Things San Franciscans Like: Observations About Themselves

There's a fine line between a healthy interest in one's life and surroundings, and the narrow-minded bigotry of parochialism and nativism. Hopefully San Franciscans will be mindful to stay on the better side of that line.

The dangers of parochialism/nativism can best be seen by looking at the form in which it does the most harm in the world, namely nationalism. Nationalism has fueled countless wars, conflicts, and hateful prejudices. It helped empower political figures like Hitler and Stalin, and today in the United States it encourages things like the profiling of Latinos in Arizona.

Taking pride in San Francisco is all well and good, and I love this city and its quirky cultures! But campaigns to pressure people into buying from certain merchants just because those merchants are local, and taxes and fees that inhospitably discriminate against visitors to the city (e.g. the hotel tax they're trying to raise again via Prop. J this November, the parking permit system that makes it impossible to park in most parts of the city for more than a couple hours during a weekday unless you live in the neighborhood, and visitors having to pay more than locals to visit attractions like the Japanese Tea Garden), are philosophically no better than government discriminating against people on the basis of their nationality.

If you're one of the many San Franciscans critical of the Arizona anti-immigrant law (as we all should be), don't forget to save some outrage and indignation for the ways in which your own local city government treats people not from this city as second-class citizens.