Why Rural Residents Resent Us

[Jimbo S]

The UW-Madison political science professor, an Ozaukee County native, was stunned by what northern Wisconsin residents told her in diners, coffee shops, back rooms and barns between 2007 and 2012.

“I did not expect to hear it, but many of the people I listened to in rural areas exhibited a multifaceted resentment toward urban areas,” Professor Katherine J. Cramer writes in her new book, The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker.

“That resentment was part of a perspective. I call it rural consciousness. It is a perspective rooted in place and class identities that convey a strong sense of distributive injustice.”

“A man working with milking machines looks around the back of the cow at me and says, ‘I’m glad Walker did what he did. It’s about time someone takes something away from those bastards.’ The bastards in this case, are public employees. I am one of them.”

It was a reference to Act 10, which Walker pushed through the Legislature weeks after taking office in 2011. It eliminated collective bargaining for most public employees and required them to pay more for pensions and health care.

http://urbanmilwaukee.com/2016/04/25/the-state-of-politics-why-rural-residents-resent-us/

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Something for the Wisconsin Democratic Party to keep in mind when developing a game plan to win back some control.

[Brickbat]

2. I love it when a thread comes full circle so quickly.

[OwlinAZ]

3. Rural people are

undeniably more isolated and usually less educated....easier to misinform and manipulate.
Like Scott Walker said on video with his usual lack of conscience, it's all about divide and conquer.
The GOP has made a practice of denigrating educators and de-funding public education.
We sink deeper into ignorance and mindless hatred with each passing year.

[dembotoz]

4. read blue jean nation by mike mc cabe he pretty much nails it

[GusBob]

6. I think you mean

"Blue Jeans in High Places"

[zalinda]

5. Rural people are no different than a lot of Hillary supporters.

They don't experience what is going on in the inner cities, so they dismiss it. They believe the urban myths of the poor riding around in expensive cars with expensive clothes, buying all this stuff with their Welfare checks and food stamps. They are all dope fiends who sell drugs and who have tons of kids so the checks keep flowing in from the government.

Because both groups are isolated from the inner cities, they have no idea what it's like. Unfortunately, the inner cities are low information when it comes to voting. It's not because they are stupid, it's because they don't have the time to do an in depth study of the candidates. What comes on their 11 o'clock news is what they normally find as news, except for the things that they over hear while doing their jobs. People tend to forget that not all people have the luxury of the Internet, whether it is the time or the cost.

Z

[MisterP]

8. it's the same with "Red States": they're the "taker states" that they denounce

but it's a complicated dance: they're against government spending but since they take more of it the pols have to 1. maintain the anti-spending rhetoric and 2. keep it flowing to their district; it's the same trick Quebec pulled--it gets $6B/year from Ottawa, so the only step left is to demand that they be exempted from paying any taxes to Ottawa!

so that means they have to frame the cities as welfare-ridden slum-filled money sinks and that the Fed money is coming from the pol (not Washington) to a deserving elect who support the politically-correct effetes and teeming urban hives on their broad agrarian shoulders

the exact same legerdemain hampers transit expansion--there's always a massive hullabaloo over each penny spent on rail, while 90% of the money goes to expanding freeways, constant repair, and improving exurb access

[GusBob]

7. I have alot of personal experience with this. It is multi-facited as the author states

It has more to do with race and inner city residents as has been suggested here. Most of it is economic and there is some class struggle as well. lack of education might be a factor. resentment of outsiders is a big one. David vs Goliath syndrome perhaps.

I could write a book on this as I have had a life long experience with rural northern Wisconsin, north of HWY 29, North of 64, North of 8, and North of 2.....there are different levels

When I was a young man our very middle class family moved from very blue collar Green Bay to rural northern Wisconsin. We are whitebread and Green Bay is hardly inner city or even urban.

We were hated with a passion that upended our lives just because we were from down state and outsiders. We were threatened, followed, assaulted and beat up. Our home was vandalized. Our work place too (we harvested pulp). Our vehicles too were vandalized. our gardens, our tree stands. Someone shot 2 of our dogs. When hunting on public land we were confronted by groups of armed strangers. this occurred over 3 different counties north of 64.

We were a threat to nobody and learned to keep to ourselves and never travelled alone anywhere. we stayed away from places alcohol was served. we tried to assimilate but were harassed everywhere we went. there was no reason at all for this but we were from down state

My hands shake now even as I write these words.

it was hatred pure and simple. and like most hate it was based in ignorance and resentment.

Finally we were rescued. A priest who was well loved moved into the community and defended us. when people found out about my Dads history ( he was well known in his teens and from small rural community) they backed off. My 4 older brothers hit puberty, lifted weights and started beating the shit out of rednecks.

We ended up moving North of Hwy 8. People are nicer up there.