Rural America Is Desperate. It Is Also Part of the Democratic Base. Don't Abandon Them.

[bhikkhu]

50. "feeling left behind" is more accurate than "hurting"

I live in "rural america" too. There wasn't much campaign discussion in my area, though that may be because the economy has been good, unemployment is low, and people are generally busy. My county did vote for trump by about the same margin it voted for romney; people don't change their party affiliation easily.

The one thing you can't do is change the economic realities, in any case. Rural is often rural for actual physical reasons. In my area we have a resource-based economy, hay, potatoes, timber. And some recreation, hunting and fishing and so forth. If the nation thrives, we'll always be left behind. If the economy crashes, we still manage well enough.

Opportunities are pretty much always elsewhere, and I think envy does set in. Old people come here to retire, young people leave here to go to college and tend to stay gone, for more interesting lives. Our economic base is about the same as it was in the 20's, determined by our resources.