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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsArticle shows the truly misinformed and ignorance of rural America
Yes, they are still only listening/watching right-wing propaganda to be that stupid.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/01/28/rural-voters-favor-trump/72337833007/

Lunabell
(7,296 posts)That's one of their arguments about "elitist" Democrats.
Joe Cool
(1,047 posts)Read the entire article. Those morons (yes, they are morons) think a lifelong con artist, criminal, and rapist represents their values.
CurtEastPoint
(19,320 posts)
Lunabell
(7,296 posts)But, do keep calling them stupid and play right into their hands.
BigMin28
(1,577 posts)How about gullible? I'm in Texas, and surrounded by these yahoos, including quite a few in my own family. Stumpy's supporters are the most gullible people I have ever known. They believe everything he says. Even when it goes against the values they claimed to support for most of their lives. It's astounding to see up close and personal.
Delmette2.0
(4,313 posts)has over their personal economic situation.
Take the infrastructure plan for internet access.
The Biden plan gives grants to the states and the state government passes the funds down to internet providers so they can expand access to rural areas and other areas with limited access.
So if their state grants a big nationwide corp ( with deep pockets) the funds, the small local companies are left out.
I think that will happen in Montana.
cilla4progress
(26,140 posts)Those small companies need to stand up for their piece of the pie. I'm sure Sen Tester would be willing to help!
2naSalit
(95,286 posts)Cannot have much influence over a super majority of magats in the state legislature. If you don't live here, you won't get it, the social and political dynamics are quite different here.
cilla4progress
(26,140 posts)My daughter lives there and works with a vulnerable youth population.
I fear for her future there! Even though Montana is a special place...
I do think the infrastructure bill is a win-win..crosses party lines.
2naSalit
(95,286 posts)Gov. and legislature have been refusing to accept some benefits because they are wannabe abutts.
Maru Kitteh
(29,600 posts)CaptainTruth
(7,415 posts)And to be that gullible you have to be willfully ignorant.
It's a willful (deliberate) disregard of facts, truth, & reality that results in ignorance, which is why I call them willfully ignorant.
DontBelieveEastisEas
(1,211 posts)They disregard many of the things that are presented as facts, by believing that the real facts are harder to see, but exist none the less. And these unseen facts and other partially obscured facts would show that the real reality is in line with what there emotions are worried about and what their emotions are hoping for.
In my opinion, you are stupid if you choose to deliberately disregard facts.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,618 posts)I guess you don't have faith in their ability to do that.
LuvLoogie
(7,762 posts)This is the world view currently propping up the American Ponzi scheme that feeds the rich skimmers and takers. Instead of useful idiots, I'm happy to call them useful bigots.
agingdem
(8,541 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 28, 2024, 11:53 PM - Edit history (2)
for almost a decade the MSM has implored us to "understand" the Trump voter, "understand" their gated whites-only world had ceased to exist (poor babies!)..."understand" they were surrounded by (horror of horrors!) "the other"...and they hated "the other"...and because Trump hated "the other" they clung to him, certain he could save them from this multicultural/multiethnic/LGBTQ hell Biden and his liberal cronies had forced them into...well, fuck them and their orange blathering delusional Hitler wannabe dementia loser nag they rode in on... Trump's stagnant base of MAGA cretins are not to be feared, they are to be banished...
hadEnuf
(2,953 posts)Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)SouthernDem4ever
(6,618 posts)It's the only logical explanation I have knowing they are willing to screw our democracy.
Blues Heron
(6,370 posts)limbicnuminousity
(1,411 posts)Elitist = a person who believes their facts are better than made-up nonsense. The COVID vaccine reduces the likelihood of dying from COVID or experiencing severe symptoms, for example. Seeking asylum does not equal invasion. What should we call someone who denies that?
"Misguided" or "delusional" sounds patronizing. Plague incubators? Lemmings? Assholes?
Do you believe the right-wing in general would be more inclined to act in good faith if they're treated like knowledgeable experts?
dchill
(41,295 posts)Celerity
(47,883 posts)
Lemmings are small creatures with wild reputations. In the 17th century, naturalists perplexed by the habit of Norway lemmings to suddenly appear in large numbers, seemingly out of nowhere, came to the conclusion that the animals were being spontaneously generated in the sky and then falling to earth like rain. (The prosaic truth is that they migrate in herds.) Some people also thought that lemmings explode if they become sufficiently angry. This is also a myth, of courselemmings are indeed one of the more irascible rodents, but they mostly channel their rage into fights with other lemmings. People probably came up with the notion of exploding lemmings after seeing the picked-over lemming carcasses that were left behind following a migration.
But there is one myth that has held on tenaciously: Every few years, herds of lemmings commit mass suicide by jumping off seaside cliffs. Instinct, it is said, drives them to kill themselves whenever their population becomes unsustainably large. Lemmings do not commit suicide. However, this particular myth is based on some actual lemming behaviors. Lemmings have large population booms every three or four years. When the concentration of lemmings becomes too high in one area, a large group will set out in search of a new home. Lemmings can swim, so if they reach a water obstacle, such as a river or lake, they may try to cross it. Inevitably, a few individuals drown. But its hardly suicide.
So why is the myth of mass lemming suicide so widely believed? For one, it provides an irresistible metaphor for human behavior. Someone who blindly follows a crowdmaybe even toward catastropheis called a lemming. Over the past century, the myth has been invoked to express modern anxieties about how individuality could be submerged and destroyed by mass phenomena, such as political movements or consumer culture.
But the biggest reason the myth endures? Deliberate fraud. For the 1958 Disney nature film White Wilderness, filmmakers eager for dramatic footage staged a lemming death plunge, pushing dozens of lemmings off a cliff while cameras were rolling. The imagesshocking at the time for what they seemed to show about the cruelty of nature and shocking now for what they actually show about the cruelty of humansconvinced several generations of moviegoers that these little rodents do, in fact, possess a bizarre instinct to destroy themselves.
snip
dchill
(41,295 posts)Celerity
(47,883 posts)Response to dchill (Reply #78)
Celerity This message was self-deleted by its author.
Aristus
(69,084 posts)If one is going to behave like an empty-headed, provincial back woods hick, one shouldnt be surprised when one gets called that.
If one is called stupid, one can either lean into out of blisteringly idiotic pride, or one can gets some books and educate oneself.
Orrex
(64,676 posts)But "stupid" is indeed an ableist insult, and I've worked hard to strike it from my lexicon.
Instead, I refer to Trump's supporters as what they are: a KKKult of ignorant, racist fuckheads.
Momma
(15 posts)I must say, however, that a small group of my family are Trump supporters and they aren't f***heads, but they are stupid. In addition, they are the ones who always need help from me and my anti-trumper family members in dealing with real world issues like how to file their insurance claims, their taxes, and do absolutely anything online. One last night told me he can't read the IRS instructions online and has to pick up the printed instructions from the library because he doesn't have enough ink in his printer to print them out. He also has accounts with twelve different banks that he's never setup for online access and he lost all his paper statements in a fire, so now has to physically go to each bank to get the paperwork he needs to do his taxes. He tells me it's going to take him months.
On the other hand, when he is online he's dangerous and vulnerable. He clicks on EVERYTHING! He's deluged with junk emails, ransomware and more.
I've noticed on other forums that many of them never post links to articles, so I'm wondering if they don't have decent internet access or if they just don't know how to use it, so they only get their talking points from right wing radio and Faux News.
Orrex
(64,676 posts)In the early days, I fell into the trap of thinking that Trump's supporters were unintelligent, but that's an easy narrative that doesn't actually have much to do with reality. His supporters demonstrate a wide range of mental acuity, just like any other group, and lumping them all into a "dumbass" category can miss the real danger that they represent.
"Fuckhead" isn't meant to imply stupidity. Rather, it's intended to capture a general attitude and mode of thinking demonstrated by so many of his KKKultists. Namely, their ignorance of basic facts and their stubborn pride in that ignorance, attacking anyone who challenges it. They can be unintelligent, but they need not be.
I was going to say welcome to DU, but I see that you've been here quite a while already!
Still, hello!
Momma
(15 posts)I don't post much, but I do read a lot. Can definitely get onboard with the dangerousness and the "ignorance of basic facts and their stubborn pride in that ignorance, attacking anyone who challenges it." I've also seen a proclivity to believe in conspiracy theories. One I know is not a racist, but is a big Ayn Rand fan and believer in "takers" and "makers" philosophy.
Which reminds me of this:
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year olds life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." - John Rogers
Butterflylady
(4,219 posts)I guess I'm one of the elitist democrats and I'm very proud of it.
Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)for him are stupid.
And they're never going to vote D anyway, so I feel OK calling them what they are.
As you say, they call me "elitist." I choose not to give a shit. They can grow up and do the same, or stop being stupid if they are really bothered by being called stupid.
JanMichael
(25,432 posts)The hardcore magats are not redeemable. They are full on cult.
Pretty sure re-education camps are illegal, aren't they?
angrychair
(10,142 posts)That live on the Maryland/West Virginia border area and multiple generations have now been collecting social services like WIC and SNAP and housing choice vouchers yet without any sense of irony, complain about the "welfare fakes" or "freeloaders living off my taxes, especially them immigrants". Heard it many times over the years.
That is willful ignorance or as some would say "stupid".
Response to Lunabell (Reply #1)
John Shaft This message was self-deleted by its author.
CrispyQ
(39,034 posts)They complain that we think they're ignorant but they use a noun as an adjective. I know they think they're owning us libs by dissing our party name but instead they sound exactly like the dumbfucks we think they are.
Note that I didn't call them stupid.
DC77
(137 posts)I remind the person, the actual name is the Democratic Party. Emphasizing the rat has been in their bag of tricks for ages. Often they dont even realize this as they parrot out whatever they heard or saw on rightwing media.
Silent3
(15,909 posts)...I'll at least be honest and get that off my chest.
It's not like Republicans are winning hearts and minds by being oh-so-kind-and-gentle in their criticisms of Democrats and liberals, so why should we imagine that only our side needs to be cautious and diplomatic and jump through hoops trying to "understand their point of view"?
elleng
(138,113 posts)Yes, try to DISCUSS, provide FACTS!
underpants
(188,634 posts)Has way more influence than people think. If he travels that much, hes almost surely enveloped in talk radio.
No one is ignoring the fly over states when it comes to electoral votes - their population is at least equally represented if not over represented (Senate)
FakeNoose
(36,557 posts)It seems that talk radio consists of call-ins and listeners who will only listen to each other, spouting the same useless garbage. It's a self-confirming bubble of willful ignorance. Those who grow up in rural America can escape it, if they leave at a young age and if they're willing to leave their family and friends behind.
underpants
(188,634 posts)I know Rush used script readers. Ive called into the local station a few times (not in a few years) and even though Id been on the air before I was still nervous. When that jerk in Wyoming (I think) body slammed a report, the first 3-5 calls on Rushs show were from Wyoming. No way.
HariSeldon
(515 posts)underpants
(188,634 posts)mopinko
(72,154 posts)They sure did, thats y it was sabotaged from the get go. imma die mad at john kerry, and the party, for never running a single spot on the station, afaik. used to listen a lot, and never heard 1.
ppl wonder y big media is in the tank to pols. its the ad money. its my understanding campaign ads end up costing super bowl level money, cuz of the times and reach that they want. which is to say, the companies r getting top dollar for no reason except the calendar. of course they dont want to piss off their cash cow.
but i guess it wd b beneath us dems to play the same game. and y wd they, when they had rachel, al, randi rhodes, mike malloy, steve earle, et al, out there doin it for free?
i worked an election in upper wis in 12. omg, the radio. there was a woman on the ballot that had maybe been a prosecutor, that had not prosecuted some sex offender harshly enough, and boy howdy thats all u heard all day. iirc, thats the same cycle, or the 1 after, where they beat maura healy w that crap.
that and that my candidate had obama, pelosi, and the whole party behind her even tho we were absolutely on our own. went down 60/40 like everyone knew we wd. we got nuthin from the party.
and what was the left end of the dial? wpr. classical music and diane rehm. i think 1 run through of atc, no repeats. npr news breaks. yeah, thats some hi powered opposition.
Hugin
(35,535 posts)Sherlock Holmes mentioned more than once how the intrigues of the rural folk creeped him out.
Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)His fictional status notwithstanding, the man was a drug addict. He would frequently shoot up a seven percent solution of cocaine to help him deal with the ennui between cases. It was perfectly legal back then.
JanMichael
(25,432 posts)Pretty mild compared to most pharmaceuticals now.
Then again I haven't read one of those books in decades.
Earth-shine
(4,044 posts)among the elite in Victorian-day Europe.
DBoon
(23,462 posts)Hugin
(35,535 posts)DBoon
(23,462 posts)doc03
(37,407 posts)Journal. I will quote a MAGA I talked to yesterday. "Trump didn't even take his pay, he doesn't need the money, he can't be bought like other politicians". They think he is this great businessman when if he just put his inheritance in a bank savings account he would have more money today.
NickB79
(19,770 posts)Grew up in rural red central Minnesota. 99% white, mostly small towns and farms. Not hillbillies, but snowbillies.
Everyone's convinced the Democrats are taking their tax dollars to give illegal immigrants free stuff, that Black people are going to come from the cities to rob and murder them one day (literally had an uncle say this was why he kept a loaded gun under his bed), and that liberals are forcibly chopping off little boy's dicks to make more transexuals.
Old classmates are literally impossible to talk to any longer.
progressoid
(50,959 posts)My parents are life long Democrats who still live in rural red IA.
I love them but dread going to visit. Inevitably I'll run into somebody I know from my youth who has gone full Kool-Aid Trumper. It's sad and depressing.
keep_left
(2,697 posts)It's probably not too different in the rest of the USA; there is a real culture war between rural and urban areas. That culture war is also manipulated by politicians in ways that are increasingly dangerous. This is particularly true of the far right, but not exclusively so.
SarahD
(1,732 posts)My western Wisconsin cousins are way to the right.
DUar17
(91 posts)They have gone to far in the rabbit hole and nothing will change their minds.
If turdt stood up and looked right in the camera (fox noise and others) and said he did all those things, they would call it fake news.
pecosbob
(7,904 posts)Show your stripes and remain forever a pariah. They'll learn what is real soon enough when Trump, Eastman and Giuliani go to jail.
limbicnuminousity
(1,411 posts)Zambero
(9,798 posts)"Misinformed" has more to do with the misinterpretation of facts. Disinformation involves the deliberate and premeditated use of lies and half-truths.
Roy Rolling
(7,256 posts)The debate is whether to call MAGAts stupid or not.
They need no agreed-upon adjective. No need to name-call at all. Just refer to them by the label they slap on their own foreheads in red and white: MAGAt
They are self-proclaimed MAGAts.
birdographer
(2,701 posts)In the case of the ones here, in a small town in western NC, I see it as an inability to think for themselves, no critical thinking. Which may or may not be connected to education. I'm pretty sure a large bit of the population over 60 years old here did not finish high school. When Donnie Diaperload got his majority in Iowa, one of these idiots posted on Next Door about how great it was. And then when some guy came on and tried to talk sense into them, I about fell out of my chair. There's ANOTHER sane and rational Dem in this town? Amazing!
GusBob
(7,725 posts)I equate urban and suburban living to being locked in prison of drive thrus , crime and traffic lights. In my ignorant and misinformed mind, more people means more problems.
Maybe Im just stupid but to read about San Francisco, the open air drug markets in Philly and Baltimore, the shootings in Chicago, tent cities under bridges everywhere , makes me wonder how smart it is to live in places like that. No wonder folks are now into Tranq there.
I think I read here also that cities are losing inhabitants. Just the smart ones I reckon are wise enough to get out of the Hell holes
Plus today, I getta go fishing. First cast on a beautiful and peaceful mountain stream is 17 minutes from my front door.. Have the entire stretch to myself every time which means a limit of trout in an hour just keeping the big ones
cilla4progress
(26,140 posts)
I do NOT subscribe to the belief that cities are dens of crime and drugs. There have always been plenty of both out here, too. There is culture and art and yummy diversity in cities!
Nor that all country folk are MAGAT, or stupid. The county Dem party here works really hard for our candidates!
More brainwashing, I'm afraid.
It helps to go experience "the other" for oneself, IMHO.
PS My husband only does catch and release....
sinkingfeeling
(54,030 posts)like Dallas, and now in a small town, modern problems like crime, drugs, and homelessness exist in both urban and rural settings. There are benefits and disadvantages to both life styles. The number one thing I learned on leaving the farm, in a 99% white county, was the great diversity of the world.
Your 'Hell hole' is a large city, mine is rural Mississippi.
A few stats on these common American problems:
Substance abuse can impact anyone regardless of where they live. Although often believed to be more of an inner-city issue, substance abuse and addiction in rural communities is common. When compared to rates of substance abuse in cities, rural communities have higher rates of alcohol and methamphetamine use, and rates of abuse of other substances are on the rise.
Per capita, the opioid overdose rate in rural communities is 45% higher than in cities
Young adults aged 18-25 who live in remote rural areas misuse methamphetamine at almost twice the rate as those who live in urban areas
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/rural-small-town
The most rural counties had a 37% higher rate of firearm deaths than the most urban counties from 2011 to 2020, an analysis found.
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/map-gun-death-rates-lower-cities-than-rural-counties-rcna81462
From 2016 to 2020, the two U.S. counties to experience the most gun homicides per capita were rural: (see Figure 1)
Phillips County, Arkansas: 55.45 age-adjusted homicides per 100,000 people
Lowndes County, Alabama: 48.36 age-adjusted homicides per 100,000 people**
From 2016 to 2020, 13 of the 20 U.S. counties with the most gun homicides per capita were rural: (see Figure 1)
80 percent of these 20 counties are in states that received an F grade for their weak gun laws, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violences 2021 annual state scorecard rankings.
In 2020, the total gun death rate for rural communitieswhen age-adjusted per 100,000 peoplewas 40 percent higher than it was for large metropolitan areas.
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/gun-violence-in-rural-america/
Homelessness is often assumed to be an urban phenomenon because homeless people are more
numerous, more geographically concentrated, and more visible in urban areas. However, people
experience the same difficulties associated with homelessness and housing distress in America's
small towns and rural areas as they do in urban areas
Rural homelessness, like urban homelessness, is the result of poverty and a lack of affordable
housing. In 2005, research shows that the odds of being poor are between 1.2 to 2.3 times higher
for people in nonmetropolitan areas, than in metropolitan areas. One in five nonmetro counties is
classified as a high poverty county (defined as having a poverty rate of 20% or higher), while
only one in twenty metro counties are defined as high poverty (Fisher, 2005)
https://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Rural-Homelessness-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)Last edited Sun Jan 28, 2024, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)
fact that the majority of the defendant's support comes from rural areas. And that means a lot of stupid people. But if that stupidity is one you don't engage in, there's no reason for you to take it on yourself.
Rural people have a lot of nonsensical things to say about urban people. Some are in your post. Some apply in many urban areas, but not in mine. Some apply to many urban people but not to me. I know I can either be bothered by them or not. I choose not, because they don't apply to me or my life.
Ms. Toad
(35,902 posts)DU frequently paints rural places and people with a broad brush as if all were the same, all vile, stupid, etc. DU does not do the same for urban peoplle and places. It seems to me the post you are responding to is pointing out/playing on that DU dynamic by flipping the roles.
On DU the way rural folks are treated v. urban folks is similar to the difference between broad brush insults against racial minorities v broad brush insults against whites. Technically they are the same - BUT - the impact is different. We frequently denigrate the poor, put upon white folks who complain that blacks are taking over the world. But elevate minority voices challenging implicit racial bias.
On DU, rural folks and places are one of the acceptable groups to insult - and it gets old, and makes rural/red state DU members feel like DU's dirty little secret. It's not old for you, because broad brush insults directed at urban/blue state residences rarely occur, so broad brush insults don't have the kind of bite it because you aren't in a group repeatedly insulted.
(I've been urban for more than 2/3 of my life - but I started out in bright red rural Nebraska.)
SWBTATTReg
(24,791 posts)sometimes, but I don't think it's directed so much at rural folks.
There are a lot of us in rural America, that worked their careers in urban America, and they have moved to rural areas. These rural areas are getting to the point where prices are getting up there in some areas, and things aren't as 'rural' as they used to be.
Also, the cities have had their share of insults, the cities are collapsing, the cities are full of crime, yada yada yada. It's ridiculous and I hear it all of the time.
Crime? From my viewpoint I've had far more crime in the rural area, than I had in the urban area. Kind of makes sense too, in that they are far more people looking after your property in the urban area then in the rural area (watching it for you).
Sure, I have mostly decent rural neighbors (almost all), but they aren't there 100%, they have jobs too, they are doing what we do in the cities too, work, shop, go to school, etc. Most of us are also, out of sight from each other, we're that far apart in the rural area, but we do see the cars on the highway go by, and thus, can suspect that something is perhaps up, keep a more closer eye out.
Also, in Missouri, the rural areas for the most part are vacation spots for the vast majority of Missourians and others. There are few 'true' rural areas in MO, extreme SE Missouri, the upper 1/3 of northern Missouri. Other states have vast rural areas, so different from what we have here in MO, that's classified as 'rural'.
Violence? I have had far more violence in our rural neighborhood than I have ever had in the urban area. There's been a few times where I had hunters on my rural property (my Dad and Mom's property too), and they didn't have permission to hunt. Can you imagine how I felt going there and telling them to leave (which I have done several times)? I was literally afraid that perhaps I might get shot, telling people to get off our/my property (all in a rural area). It got to the point that my Mom and Dad, and I wouldn't let anyone, period, hunt any longer. Too much abuse, and hunting w/o permission, and trashing the place while they were hunting.
Stuff happens in both urban and rural areas.
Ms. Toad
(35,902 posts)My point is that on DU, the broad brush insults about people and living locations are frequent and nearly always directed at rural areas. So the repeated broad brush attacks are perceived very differently by those who are targeted on at least a weekly, if not more frequently, basis than those who rarely - if ever - experience them.
Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)apartment living. You'll get dozens of replies with plenty of urban-hate. Apparently I live like a rat in a crime-ridden, smelly place that is no better than living out of a shopping cart, and life without a few acres is simply not worth living.
But I do have to take exception to your contention in Post 77 that the treatment of rural people on DU bears any similarity to the way black people are treated. That's pretty far off base.
And the fact is, rural people vote in much greater percentages for the defendant. That's data. The ignorance and misinformation IS greater there.
Ms. Toad
(35,902 posts)in which children were told that those with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes. It didn't take much time for the dynamics to resemble racial dynamics. Clearly blue eyes and brown eyes don't have the broader cultural significance of racial discrimination. But in the context of that classroom, the dynamics of the purported better/worse characteristic established that it is not just broadly culturally significant dynamics which create dominant/subversive populations.
On DU, people who are rural and/or live in red states are routinely denigrated. Those who live in cities/blue states are not In that way it is similar to race relations - in the same way the brown eye/blue eye classroom was. As a rule, those who are constantly denigrated feel the impact of each new denigration more than those in the culturally (i.e. on DU) favored group.
Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)Last edited Mon Jan 29, 2024, 01:22 PM - Edit history (1)
and strongly disagree that discussions here about rural people rise anywhere close to what you are comparing them to. Mostly because the agency and access and rights of the rural people here remain completely unfettered no matter what an anonymous online poster says about their neighborhood. It therefore has no resemblance to either that study or to racial bigotry.
I do find the comparison completely over the top but, because I know you to be a thoughtful person of good faith, I am chalking it up to a simple but strong disagreement.
haele
(13,883 posts)But crime? Despite what the media will tell you, violent crime per capital tends to be lower in the cities than it is in more rural areas. We are more likely to have white collar crime, though.
I've lived rural and I've lived urban. There's positive and negatives in both, but I do prefer the opportunities available for education, hobbies, diverse cultural activities, entertainment, along with more availability to financial, health, food and in general community support when needed in the most urban areas than the live free and make it on on your own opportunities in more rural areas. Plus, there tends to be economies of scale that larger population areas have that aren't found in smaller populations. While prices tend to be higher, wages and small businesses/start up profits tend to also be higher.
There's a reason the homeless gravitate to the cities. They can't make it on their own if they aren't totally healthy or properly "networked" into the (typically single) local church charity or supported by family or friends to be able to survive in a tent in the woods and do odd jobs to pay the property
tax or rent, and for food and survival when needed.
Fishing, hunting, and subsistence farming to survive on grandpappy's remaining 40 acres is a full time job in itself. Not to mention maintaining the house.
Not to say you aren't living your best life on your terms, but more people live in cities for a reason. And despite what the interviews in a small town diners indicate, more young, healthy people and families move to cities for opportunities they don't find in small towns and rural areas. From experience, the people I know who have left cities for small towns and rural areas already have a job set up, they a financial cushion to take with them (they're using their 401k/savings, or they sold their home in the city to buy cheaper property outright in their new location, or are moving back to live with family or through a church network if they don't already have the first two in place.
YMMV. It all depends on what you feel is important.
But I can tell you from listening to relatives in rural Alabama, New Mexico and Texas, most Small Town/Rural areas pray to have Big City/International businesses come in to set up shop and become the big employer so they can have even half the opportunities and local revenue that cities have available. They also complain about the increase of crime and loss of "small town values" these big employers bring with those opportunities.
Rural values need Urban Opportunities to thrive, and vice versa.
Peace. The only "better" is what you prefer in your heart.
Haele
hunter
(39,253 posts)I'd happily live in San Francisco or Chicago and have relatives who do.
I've wandered everywhere, from rough urban neighborhoods to sparsely populated deserts and I've got to confess I'm more comfortable chatting with some random homeless person in the city than some armed rural person asking me what I'm about.
I haven't lived in a majority white U.S.A. community for more than forty years. Some of the urban neighborhoods my wife and I lived in when we were younger were pretty rough.
The place I grew up in was 99% white and kept that way by a lot of underhanded and sometimes illegal means. The police harassed anyone who "didn't belong." They were notorious for their "Driving While Black" citations.
It seems to me that rural U.S.A. is a place of many hidden despairs. In the cities it's all out in the open. Crime rates, per capita, in many parts of rural U.S.A. are *worse* than those cities many rural people have been taught to fear.
dawg
(10,777 posts)a greater proportion of the rural Trump supporters think the charges against him with regard to January 6 are fake, right?
Doesn't that mean that a greater proportion of urban and suburban Trump supporters think that the charges are legit, but they still support him anyway?
Not sure who comes out smelling the best here.
ProfessorGAC
(71,542 posts)When the sample is this specific, it's not reasonable to extrapolate much to other population segments.
Your supposition may be 100% correct, it may be miles off base.
Without more data from the "other", no assumption is better than a wild guess.
JohnSJ
(97,444 posts)both sides when someone lies.
PatrickforB
(15,162 posts)They are not stupid, though, any more than the peoples who were freed when the old USSR or even Nazi Germany fell.
This is a major policy issue. We must ensure our K-12, colleges and universities actually have freedom to speak the truth.
As to the giant phallic reality that is the right-wing propaganda apparatus, ejaculating its lies to keep people ignorant and living in fear...
We could fix that with one policy change plus enforcement: We could overturn the legal doctrine of shareholder primacy, which holds shareholder profits above truth in news, over workers, over consumers and over the earth itself.
Shareholder primacy could be changed to a stakeholder approach to corporate governance that holds truth in media, worker and consumer interests, and the environement EQUAL to shareholder profits.
A minor change in tax policy that drives down CEO 'compensation' not to exceed 10 times what their average worker earns.
Make these two policy changes, and ensure our education system teaches rhetoric, debate, real history, real science, all the ologies, and solid mathematics, and we would be in business.
Because the truth is that our society is hampered by the parasitism of these libertarian billionaires, which exemplify the failures of our society and our Congress around tax and social policy. We should not have billionaires.
sinkingfeeling
(54,030 posts)depression. They complain about state issues while living in GQP lead states. They hate Democrats but can't give one example of what TFG did to improve their lives. How will a 60% Chinese tariff effect their lives?
liberal N proud
(61,043 posts)And how she is willfully ignorant and doesnt want to know what is happening in the world.
dlk
(12,557 posts)We could afford to have the best public schools in the world. Yet political extremism has created generations of uneducated citizens. There is a high price to pay for this path.
sop
(12,550 posts)In reality they're economic backwaters full of hate, racism, ignorance, superstition, gun worship, violence, rampant drug abuse, religious intolerance, misery and existential despair. We can no longer allow their grievances to be blamed on blacks, gays, immigrants, women, 'libruls' or any other convenient scapegoat. It's their own fault. It's time we stop pandering to these fools for fear of being labeled "elitist."
appleannie1
(5,224 posts)I and a number of my friends live in a rural area and we know better because we watched it unfold on TV. And it isn't that they were not well educated because my brother graduated from law school near the top of the class.
NoMoreRepugs
(10,964 posts)believe what u hear from a well documented liar and conman yes, you are a BatShitCrazedLoon.
Liberty Belle
(9,639 posts)Most of our county is blue except the rural areas--where they can only get AM radio, not FM that has more moderate or progressive programming.
Turn on the TV. If you want 24/7 news,the only option in many places is Fox News or worse, NewsMax or One America Network. Newspapers are dying and many small towns don't have one anymore, or if they do, they're not covering national politics. Oh,and they're listening to megachurch radio pastors all telling them it's a sin to vote for anyone who isn't right-wing.
For years I've said progressive should make it a priority to fund news outlets on TV and radio that would be real alternatives to FOX (MSNBC is so liberal that most conservatives or moderates won't listen). CNN years ago provided this to some degree, but they're a shadow of their former network. Air America was a liberal but mostly factual radio network that's gone because of lack of financial support.
The education system is another issue--too many parents pull kids out of public school to home school them and indoctrinate their kids, or send them to private schools that are not diverse racially, ethically, or in political viewpoints. They may be learning alternative history that glosses over mistreatment of Native Americans, slavery, etc.
We also need federal funding to keep newspapers alive, and every single one of us should be donating to support any media nonprofits or media foundations supporting unbiased news. If we don't, this will only get worse.
And we need to fight back against the takeover of school curricula and make it harder for parents to homeschool kids. I realize there are sometimes valid reasons for homeschooling and charter schools, but far too often these are used as excuses to present children with biased views of the world.
patphil
(7,401 posts)People like Trump play into their fears, and the lies they tell them are embraced because they are led to believe that the lies hold the solution to their problems.
Hitler demonized the Jews, Republicans demonize immigrants at our southern border.
The attack on our Capitol is well documented, as is Trump's role in organizing and directing that attack.
But hate overwhelms their senses and sensibility, so the lies become truth, and fact becomes fake.
At this point, nothing can be done to break through their self-imposed ignorance. These folks will go to their graves believing Trump was sent by god to save America.
What kind of god would send a man like Trump?
republianmushroom
(18,712 posts)Scalded Nun
(1,349 posts)There is no short-term legal solution other than to keep voting and hope other sane folks do the same.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,882 posts)People here have, at their fingertips, to all the information in the world. Yet they still self propagandize with stations like OAN and Newsmax. Fox isnt even crazy enough anymore.
unblock
(54,543 posts)It's to the shame of the msm that they didn't, and still don't, properly label foxnews and hate radio as right-wing, bigoted propaganda.
That at least would put listeners on notice and perhaps some of them might think about it or be open to recognizing the bias.
Instead, the msm lets these right-wing outlets set the agenda, determine what topics the media shall debate, what buzzwords they shall use, etc.
Why wouldn't the right-wing listeners of the propaganda think their sources are the best?
walkingman
(8,850 posts)to the Austin area in 1987. All of my neighbors (not that many because everyone has acreage) are Republican with the exception of one person. Interestingly most of the older people (WWII era)that lived here in the 80s were all Democrats but their offspring are all Republicans with only one exception.
The social life in the area is mostly Mom/Pop dancehalls or beer joints and the local churches. They do not like "liberals". When I worked I didn't have a lot of social interactions but after I retired early (52) I let my hair grow long and walked everyday so I got to meet all of my neighbors and they would stop and talk to be daily. It was common for them to use the "N" word so I asked them not because I thought it was offensive - after that they would intentionally use it, I think just because I asked them not to. It was also quite common for them to blame the ills of the world on "taking God out of the schools" and similar retorhic based on their religious beliefs (mostly Catholic).
IMO, these are not "bad" people. Most of them are ranchers who work hard usually 7 days a week. They are not poor, most have lots of land - a lot inherited from their families - but have a common trait....they dislike government. They all use government for AG subsidies, or crop insurance, or even Medicaid or disability (a lot of fake disability) but they are what many would call "salt of the earth" folks.
It could be because this is Texas but the extremes have grown more and more in the last 20 years or so. With the election of "W" as Texas Gov. in '94 the extremism has exploded exponentially.
After all of these years, it is getting where I just hate living in Texas. So embarrassingly and in your face obnoxious but I am too old to start over somewhere else and where would be better and we have my DW's Mom (92) to think of.
I love living in the country but as I get older and unable to take care of things like I used to, it is inevitable I we will have to sell and move to a small place close to the necessities. Not sure where that will be but hoping our country turns around stop this craziness before I am 6ft under. But I'm not holding my breath. ☮
Scrivener7
(53,950 posts)I'm sorry you are not liking where you live. My cousin is in the same boat, also in Texas. We all want her to move here, but it's hard to afford it after living there. When your mom goes, it might be worthwhile finding somewhere nice and blue and going there.
SouthBayDem
(32,537 posts)What has Trump delivered for your interests?
How have his policies improved your communities?
Which specific Biden policies do you oppose other than "leadership qualities"?
And which party are you sending to your state legislature or Congress? Have Republicans at those levels done anything for you?
Emile
(32,412 posts)can they name them?
DJ Porkchop
(635 posts)It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled. ― Mark Twain
usonian
(15,846 posts)But they can throw a wrench in the works.
Concentrate first on blue voters and get them involved and voting.
Talk to others about the benefits of culture wars. There are none, like spitting into the wind.
These are convincing results that most really don't want:
This is your GOP option:
Government dictates what you read, your religion and your private life. Period trackers mandatory, and report to the government. I call it "tubal litigation"
More welfare for the rich.
Americans pitted against each other along lines of race, color, religion, gender and income. Vilification of blacks, Jews, Muslims, homeless, and women of strength, with increasing violence, even murder against them.
Private health care companies deny needed treatments to save money. (Death panels are here!)
The wealthy pay even less in taxes.
Every civil right is eroded by clown judges living in the 18th century rewriting the constitution.
Worker's rights and benefits reduced in order to create greater profits for businesses.
Safety nets removed, so that homeless, and jobless people are left to die on the streets.
More, more, more of culture war.
GUNS, everywhere, with no limitations or requirements. Kids get them freely.
Minorities and women blamed for every imaginable blip.
Support of authoritarian regimes across the globe, who eagerly imprison, "re-educate", murder and commit atrocities on others.
Lies, hate speech and threats are welcomed on "social media" and given support by government officials.
Medical care and prescription drug costs skyrocket.
reposted from:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=18584492
oasis
(51,946 posts)
Kaleva
(38,901 posts)and mostly urban counties. Just 25% live in counties designated by the Census Bureau to be rural or mostly rural . About as many people in the metro Detroit area, Wayne County, voted for Trump as did in all of Upper Michigan and most of the northern half of Lower Michigan combined.
My guess is that the great majority of Fox News and Newsmax viewers and listeners to RW radio live in urban or mostly urban counties
Model35mech
(2,047 posts)It's not a question of rural people being STUPID.
Rural people aren't so much STUPID as they are misinformed by available information sources. I've met a LOT of Milwaukee residents on the west and northwest sides that are TREMENDOUSLY misinformed, rather than STUPID. It's about poverty and higher priorities for survival.
What borders on STUPID (as dictionary defined as slow-witted, slow on the up-take) is to think that everyone has equal access to the same information.
Rural areas not far from urban areas don't have cellphone/hot spot internet access or cable services to the extent urban and suburban areas do. That's just the reality of American existence. On my rural property I can't even get cnn news stories over the 5G Iphone.
Yet, 45 Miles west of Milwaukee I can view Fox News and Sinclair Group news whenever I want, but I can't see counter balancing CNN or MSNBC without some form of satellite service. For modest families with high commuting costs, that's something that is out of the budget.
But, for me all isn't lost. I usually don't overnight in rural Jefferson County.
In the early morning, evenings, and Sundays when I'm less than 5 miles from where the Republican National Convention will be held I can get all that.
Beachnutt
(8,388 posts)and Bill Oreilly then Glenn Beck and by that time their brain started deteriorating and then came facebook and russian propaganda along with hannity and his gang, now they really have no brain left.
Chainfire
(17,757 posts)Else, why would they live in a rural area?
moondust
(20,716 posts)feed "the flock" and make good bribes.
Trump's payments to farmers hit all-time high ahead of election
Torchlight
(4,255 posts)and have observed over the past thirty years the manucafctured suspicion of the educated, the crafted distrust of the professional,and the carefully-shaped effeminization of pretty much everything not truck-beer-hat-and-cattle. I want to take exception to the article, but as it comes off as valid, accurate, and truthful to me, I just can't.
ProfessorGAC
(71,542 posts)This poll is very specific to rural Trump supporters.
Rural is around 20% of the population. Supporters if TFG in rural areas is around 65%. We know that over half of hardcore MAGA thinks Jan 6 was somewhere between "no big deal" & a "false flag".
This is 13% of the voting public.
Reported as "over 60%" it's essentially the same number we already suspected.
There's really nothing new in this result.
lindysalsagal
(22,455 posts)Dumbasses think he'll help them.
Response to SouthernDem4ever (Original post)
traitorsgalore This message was self-deleted by its author.
Duncanpup
(14,043 posts)Fucking idiots
Skittles
(161,809 posts)that's good enough for them
StocktonNative
(130 posts)It's been working for the racist teabaggers for years. The Klanned Karenhood makes sure they preach the Daughters of The Confederacy shill.
Johonny
(22,740 posts)For rural voters? They cut taxes on rich people, not rural people.
oldmanlynn
(574 posts)We should be having rural media outlets that tell these folks the truth. There should be truth propaganda pushed in rural areas. Dont let sinclair and fox constantly mislead Americans
Marthe48
(20,035 posts)I lived in a suburb for 17 years, , a rural area for 20 years, and since 1989, a small river/college town. There was a lot of racism where I grew up. I attended my senior year and graduated from a rural high school, went to OSU. My husband and I had roots and ties to the rural area, so we lived there to raise our kids. We knew all kinds of people, and most of our friends and family our age were tolerant. But we knew people who were racist, extremely religious, or uneducated. The 10 years we lived in the rural area, we knew 3 murderers, all who were caught, tried, convicted, jailed. We didn't know the killers or victims well, but we had met them. That was bad enough. But the year before we moved, I read in the local paper that there were 32 cases of incest that were not going to court. I felt like I couldn't keep living in a place where crime was so close to home. That county voted Democratic until GUNS. The town we moved to has always voted R. I remember seeing election results when they used chalkboards in the local tv studios. I didn't care about politics until reagan. Since the 80s, SE Ohio has become redder and redder and I've gotten bluer. But even so, it doesn't seem to matter where you live in this state. There is going to be a cross-section of outlooks. I think the lack of selection in all media has played a big part in polarizing the rwnj. I don't try to make friends like I used to and one of the reasons is politics.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,618 posts)Things are more peaceful without listening to right wing bullcrap so I always keep an arms distance from people. It's a shame some people can't see themselves in the mirror.