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Urban vs Rural: Where the real divide in American politics lies
American Thinker ^ | 08/14/2018 | Taylor Lewis

Posted on 08/14/2018 8:26:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

During President Trump’s presidential campaign and its aftermath, it became commonplace to cite Yeats’s “Second Coming” when describing the ongoing splintering of the country. The poem’s most famous lines were recalled so often they became a perfunctory cliché. I think, at times, I was also guilty of the aesthetic crime. “The falcon cannot hear the falconer;/Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;”–you know the verses by heart by now.

By embracing provincial-appealing “forgotten man” rhetoric, Trump loosed “mere anarchy” upon the world, widening our already large gulf between America’s two geographically disparate groups: city-dwellers and rural residents.

Social observers are mistaken when they say America is divided by race, religion, or even politics. Those are all secondary; they don’t constitute the wellspring. The real dividing line starts at geography. All other differences flow from our zip code.

This rural-urban divide was starkly present in the recent special election in Ohio’s 12 congressional district. The race has yet to be officially called, but it appears Republican Troy Balderson will eke out a win. Even so, the district has been held by Republican hands for decades. The Democrat, a fresh-faced upstart named Danny O’Connor, came within a whisker of occupying it.

O’Connor’s support didn’t come from disillusioned Trump voters in the rural parts of the district. Rather, it came predominantly from the more populated counties—Delaware and Franklin—that are also some of the wealthiest areas in the state. While O’Connor ran up the vote in more urban areas, Balderson struggled to mimic the support rural residents gave President Trump two years earlier. The result was a nail-biter.

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: division; rural; urban
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1 posted on 08/14/2018 8:26:51 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CAbFDt3Evs


2 posted on 08/14/2018 8:30:24 AM PDT by PJBankard (Heaven has strict immigration policies. Hell has open borders.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Agree - there are no red vs. blue states, it's more a case of red vs. blue counties. There are congressional districts in "blue" California that are more conservative and Republican than districts in "red" Texas. As the article says, the big divide is between rural and urban, so that "red" states are those with more primarily rural Congressional districts, while "blue" states are dominated by urban ones.

What this means is that high population densities tend to be bad news for small-government conservatism. Wherever you have small communities, self-government and self-policing work quite well, so the need or desire for state oversight are minimal. When you have sprawling metropolises, self-government starts to break down so more regulation and eventually state Leviathan become inevitable.

3 posted on 08/14/2018 8:34:19 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
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To: PJBankard

Even in the workplace, the question usually boils down to - Are they City Kids or Country Kids?

City Kids grew up without common sense, they had few chores, did not know how to fix things.

Country kids grew up with lots of chores, taking care of animals, routine maintenance and repair everyday on any farm.

City kids have to be watched.

Country kids just need to be told what needs to be done, and they do it.


4 posted on 08/14/2018 8:36:12 AM PDT by Dustoff45 ( The secret to political success - Love God, Israel and the unborn child.)
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To: SeekAndFind

American cities..... domain of Progressive Ameritrash that is in effect no longer America.

These are the real American enemies, far more dangerous than russia or North Korea or Iran


5 posted on 08/14/2018 8:38:44 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12) Sanctuary is Sedition)
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To: SeekAndFind

Broadly speaking, I believe this to be correct, though there is also a spiritual component.


6 posted on 08/14/2018 8:38:53 AM PDT by niteowl77
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To: niteowl77
there is also a spiritual component.

Amen, Country kids were raised in church in most cases. City kids...not so much.

7 posted on 08/14/2018 8:43:58 AM PDT by Dustoff45 ( The secret to political success - Love God, Israel and the unborn child.)
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To: Dustoff45
I think it's even more of a function of suburban life than urban life.

I've been working in managerial positions long enough to identify a distinctive pattern in younger people who work for me. They can be generally divided into three groups that I admittedly know is an over-generalization of people:

Country Kids are generally the best. They work hard, are close to nature, and can handle almost anything that comes their way. Their only flaw is that they can be naïve when dealing in complex environments with shady city people.

City Kids tend to be pampered, have almost no work ethic, and complain far more than Country Kids about some of the dumbest sh!t.

As bad as City Kids are, Suburban Kids are even worse. For all their flaws, City Kids will often have a street-smart, savvy approach to things that comes in handy in many situations. Suburban Kids have all the flaws of the City Kids without the street smarts. City Kids, for example, wouldn't hesitate to ride a subway or public bus to school. They'll also encounter homeless bums frequently in their lives. The parents of Suburban Kids wouldn't dream of letting them do something like that. The best way I can describe them is to point out that they have lived completely managed lives.

8 posted on 08/14/2018 8:46:45 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them ... like Russians will.")
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To: SeekAndFind
Yep.

Even though a lot of my neighbors are "small d" democrats on paper they tend to vote republican in the state and national elections. Why, because the republicans leave us alone. There is some industry in the area but most of us farm either in a big way, (soybeans, corn, wheat and hay) or in a small way with fresh produce, fruit and a few animals.

During the BHO time the EPA made our lives miserable. You were not able to plan from one year to the next because they would switch the rules on you.

I think part of the problem is that in the cities you don't feel the heavy hand of the federal government on you in quite the same way.

9 posted on 08/14/2018 8:56:59 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea is getting cold.)
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To: SeekAndFind

So the big distinctions in politics today are rural vs. urban. Then i guess those black rural districts in the south must vote republican, right?


10 posted on 08/14/2018 9:02:10 AM PDT by McCarthysGhost
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To: SeekAndFind

This city raised kid supports Trump as do most of my childhood friends. By the way Boston today doesn’t contain those old lifelong residents like it use to. Gentrification of my old neighborhood means it is infested with out-of-staters and upperclass suburbanites. They be living in the city but they are not city raised people.


11 posted on 08/14/2018 9:09:57 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: Dustoff45

Even in the workplace, the question usually boils down to - Are they City Kids or Country Kids?

City Kids grew up without common sense, they had few chores, did not know how to fix things.

Country kids grew up with lots of chores, taking care of animals, routine maintenance and repair everyday on any farm.

City kids have to be watched.

Country kids just need to be told what needs to be done, and they do it.


City kid here, I guess working with my Dad roofing as well as maintaining 6 apartments from age 10 through high school and college means nothing. Your statement does not reflect my upbringing or my blue collar neighborhood. Plumbers, electricians, cops and firemen. The cops and firemen all had construction side jobs and employed their kids as well.


12 posted on 08/14/2018 9:14:34 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: Dustoff45

there is also a spiritual component.
Amen, Country kids were raised in church in most cases. City kids...not so much.


Not the city I know. Your neighborhood was defined by your church. I grew-up in Saint Margaret’s. Almost never missed a Mass.


13 posted on 08/14/2018 9:16:31 AM PDT by outpostinmass2
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To: SeekAndFind

The rural population is closer to the soil and knows where food comes from (God). Throughout history those who populate large cities tend to forget God and ignore his commandments about what is a wholesome lifestyle.

I’ll take Ma and Pa Kettle any day if choosing between them and the “Rich and Famous”.


14 posted on 08/14/2018 9:18:10 AM PDT by Yulee
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

Even though a lot of my neighbors are “small d” democrats on paper they tend to vote republican in the state and national elections.
***************
This was true in my area as well, until the Dems, once elected, became part of the socialist intellectual elite. Eventually our area became predominantly Republican. they had been conservative, but after Jimmy Carter, the migration began.


15 posted on 08/14/2018 9:24:28 AM PDT by Yulee
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To: Alberta's Child

That’s an incredibly astute observation.


16 posted on 08/14/2018 9:27:22 AM PDT by gogeo (No justice, no peace.)
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To: Alberta's Child
"The parents of Suburban Kids wouldn't dream of letting them do something like that. The best way I can describe them is to point out that they have lived completely managed lives. "/i>

Long ago, I decided that one of my main responsibilities as a parent was to raise my kids to be fully functional adults, not perfect life-long children. Long before "safe spaces" were defined, I didn't want my kids wrapped entirely in emotional cotton balls for the rest of their lives. So, even growing up in suburbia they had chores to do and were exposed to the uglier side of life one step at a time as their personal development increased with age. It is possible as long as you are willing to see a few physical and emotional calluses develop along the way.

17 posted on 08/14/2018 9:31:19 AM PDT by Pecos (Better the one you have with you than the one you left at home.)
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To: McCarthysGhost
Then i guess those black rural districts in the south must vote republican, right?

In addressing the doubling of Pres. Trumps approval rating among blacks, someone, somewhere yesterday posited that that is most likely a generational thing within the black community. Blacks started going hard-core Dem/welfare state about the time that all the emancipated men and women started passing. Now, we may be seeing a fundamental shift as the "Great Society" blacks start passing away.

What I am trying to say is that what you referenced may be an anomaly caused by leftist policies.

18 posted on 08/14/2018 9:42:02 AM PDT by Turbo Pig (To close with and destroy....)
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To: SeekAndFind
"American cities..... domain of Progressive Ameritrash that is in effect no longer America."

We might note that the source of Hillary popular votes in the 2016 election and realize that "East and West Coast people" were the principal source of her support--and that support was from dense Liberal/Progresssive populations in cities on those "coasts."

Thomas Jefferson, the Author of our Declaration of Independence, made interesting observations on the effect of "cities" on the minds of their populations.

"I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe." - Thomas Jefferson

19 posted on 08/14/2018 9:51:20 AM PDT by loveliberty2
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To: All

I was raised by country parents close to DC. Dad was a fed, ex military.
Stuck out like a sore thumb. Didn’t fit in.

Moved to the midwest at 16, and was met with that feeling you get after your 2 drink. “I have arrived.”

Looking back at the friends I grew up with, they are absolutely useless. I don’t mean to be condescending, just stating facts.

A little while ago I reconnected with this broad who I always messed around with back then. Caught up, explained to her what I do on the farm, at school, etc.
Having stayed there much longer than I had, (she moved to Texas) she had the chance of knowing first hand what the people we went to school ended up doing. She said, “I cannot name a single person we went to school with that does as much as you or has grown to that extent.”
And I believe her because it’s in line with what I have heard.

I will never go back to the city, I will never live in a suburb. It’s a cancer to masculinity.


20 posted on 08/14/2018 10:22:25 AM PDT by George Rand (-- I can't befriend liberals because I won't befriend ignorance --)
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