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Hortensis

(58,785 posts)

40. Just pointing out, extremely few rural Americans are desperate.

Fri Dec 30, 2016, 07:48 PM

Dec 2016

It's an inappropriate word. Resentful would be more appropriate for that subset who are unhappy, resentful from struggling on low local incomes in some cases, resentful at having to do without things urban workers take for granted. Resentful at the idea that they move to improve their conditions.

But that's not desperation. Rural populations in general are aging, and Social Security, Medicare and low living costs mean most haven't and don't expect to ever feel desperation. In fact, most of us (yes, I live in a rural area) are so spoiled by living secure from desperation for decades that most can't imagine life without a security that being an American means--or that it could be destroyed.

Good article except for that very distorted characterization, though.

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Rural America Is Desperate. It Is Also Part of the Democratic Base. Don't Abandon Them. [View all] McCamy Taylor Dec 2016 OP

And many of these so-called Trump counties also voted for guillaumeb Dec 2016 #1

And those same people have also repeatedly helped entrench Blue_Tires Jan 2017 #123

A good question. guillaumeb Jan 2017 #124

Too late. elehhhhna Dec 2016 #2

getting those people back is easy - put gays in camps and blacks at the back of the bus legally. nt msongs Dec 2016 #3

He he he. You beat me to it. Missn-Hitch Dec 2016 #20

Too late atreides1 Dec 2016 #4

I live in rural America. tecelote Dec 2016 #17

+ 1,000,000 frankieallen Dec 2016 #75

You heard a lie and believe it and hate cities because of it? bettyellen Dec 2016 #84

I don't hate cities. Sarcasm. tecelote Dec 2016 #89

Agree with much. But we ARE the inclusive party, and many dislike that for cultural reasons. bettyellen Dec 2016 #90

It's true that there are plenty of urban Republicans. OnionPatch Dec 2016 #115

Is this going to be a "not all rural" - when the context is Trump voters? For ducks sake why is it bettyellen Dec 2016 #119

Trump won rural areas 62-34; suburbs 50-45, and lost urban 59-35 muriel_volestrangler Jan 2017 #130

Your 1st paragraph. Snackshack Dec 2016 #91

I agree with you. CrispyQ Dec 2016 #5

They were also left out of the Clinton prosperity loyalsister Dec 2016 #26

Excellent post. Too bad it's likely to get removed. Glitterati Dec 2016 #28

Now is the time for Democratic self criticism loyalsister Dec 2016 #31

I wish that were true. Glitterati Dec 2016 #33

Unconditional loyalty doesn't help us loyalsister Dec 2016 #38

Clinton won 3M more votes than trump. The repugs cheat, supress votes, use Crosscheck to . . . brush Dec 2016 #73

Who won the White House? KPN Dec 2016 #87

I just told you how the repugs cheated to "win" the White House. You are right about the rest brush Dec 2016 #121

We lost by 80,000 votes in 3 States. KPN Jan 2017 #133

Because, IMO, we haven't focus on exposing and stopping the cheating brush Jan 2017 #134

A while back I posted this image and made a snarky remark about takers vs makers. aidbo Dec 2016 #39

Thanks for posting loyalsister Dec 2016 #41

"feeling left behind" is more accurate than "hurting" bhikkhu Dec 2016 #50

Excellent post ma'am DashOneBravo Dec 2016 #42

I saw it in '94, '96, and '98. X_Digger Dec 2016 #44

Yup. I've seen the same thing in my County ... KPN Dec 2016 #92

You're probably right. Buckeye_Democrat Dec 2016 #49

Yes..let's bash Hillary again nini Dec 2016 #82

It's really quite sad that you view it that way. KPN Dec 2016 #93

No it isn't nini Dec 2016 #94

Passive aggressive dig? KPN Dec 2016 #96

No I'm not nini Dec 2016 #100

So your "Yes. Lets bash Hillary again" comment wasn't sarcastic criticism? KPN Dec 2016 #117

Sorry I'm not clear here but here you go nini Dec 2016 #120

Got it. So I stand corrected ... KPN Jan 2017 #132

Exactly! KPN Dec 2016 #86

Spot on. realmirage Dec 2016 #103

How far does the forgiveness go? Generator Dec 2016 #46

+1000 smirkymonkey Dec 2016 #54

Well said nini Dec 2016 #83

A legitimate question. But please try to understand that it WAS bad enough for some people ... KPN Dec 2016 #95

On average the Trump voter made 70k plus- so sick of this pity party for greedy fucks who just hope bettyellen Dec 2016 #6

Yep, this. nt PunkinPi Dec 2016 #9

Many of them live in rural America as well and while ... KPN Dec 2016 #99

Lower to mid income people live in urban areas and are not "somewhat comfortable" bettyellen Dec 2016 #101

I agree with you, but it's hard not to be very frustrated here. LisaM Dec 2016 #7

If they voted for Trump, they're not the Democratic base, and yes I'm abandoning them. Iggo Dec 2016 #8

Agree,they voted for a racist who was openly bigoted. libtodeath Dec 2016 #13

If they voted for Trump Zorro Dec 2016 #85

Don't abandon them mercuryblues Dec 2016 #10

I wish I could rec this post over and over. libtodeath Dec 2016 #14

Well well well! What you said x 1000. Missn-Hitch Dec 2016 #22

Hear, hear! smirkymonkey Dec 2016 #61

Yup. old guy Dec 2016 #66

+1000 Maven Dec 2016 #70

Spot on kimbutgar Dec 2016 #97

there is a forum mopinko Dec 2016 #11

We tried that, it failed miserably. AirAmerica.....remember? frankieallen Dec 2016 #77

i dont think that is a fair assessment. mopinko Dec 2016 #78

Yeah, so let's not try it again! CrispyQ Dec 2016 #118

I agree with you in principle, but I'm curious renate Dec 2016 #12

In the end, where each of us stands on "coddle them/don't coddle them" doesn't matter: Squinch Dec 2016 #27

This! peggysue2 Dec 2016 #37

Exactly mercuryblues Dec 2016 #80

Desperate for Whites Only signs on business doors. libtodeath Dec 2016 #15

It's not that simple loyalsister Dec 2016 #35

Redirect anger at immigrants to automation???Would these people retrain for jobs of the future in lunasun Dec 2016 #52

I'm think of automatic checkouts loyalsister Dec 2016 #106

Methinks those rural voters abandoned us... Wounded Bear Dec 2016 #16

+1 Freethinker65 Dec 2016 #55

So what do we do? gratuitous Dec 2016 #18

+1000 mercuryblues Dec 2016 #29

Thank YOU! smirkymonkey Dec 2016 #67

Bookmarking this post to read again and again. old guy Dec 2016 #72

I'm not sure about grouping a swath of people under the heading of "rural", but tandem5 Dec 2016 #19

But, but, it's so much more fun to ridicule them and call them names. Binkie The Clown Dec 2016 #21

Asking others to fix it isn't going to work. What are you going to do? Why not go to Squinch Dec 2016 #23

I think I have one of the solutions....... Jim Beard Dec 2016 #24

Good post. cwydro Dec 2016 #25

Sigh Afromania Dec 2016 #43

I live in a rural area and was just trying to think of a solution. Jim Beard Dec 2016 #76

We never abandoned them. geomon666 Dec 2016 #30

Just let Dump and Dense fuck up Medicaid and Medicare. roamer65 Dec 2016 #32

The price for "letting" them do that is good people DIE Glitterati Dec 2016 #34

Yes. Good people will die because of the actions of those we are being told to Squinch Dec 2016 #59

Perhaps it would be beneficial to remember how badly BILL Clinton hurt these same voters Glitterati Dec 2016 #63

These people voted FOR Donald Trump, dooming themselves. Squinch Dec 2016 #65

Those who refuse to remember history are doomed to failure Glitterati Dec 2016 #98

I am not angry, and I am not acting foolish. I am simply pointing out an undisputable fact. Squinch Dec 2016 #105

Perhaps 2028, or 2032. The GOP is digging in and they'll be in charge until then. TonyPDX Dec 2016 #60

Sadly, rural America would rather hold onto their beliefs and don't want to change. tenderfoot Dec 2016 #36

Just pointing out, extremely few rural Americans are desperate. Hortensis Dec 2016 #40

No, rural voters aren't resentful at not having a starbucks on every (other) corner. X_Digger Dec 2016 #45

But if thought corrupts language, language can also Hortensis Dec 2016 #47

they don't want solidarity with non white people JI7 Dec 2016 #48

Many voted for Obama. It think that fact damages your assertion. RBInMaine Dec 2016 #57

no "many" did not vote for him JI7 Dec 2016 #109

Hillary had solid, well-designed policies. The Ds had the most-progressive platform stopbush Dec 2016 #51

Post removed Post removed Dec 2016 #53

If by "abandoning them" you mean presenting and voting for a platform that paid special Squinch Dec 2016 #56

If there is some approach that avoids hurting their ego I'm bettyellen Dec 2016 #102

I agree. I also think that none of this matters in how we go forward. There are Squinch Dec 2016 #107

Totally agree! What I dislike is this whitewash in the media about the bigotry we've seen all bettyellen Dec 2016 #110

I hadn't thought of it that way in this context: Squinch Dec 2016 #114

It's the more affluent white voters who fucked us over. hunter Dec 2016 #58

Russ Feingold and every Democrat running for Senate in a swing state lost against the establishment, still_one Dec 2016 #62

I would like to see a forum to group these issues at DU instead of general discussion also lunasun Dec 2016 #64

Something changed? yallerdawg Dec 2016 #68

Isn't it funny how over the years since this song was written OnionPatch Jan 2017 #127

I don't live in rural America bigtree Dec 2016 #69

oh poor rural ameriKKKa heaven05 Dec 2016 #71

They abandoned reason and logic by voting for Pennywise. Different Drummer Dec 2016 #74

If you voted for racists trump you are a deplorable POS just like him... stonecutter357 Dec 2016 #79

NO ONE IS ABANDONING THEM nini Dec 2016 #81

For this to Work Joe Turner Dec 2016 #88

I am willing to listen to rural folk Runningdawg Dec 2016 #104

Nope they can go to hell, we don't need their deplorable asses. ileus Dec 2016 #108

Nice post! USALiberal Dec 2016 #111

"Rural America" as a whole is NOT part of the Democratic base etherealtruth Dec 2016 #112

Can they stop hating brown and gay people long enough..... Adrahil Dec 2016 #113

Who abandoned who? When they started voting for Republicans they abandoned America. baldguy Dec 2016 #116

Endangered species hollowdweller Dec 2016 #122

We must know two different rural Americas Blue_Tires Jan 2017 #125

Sorry I'm done with them. BigDemVoter Jan 2017 #126

States that mostly are takers instead of givers..... Historic NY Jan 2017 #128

EDUCATE THEM. INFORM THEM. logically. don't liberalsplain. pansypoo53219 Jan 2017 #129

It isn't a failure of Democratic policy, but of media and messaging. farmbo Jan 2017 #131