The photo for this post was taken in 2012, just after I moved from my home of Amarillo, Texas to Austin, Texas for my second graduate school experience. At that time, there was a common slogan that served as a social prescription, “keep Austin weird.”
Regarding the expression, one source states, “[Red] Wassenich never intended the phrase to be used for marketing, rather he meant to spread the ‘serious’ and ‘unmaterialistic’ sentiment that distinguished Austin from other cities for so long.”
As it was explained to me by other transplants to Austin, the socio-politically left-leaning city in a right-identifying state was a call to action. This form of demandingness prescribes that people should, must, or ought to keep progressive Austin as an oddity within a mostly conservative state.
As such, this principled stance is based on a moral and ethical principle. Still, I invite the reader to determine whether or not it’s logical and reasonable (rational). To disentangle its meaning, consider the following syllogism:
Form –
If p, then q; if q, then r; therefore, if p, then r.
Example –
If one proposes to keep Austin weird, then preservation of what is serves as a moral good.
If preservation of what is serves as a moral good, then people should follow the prescription to keep Austin weird.
Therefore, if one proposes to keep Austin weird, then people should follow the prescription to keep Austin weird.
Although this seemingly logic supposition may resonate with some, others may propose that its major premise (preservation of weirdness) is unreasonable. Undoubtedly, some people may want to preserve weirdness, though other individuals may desire change.
In a way, a moral and ethical prescription to conserve what is – all while challenging the tenets of conservatism – is an irrational proposition. Not only that, it arguably meets the qualification of prejudice—an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics.
Even in its subdued meaning (preconceived judgment or opinion) the “keep Austin weird” slogan still qualifies as a prejudicial phrase. The notion that what is meets the standard of good and that change from outsiders who threaten the preservation of weird are bad is prejudicial.
I make no value judgment regarding the slogan or those who support it. Merely because I posit that it’s a prejudicial expression doesn’t mean that I think it and those who support it are good or bad, right or wrong, or otherwise.
Being from Amarillo, I can understand how change from outsiders since 2012 has affected the place I call home. In fact, the push to preserve what is – albeit an irrational one – isn’t unique to Texas.
Nitape’skw, who I’ll refer to as “Cassette,” is a former friend of mine from Maine. She explained to me that where she’s from they have a saying about outsiders, as Cassette referred to me as “from away.” Describing this phrase, one source states:
Laconic Mainers. Ironic Mainers. Canny Mainers tweaking numbskull summer people. Parochial Mainers resisting the outside world. In my childhood, “from away” was indeed a trope for dry humor. But it had other connotations, too. I think you have to have lived here all your life, since before about 1965, to understand that it once was metonymic code for deep cultural scarring.
That north-moving highway traffic was regarded, at least subconsciously, with suspicion, plus an array of other feelings that included pride, inferiority, uncertainty, distrust, a certain irritability, anger, resignation, and the twinkling irony that pervaded much of Maine’s experience of summer people.
Cassette informed me that even if I moved to Maine and had lived there for the next 30 years, I’d still be considered “from away.” There was nothing inherently bad, wrong, or evil with this proposition, although it’s based on an irrational premise – as illustrated above.
Rather, it merely connotes one’s prejudicial position for the preservation of what is. Thus, expressions such as “keep Austin weird” and “from away” relate to in-group versus out-group and emic versus etic distinction.
Nevertheless, I find it interesting that Cassette (a left-leaning progressive) and much of Austin (largely left-leaning progressives) presumably fail to understand that advocacy for mass immigration which has occurred within the United States (U.S.) since 2021 is an affront to their own principles.
On a local scale, maintaining the status quo is valued. However, on a national scale, especially regarding locales which aren’t necessarily impacted within the U.S., many progressives apparently fail to comprehend their NIMBY status. According to one source:
NIMBY, an acronym for the phrase “not in my back yard”, is a characterization of opposition by residents to proposed infrastructure developments in their local area, as well as support for strict land use regulations. It carries the connotation that such residents are only opposing the development because it is close to them and that they would tolerate or support it if it were built farther away. The residents are often called nimbys, and their viewpoint is called nimbyism. The opposite movement is known as YIMBY for “yes in my back yard”.
Person W supports the slogan to “keep Austin weird,” though also advocates open U.S. borders. Person X states that people not from Maine are “from away,” which as the above-indicated source describes is a pejorative term, though also supports open U.S. borders.
These are ideologically inconsistent stances. Again, I make no value judgment concerning this matter. Rather, I’m highlighting illogical and unreasonable, as well as prejudicial, beliefs.
I suppose the same irrational argument used by persons W and X could be used against person Y who advocates the 14 words slogan, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children,” and its secondary expression, “because the beauty of the white Aryan woman must not perish from the Earth.”
Upon what objective moral base is it a bad or racist position for person Y to love and support one’s own race, though person Z can openly declare that “black lives matter,” “black don’t crack,” “black is beautiful,” “black girl magic,” “the black man is God,” and so on and so forth?
A hypocrite is defined as a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings. Thus, how is a nimbyist also not considered maintaining hypocritical views? Personally, there is little distinction between the “keep Austin weird” and “build the wall” slogans.
However, I doubt an irrationally-motivated nimby will understand this matter or care to consider the position outlined herein. Alas, I unconditionally accept hypocritical views from fallible human beings.
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References:
Hollings, D. (2022, October 31). Demandingness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/demandingness
Hollings, D. (2022, October 5). Description vs. prescription. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/description-vs-prescription
Hollings, D. (2022, March 15). Disclaimer. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/disclaimer
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Penobscot Culture. (n.d.). Basic words one (Newt). Retrieved from https://www.penobscotculture.com/images/lang-camp-2014/LangCamp2016/John_Dennis_Mikmaq_Basic_Words_1.pdf
Thompson, K. (2023, May 1). What’s the origin behind the ‘Keep Austin Weird’ slogan? Nexstar Media Inc. Retrieved from https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/whats-the-origin-behind-the-keep-austin-weird-slogan/
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Emic and etic. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emic_and_etic
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Fourteen words. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourteen_Words
Wikipedia. (n.d.). In-group and out-group. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-group_and_out-group
Wikipedia. (n.d.). NIMBY. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NIMBY
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Trump wall. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trump_wall
Wilde, D. (n.d.). What we mean when we say ‘from away.’ Island Journal. Retrieved from https://www.islandjournal.com/history/what-we-mean-when-we-say-from-away/
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