would certainly not want to be around them."
I'm sure the feeling is reciprocated.
The strong conservative/strong Christian thing didn't happen.
I bought a small condo right outside of the Villages for an investment and to escape the bitter Winters here on occasion. The Villages is an absolutely wonderful place for people 55 and up who want to have friends and live an active retirement. We regularly go there to see the free bands, have an ice cream, walk around, ride on the bike paths, etc. If it isn't your gig, whatever, just go somewhere else. I could never live in New York but I wouldn't trash people who do.
There have been a lot of these articles as of late and they are all bullshit.
Rt41rebel's assertion that Brenda giving her identification that way "never happened" is correct. The other thing that never happened is the changing of the will in that final comment. It is fantasy land, a performance for the other liberals.
When the supply chain breaks completely, The Villages is screwed.
And the rest of us will be, too.
Reportedly a lot of screwing and boozing chez Village.
You'd think it would be NYT approved.
I would rather live in the Villages with normal people than in any corruptly run, criminally taken over city in America today. I used to LOVE going to cities and exploring, and now I avoid them at all costs because of the Progressive policies that let criminals run wild, and get out of jail free with a slap on the wrist. Pick your poison.
Now that I think about it, I'm starting to wonder if the author actually even spent any time at The Villages. Lots of red flags in the article.
None of us is getting any younger, and in my observation as I rapidly approach retirement age, one of the primary issues that older people deal with is loneliness.
The Villages seems to beat the hell out of getting old in isolation. Indeed, it seems like a great way to address not just the psychological problems of isolation, but also the physical problems of just getting around and dealing with the activities of daily living. I would also think that the healthier cohort helping out others of their own age is a better situation (except of course in more severe health situations) than relying on children and paid strangers.
Also, as everyone knows, recently retired people with time on their hands can be a huge pain in the ass to everyone else. If they are all together they can just inflict themselves on one another. Win-win!
With the caveat that it's not for everyone (I'm kind of a loner myself, and it sounds a little like being back in high school), what's the problem?
Maybe the libs can set up a similar place, where they can enjoy sneering at the Yahoos with others of their ilk. Like I said: win-win! (Or as my wife says, a pareto-optimal solution).
I have lived on my street in a bedroom suburb of Austin since 2001 and have yet to learn anything more about my neighbor's politics than what can be garnered from their yard signs in election season. I've had more conversations with neighbors about lawn care and flowers than local, state, or federal politics.
It amazes me how little personal political ideology matters in normal everyday life, compared to how much one might think it matters from visiting anywhere on social media.
"Maybe the libs can set up a similar place, where they can enjoy sneering at the Yahoos with others of their ilk."
It's called New York city.
Dang, every time you post an article about The Villages, it makes me more convinced that I want to move there!
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