We say very clearly that rural America is hurting. But we refuse to justify attitudes that some scholars try to underplay.
Something remarkable happened among rural whites between the 2016 and 2020 elections: According to the Pew Research CenterāsĀ validated voter study, as the rest of the country moved away from Donald Trump, rural whites lurched toward him by nine points, from 62 percent to 71 percent support. And among the 100 counties where Trump performed best in 2016, almost all of them small and rural, he got a higher percentage of the vote in 91 of them in 2020. Yet Trumpās extraordinary rural white supportāthe most important story in rural politics in decadesāis something many scholars and commentators are reluctant to explore in an honest way.
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What isnāt said enough is that rural whites are being told to blame all the wrong people for their very real problems. As we argue in the book, Hollywood liberals didnāt destroy the family farm, college professors didnāt move manufacturing jobs overseas, immigrants didnāt pour opioids into rural communities, and critical race theory didnāt close hundreds of rural hospitals. When Republican politicians and the conservative media tell rural whites to aim their anger at those targets, itās so they wonāt ask why the people they keep electing havenāt done anything to improve life in their communities.
Isnāt cracked.com supposed to be comedy?
That essay covers it pretty well and maybe Iām in the same boat as the author. The small town I grew up in was a great place but dominated by a single large employer. When they left, they left a huge gap still not filled decades later. I left, and the few times Iāve visited have been mostly sad at what is left.
I did go to a high school reunion at some big number like 20, and it was even sadder. It was mostly people who stayed local and they hadnāt changed at all from high school. My best friend has the same hobbies so canāt talk about anything new after 20 years, and claimed he had never been more than 50 miles from where he grew up. What the ever living fuck? My brothers best friend still lives in his Momās basement and works on his Camaro on weekends. What else can I feel except pity?
However the large employer in our town was a tech employer so this is new, playing out in a single lifetime. For most of these small rural towns, their way of life has already died long ago, but the people either donāt understand or donāt want to understand. The article talks about farming mechanization requiring far fewer people, but thereās also the rise of large corporate farms and global trade making it much harder to succeed at a family farm. But thatās half a century or a century in the making. You canāt blame the current president, nor can some blowhard change that with BS. Your way of life is already gone and your desperation is from clinging to it, doing the same thing over and over for years. Somehow expecting something to change. I know change is hard and I wouldnāt want to, but your actions are locking your children, your town, yourself in the same cycle of desperation that will keep getting worse. Itās long past time to rip off the bandaid, to face the music. To take responsibility for your future instead of hiding from reality
And how do you expect people to do that exactly? Move to the city with what money? Start new businesses with what money?
Iām not claiming itās easy or fun, but trying anything is more likely to work than just digging in your heels. Trying anything is more likely to work than falling for some grifter bsāing you. Facing reality and at least looking for ways to overcome or listening to others ideas is more likely to work than hiding from reality.
Maybe this is just the usual media rage bait, but every time I read about such an area voting for someone just to throw a monkey wrench in the works to hurt others too or someone conservative ready to try the same things that havenāt worked before or someone promising the stars without a space program, I have to think a lot of this is self-inflicted. Every time you cut investments in education or science, or the environment, itās self-inflicted, every time you want to cut safety nets when you or your neighbors are likely to need a hand up at some point, youre hurting yourself. Most importantly, every time you reject new technology, new businesses, new attempts to help your future, because the old isnāt serving you well, itās self-inflicted.
Iām sure Iām getting it wrong since i canāt walk in their shoes but I know my area has lots of advantages, and many are our choices, our attitudes, our votes, our investments. Why does it seem like some people use their choices, votes, attitudes only to hurt or limit themselves?
Yeah, butā¦ what options do these people have outside of Vote Blue and hope some social program opens up to lift them out? One thatās meant to target poor people in the city and not necessarily the rural area.
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