I grew up in rural, small-town America -- I can tell you the real reason why people love Donald Trump

[Kablooie]

----
It’s hard to overstate the small-town social pressure to conform. When a childhood friend posted a hoax story about Hillary Clinton on Facebook recently, I directed him (without comment) to a Snopes piece debunking it. His response was, “You’ve forgotten where you came from.” Then he unfriended me. For many in rural America, it’s downright logical to deny objective reality on any particular issue. Supporting a Democrat might mean a better standard of living in some ways. But, it will also come at a personal cost.

People especially value the opinions of those who model success in their daily lives. Donald Trump spent years playing a successful businessman in a game show that many of these people watched regularly. To them, he’s practically a hometown success story. Of these, there are too few. Between 2008 and 2017, 99 per cent of America’s job and population growth was in metropolitan areas. Rural Americans are being left behind.
----
So, when those rural Americans not coming up with ways to make their own problems worse, they’re looking for out-groups to blame. Like the minorities who live in those thriving urban centers, and have an increasingly equitable share of power in Washington, DC. Rural voters are far more likely to believe that black and Latinx people are abusing government assistance programs, for example. The racist resentment is vast, and a growing body of research has found that support for Trump is fueled almost entirely by hatred of out-groups: In 2016, the strongest predictors of Trump support were bigotry and lack of education.
----
Add to the equation a steady diet of fringe media with no accountability itself and you have a rural population that largely believes Trump is no more guilty of corruption than the Clintons, the Obamas, the Bushes, or anyone else. The perception is that he is just being given a hard time because he happens to be one of them.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/trump-supporters-california-clinton-fake-news-vote-2020-a9214131.html?fbclid=IwAR1Cv9NMp0Ki73QKBm3R_vLtYA10C4TSFmEQo-UIsNzTwkNuivMlpORND8I

[BigmanPigman]

1. BS! Tell them that WE all come from the same country.

Everyone, everywhere has their own local attitude, culture, etc. Tell them we are Americans and therefore have more in common!

[pangaia]

25. that sure as hell ain't gonna fly with these morons.. i wish it would...

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. They're racist, the end.

Not sure why we have to keep trying to "understand their perspective" when it comes down to racism every time.

[Phoenix61]

4. +1

[StarfishSaver]

14. Pretty much this

[hibbing]

15. Agree n/t

[Onthefly]

16. Agree. Simply true.

[dalton99a]

19. +1

[ismnotwasm]

20. +infinity

[Buckeyeblue]

31. Because they vote

The article is correct. But it doesn't tell us anything we don't know. And yes, these people are racist, homophobic and misogynist. Some of it is conscious. Some of it is unconscious. Most of it is that these people don't understand the world economy. Or our country's economy. They don't understand that California itself is one of the largest economies in the world. But they vote. So if we want to get out from under Trump, we need to figure out how to get some of these people to change their vote.

[Newest Reality]

36. For the sake of brevity,

even though the term is not mainstream, I refer to them as pathologically xenophobic.

People can have a suspicion or aversion to people who are different, (hey, you're not like us!) and I think everyone can relate to that in some way from parties, being in groups or excluded, etc. What we are seeing is an extremist form of conditioning that supports and exaggerates that tendency when being "civilized" or having integration depends on recognizing that tendency, seeing its origins and supports and reckoning with them.

From what I understand, America pretty much invented what we now refer to as racism. Prior to the 1600's prejudice revolved around what you could call "nationalism" or what country or culture you were from.

I appreciate articles like this one because I think it is "our side" who is most capable of seeing our own biases and peeking around them. One way to do that, and to effect change, is to have more acute and accurate information about the kind of people who exhibit the various negative, (dare I say anti-social) behaviors that have a detrimental effect beyond their local environments. Joe Bageant, (RIP) was a liberal who grew up and lived in rural, red town and he made it clear that we have to do more to understand and communicate with them because the bashing and our prejudice really only exacerbates the problem and strengthens their confirmation biases rather than solving or resolving them. This is very important in the long-term. It is not easy. It takes time and work. It starts here.

[Buckeyeblue]

40. And to make matters worse Republican politicians understand this and play to it.

But I agree with you. We have to find ways to communicate our ideas that fit in their worldview.

[Newest Reality]

42. On Spot!

They sure do. I think this round of deflections, etc., is making that stand out, too.

Right. They may not "get" us, (myopic?), but we can be the side that "gets" them, if we want. I think that could be powerful.

[The Mouth]

43. Oh, come on-

*everyone* knows the way to communicate with them is to call them 'deplorables', accuse them of not understanding their 'white privilege', mocking their religious practices, and using "nationalist' as an epithet and 'white nationalist' with a meaning the same as 'white supremacist'. I mean that stuff HAS to work? right?

[Progressive Jones]

74. Accusing and describing are two different things.

Too many Americans actually do fit those descriptors.
I personally know too many.

[The Mouth]

91. Not my point

I was merely pointing out that not once has calling people such names ever done a damned bit of good except making the name caller feel superior,

[Zaphod42]

67. Good post.

I live in rural East Mississippi, and the linked article is pretty much spot-on...Somehow, these people see tRump as one of them. I attribute it to the "reality TV" culture. It's pretty sad....

[Blue_true]

60. Or we figure out how to get more metropolitan people to vote.

One House of Delegate race in Virginia keeps popping into my mind. The democrat led by 1 vote that a Court disallowed. So she was tied with the republican and the race was decided by a chance event, she lost. On November 5th, she easily defeated that republican to flip the seat. I truly doubt that any people that voted for the republican in 2017 changed their minds in the 2019 race, but I also believe that voters who didn't vote because they thought the democrat had it won on 2017 and didn't vote made sure that they voted this time around.

I grew up in a rural area, you are not going to change the minds of people there. They will argue ten ways to Sunday about why their backward views are right, then failing to convince, they will call you a socialist and hate you.

[NewJeffCT]

102. No

with the playing field the way it is - Trump dominating the media cycle almost all the time - we need to find a way to get these people to stay home and NOT vote.

They're not going to change from voting Trump to voting Warren, Biden, Sanders, Buttigieg, etc. Democrats have been demonized for them for 30 years now. However, they could be convinced to stay home.

Long term, work on convincing them to vote in their own interests, but it may take a generation or more for it to sink in to really have an effect. The GOP plays the long game (they started creating the RW media echo chamber not long after Watergate... and, now we have Trump with firm GOP support despite far worse crimes than Nixon)

[TheRealNorth]

106. I think we need to fight fire with fire

We need to flood these people with negative ads about Republicans to depress turnout. Fakebook isn't going to do anything to combat misleading adds, so we need to turn that on Republicans.

I am done with fighting fair. We need to go for the groin and the jugular if this Republic is going to survive these fascists.

[Garrett78]

117. They are voting "in their own interests." The problem is their "interests."

Racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia...those are their overriding interests.

[OhNo-Really]

34. Bigotry is the bigger tent, racists are one group of bigots

Zealots are in the tent, too

The rest are nihilists & unstable minds

[DownriverDem]

38. They vote

their hate - race, LGBTQ, women, believing that "others" get stuff for free and they want the country to be white. Disgusting.

[snacker]

52. Spot on.

[gopiscrap]

53. +2

[IronLionZion]

54. Can confirm

I'm from rural Appalachia and see old classmates constantly posting stuff about immigrants when there just aren't very many in the small town we're from. A fellow posted a meme with Trump's smug face and how when Americans had problems in this country there was a revolution and a civil war, instead of immigrating to some other country.

I pointed out that Trump's family came to America after both those wars, and same with the fellow who posted it. Several of his buddies piled on to tell me that I should quit my job and move to another country.

I've gotten that a lot my whole life because I'm brown. Even before Trump's election, people I grew up with would ask me when am I going to move to India to live and work, not just visit.

It's the racism.

I used to defend Appalachian-Americans as being less racist than city people I've encountered or make excuses that they don't know many minorities so they don't know any better. But Trump has really brought out the worst elements deep inside people and it's undeniable these days. I have relative who last year flew from Kentucky to Pittsburgh because they felt it was not safe to drive through West Virginia.

People may have economic anxiety but racism makes them blame immigrants and minorities for it.

[Alpeduez21]

55. Ding ding ding ding!!!!

[Initech]

70. Also sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic and so on.

They hate anyone who is not them.

[atreides1]

76. Racist, yes

But let's not forget their other redeeming qualities...bigots, don't like uppity women, and most are religious fanatics...who don't really believe in the deity they claim to follow!

I think that covers the rest of it...

[Lock him up.]

86. We don't have to keep trying that.

THEY have to try to understand OUR perspective.

We have to convince young people who share OUR perspective but don't care to vote (for whatever reason) how much important it is to vote for the 400 Bills sleeping on Moscow Mitch's desk... (vote Dems up and down ballot)

GOTV

[Hortensis]

3. Umhm. GreatER value and need for conformity's one of the 3 main

conservative characteristics in comparison to liberal personality. That one alone's huge.

Add it to the reality of how almost everyone chooses leaders
* We choose our group we identify with. Check.
* We accept the leader our group settles on. Check. Conformed! Happy, happy, all's feeling right.

Here's the big kicker: We then set aside what we claim we look for in a leader to adopt the views our leader tells us to. The more we do, the more conforming. The less, the more anxiety.

Just how far we'll go with that last is much less and much stronger in different people, of course, but strong conservatives can often be lead far from their previous track, and also those on both extremes -- right AND left.

And there are all the other toxins in the Trump/populist brews.

Good article, Kablooie. We really need to understand ourselves and each other better.

[randr]

5. Peer pressure dominates

rural religious, political, and social groups and usually the loudest bully rules

[dawg day]

6. I've recognized the enormous resentment--

of those who left-- who became "the other". In my state, there are few jobs in the small towns, and most young people move to the cities. The ones left behind interpret this as being uppity or something. In this way, they end up resenting their own children and friends who chose another path. Like you said, the conformism and need to stay the same creates the need to cut off others, and cut off information.

But you know, this seems to me more of a personal problem for them than a sociological one. We can't bring back the 50s (and we don't want to). We can't resurrect the dead industries. There are new industries where there are new jobs. Sometimes life isn't fair, and sometime it's also unfair to people who think they had it better way back when.

Voting for Trump and deeply supporting him won't help them, of course. And telling them they're being exploited by the rich of the GOP and Trump himself doesn't seem to matter.

Oh, well. Sad as it is for them, their numbers are dwindling.

[Dream Girl]

12. There is also a self selection bias. The ones who choose to stay are less open to change

There is something called the “novelty seeking” gene and they have whatever is the opposite of that. Change and differences scare them.

[kiri]

41. 50% are always below average

In terms of being aware, wanting to be informed, respecting being informed/educated as a plus value... desiring to know about the world beyond the village. Scared of dragons beyond the borders.

In any group, 50% will be below average. This is not profound, because it is the definition. But it is worth remembering--"on average" 1/2 the people you engage are below average (on any given topic).

[lindysalsagal]

88. and if anyone wants to be totally honest about the U.S.learning curve,

Then you must admit the world is getting far more complicated every day, and those who cannot synthesize complex systems of economic, agricultural and scientific inter-dependency simply can't follow the daily news anymore. That leads to a feeling of futility, and anger and resentment, that they lack anyone to trust and believe.

So, they want a destroyer of all they can't comprehend. frump figured that out and used it successfully.

[Maeve]

17. Add to that the fact that rural life isn't what it was

It's much harder to make a living from the land, small towns are drying up (the Walmart just isn't the same as the vibrant downtown we used to have in my hometown, for instance) and a lot of the factories aren't there as they were back in the day. Drugs have moved in (both meth and opioids, things that weren't even THINGS back in the day) and everything just seems to be going downhill.

Someone has to be blamed for it. Can't be us; we're the same as we always were.

And that is part of why I don't ever want to move back to my old hometown; I'll stay in the city, thank you.

[lunatica]

37. When you know your history

you know that the industrial revolution decimated farming all across the country and people in each family were forced to move to cities that had factories for jobs. The exception was when factories went out into small towns where everyone there then worked for the factory.

This is happening again with factories leaving the small towns. It’s painful to be caught in an economic revolution, but if you don’t accept it and move to do what it takes to fit into the new reality you’ll end up left destitute. I feel terrible for the older generation getting caught in a no win situation. The government should take care of their needs. It can take care of them so why doesn’t it? Because it’s busy taking care of rich people.

[dawg day]

61. Yes-- the factory towns deteriorate when the factory leaves

I see that in many towns in my state, the one-company towns.

"The government" actually does take care of many of their needs. Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, disability, farm subsidies. Certainly not generous benefits, but they aren't getting nothing from the government. Most of the jobs are government jobs too-- the state highway jobs, the public schools, the community hospital-- these are the big employers now in the small towns. In my state, the county seats are usually pretty prosperous because the county government employs so many people.

And the family farm... they still exist in the Midwest, but there aren't many left, and their income is dwarfed by the competition of the huge corporate farms.

I think in many ways their real sorrow is for the dying town and rural life. It's such a passing, though I think only the older ones remember a thriving downtown and ample jobs. But the younger ones have heard about that, and maybe also went to grade school in the local school (long since consolidated into a county school somewhere else). There's a real loss there. Many Americans (including urbanites, like LOL David Brooks) have nostalgia for the perfect small towns we imagine in the past. Some of those nostalgic urbanites might never have lived in a small town, but miss them anyway and voted for Trump, thinking maybe he'd magically reverse the progression of the last 90 years (since the Depression).

I like this time and world better, but though I grew up in a small town, I couldn't wait to get out and move to Chicago.

[lunatica]

69. Wanting to move away from slow stagnation

is what you do when you look for something better and you’re willing to do what it takes. Good for you for moving. The world isn’t passing you by.

[Blue_true]

66. Their grandparents or parents did have it better in the 50s.

Studies have shown that since 1972 the American standard of living has continuously declined, much faster in rural areas, Reagan put that decline on steroids and no democratic President since has totally been able to reverse that decline, mostly because the rest of the world caught up to us.

What Trump loving people don't understand is WHY their parents and grandparents had it better in the 50s. Most of Europe and a large part of Asia had been decimated by WWII. Our economy was the only advanced economy that was functioning. The rest of the world needed and took in anything that we could build. Europe and Japan recovered from the devastation of war and began developing advanced economies, the slowly needed less from us and that started to show up in the late 60s. Nixon's policies made things worse, then came the first oil shock, Japan and Europe had learned how to build reliable small cars, we had not,they started to take away our auto market and then the metals markets. Then Reagan came along and allowed companies to offshore jobs simply to increase profits beyond already adequate levels. As jobs vanished, companies saw that they could squeeze workers and Unions, pay stayed stagnant or dropped while cost went up. Industries that needed rural American labor to meet 50s and early 60s European and Asian demand didn't need rural plants anymore, they were too out of the most efficient operating model, which was done best where there was abundant labor to pick from, so rural facilities closed and rural towns and cities shrunk, disappeared or eventually got absorbed into growing nearby cities and city surburbs. So rural America is caught in a rapidly changing world, as the few minerals extraction industries located there shrunk or they automated and farming became a mega-corporate or wealthy family affair.

[dawg day]

71. Also when the nation's employers discriminated against minorities and women...

There were more better-paying jobs for white men, especially those with less than a high-school education.

GM and Ford were huge employers in my state, but resisted the trend towards high-mileage small cars. It was one of the biggest mistakes in industry history, I think. They or their suppliers had factories in the small towns and cities in my state, and in the 70s and 80s, most of those closed. The huge buildings and parking lots are still there in one town -- a great big ghost.

[Blue_true]

73. Excellent point about discrimination against minorities in the 50s.

Even low skilled White men got jobs over better qualified minorities. I guess there is some resentment among some White men that unfair advantage to them no longer exist.

[cilla4progress]

7. I have.found that often the only free media

is right wing blather.

When I grew up all you needed were rabbit ears to tune in the networks. Free.

Now you need Sirius, internet, cable. Definitely a concerted intentional effort. And i've read that Fox was included on basic cable.

[BuffaloJackalope]

8. A stupid man's idea of a smart man. A poor man's idea of a rich man.

A weak man's idea of a strong man.

[Beringia]

9. True, I think also if you are born rural is a big factor

as opposed to moving rural in your later life.

[markpkessinger]

114. I think it has less to do with being born rural...

...than it does with whether a person has ever lived in a reasonably large city, and the person's level of exposure to many different types of people.

I was born and raised in a town of 800 people in rural Pennsylvania, in a county of about 35,000. But i went away to college, and moved straight from college to NYC, where I have lived for the past 35+ years. I am the youngest of five siblings. My eldest sister spent her senior year of high school (1967-68) in Sweden. She still lives in Pennsylvania, but in a much more populous area. She and I are the liberal "black sheep" of the family. My brother and one of my sisters still live in the town I grew up in, and are conservative.


The OP is spot on about the pressure to conform. My brother owns a successful propane business. I am sure that at least part of the reason he tends to be so conservative has to do with feeling like he needs to CV relate to his customer base and be relatable to them.

[Beringia]

115. Thanks for sharing your story

[Garrett78]

116. People born rural, though, are much more likely than others to never leave their hometown.

Many don't ever go away to college, and some are shunned if they do.

[underpants]

10. Interesting. I'll add in another cultural influence and conditioning

New country music. Those radio stations dominate almost every market, yes even in some cities.
The music is country-ish but the lyrics are clearly instructions on what is the norm, acceptable, and what everyone is doing/thinking. It's barely singing. It's mostly shouting at the listener. Common themes (trucks, blue jeans, beer, hunting and fishing, etc.) are required and it's high level circular pandering.

This song is funny but it really nails it.

[certainot]

44. it's the talk radio that makes the difference. city people have no clue, like the MSNBC panel this

morning on AM JOY - all of them blaming fox.

it goes on and on - the biggest political mistake in history as the 'analysts' keep blaming symptoms - like fox, money in politics, the russians, etc

[oswaldactedalone]

47. Very true

[lunasun]

72. Oh+the RW talk radio is in the city too .I think Chicago still has at least 2 AMs going

The RW radio has an influence even here and they are not new stations
The only thing I will say is there is a balance of a more diverse selection on the dial for talk radio here liberal +POC stations here ,also various ethnic AM along with radio universities with talk shows

Plus the dial here has lots of local news + sports channels because it’s chicago I guess and which is benign transmission compared to what creepy stuff I have picked up while driving for business through more rural Midwest
And I do mean driving through ..because the OP has many correct observations ....

But I will give you that, if one hasn’t experienced it,choices are really bad further out the local stations get and I am sure I have never even been in really bad areas for all crap radio

But Rw radio in some form -it’s everywhere the city too, just not as popular and not the only thing to choose on the dial but it’s there
At least this city person has a clue it is a big factor and has creeped in everywhere a long time ago

[certainot]

81. in cities it's democratic .in the cities where there are choices(free speech). and that's

the problem.it's 20-1 everywhere else

in 40 states with 80 senators there are NO choices for politics while driving, working, and doing chores

rw talk radio is not part of the free speech spectrum, it's been used by putin for at least a decade, and the idiot dems/left have no fucking clue

[underpants]

89. I agree. I posted about it last week. The Hannity test.

My post about new country music was just to shed some light on another aspect that is widely ignored. You are dead on about talk radio. I was at a conference last week and had Morning Joe on in my hotel room. They talked about different subjects but the monkey in the room was that the rightwing never hears any of this. I myself rarely watch TV political shows other than Anderson Cooper just to see Toobin and Gergen's take on things. Right wingers and Trumpkins are immersed in a cult like fantasy land all day.

The Hannity test goes like this - for one week just listen to the first 15 minutes of his radio show. It's a stream of RW legend and lore, inside jokes, and references to things most people have forgotten about ...... and usually would not be mentioned because people like Hannity were shown to be wrong/stupid/crazy. He/they are under constant attack while still always winning. It's really madness. The first day I suggest having a pen and paper ready to write down references that even political junkies like you and I forgot about (like bleach and hammers) to google later. The second day you will notice repeated themes and inside jokes. By the third day you will "get it". At the end of the week you will be dazed and confused at how people listen to this on a regular basis AND believe it.

They live in a world with its own reality and facts.

[certainot]

90. i think the hardcore is much smaller than the media make it out to be and there's a huge

bunch of secondary recipients of that alternate reality who are basically just apathetic or too busy and when it comes to voting or answering polls they're going to reflect that buzz they got from their friend or relative who is hardcore etc

media and GOP are using projecting and amplifying that hardcore base to intimidate republican politicians just because dems allow talk radio to keep its invisibility

i think there is great value in getting the democratic party and progressive orgs to start including talk radio in the political discussion at the least, getting pollsters to poll for it, getting the name 'limbaaugh' included in the diisscussion etc.

dem politicians need to recognize the part talk radio has played in trump's success and its use by putin. they need to look at the evidence that's there and mention it in their investigations and get media to look at it. maddow etc need to get sam nunberg on and ask him details about when he was listening to "thousands of hours of talk radio" for trump in 2014.

they need to ask if there was any connection between trump playing golf with limbaugh the day after the mueller report came out (to keep GOP in line) and also the fact that the ukraine shakedown call came another day or two later. they need to compare the timing of what trump and hannity and limbaugh say when they're saying the same things. and so on

stuff like this by jonathan swan of axios march 17 needed to get a lot more attention: Over the past decade, Trump has spent countless hours honing his feel for the Republican base by listening to right-wing talk radio on his drives.]

dems need to start exposing the GOP/russia/ talk radio connection and start using it to politically punish republlican politicians who are supporting trump BEFORE they start obstructing the senate trial and linmbaugh starts intimidating possible 'traitors'

i don't know how to do that though. i am trying to find out if 850 KOA denver dropped limbaugh to a lesser station after 25+ years because of years of low level activism to get CU to stop broadcasting football on KOA. the syracuse university racism protests could have included the fact that SU broadcasts on 6 limbaugh stations for instance.....

maybe one of the dem candidates needs to start talking about talk radio as part of the problem, get it into debates, mention the universioty connection, etc.......

[underpants]

99. ✅

[treestar]

96. lol yes and lyrics to the effect they are

the real Americans, the real America, reverse snobbery on how they are better than city slickers.

[Thomas Hurt]

11. they think they are entitled to a great job and success while...

they stayed in a rural America where there may not be those good jobs...

after they failed to make an effort to make the best of their education

after they hold higher education in contempt and refuse to try to get retrained or a better degree

after they resent the things that they fear, humans have things they fear, some can get past those things to greater opportunity

after fear the other of a language they don't understand, different skin color or big city arrogance

after fear new people who come to their communities with new businesses and opportunities.

[Skidmore]

59. Where do you live

that you have such contempt for rural Americans and can paint in such broad strokes? Just curious. There are people in urban and suburban people who easily fit any or multiple of those descriptions.

[Thomas Hurt]

62. I grew up in a small town in Colorado. I lived with them, the good and the bad.

and yes there are suburban people who fit that the description but this wasn't a thread about suburban people.

I grew up with the bigots, good folks, poor folks, very few rich folks.

I grew up with farmers and ranchers, and many of them my classmates who took over their family ranches and farms and make them work.

I grew around a hole constitutionalists and sovereigns. They filed false liens against the cops, the judges, and anyone who called them on their extremism. They filed scam lawsuits to try to milk people for money. The local junkyard owner was one who refused to pay his taxes, refused to clean up his junkyard. I grew up with birchers, family acquaintances actually. My town was full of far right attitudes, but of course not all of them are the same.

One of my HS classmates is a Trumper, he posts right wing drivel on FB about god and the bible and AFAIK he never read the Bible, never read much of anything, never set foot in a church. He can not spell and has zero curiosity. He is however a great mechanic. Two marriages failed, and yet he manned up and raised his two kids as a single dad.

My family was lower middle class. I knew I wanted out and got out. I have been extraordinarily lucky and blessed with my health and my education and my employment. I have moved 4 times to take jobs. Each time my salary and jobs improved.

Rural people choose to stay and they choose to be entitled.

[Maraya1969]

13. I have sent links to the articles about how CEO's have such a higher incidence of psychopathology

than the average citizen. I don't know if it works at all but it maybe gives them something to think about.

The last I read there is a 4 fold increase between an average person and a CEO. That is nothing to sneeze about.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

77. This should be it's own thread

[Maraya1969]

80. OK done. But I believe it has been said before. It is good information to be reminded of though

[keithbvadu2]

18. NY yankee Trump calls a large part of his base 'dumb Southerners' and they still love him.

NY yankee Trump calls a large part of his base 'dumb Southerners' and they still love him.

They brag that 'He tells it like it is.'

[guillaumeb]

21. Recommended.

Racism, coupled with a general lack of information, and part of that lack arises because in the US, what is called "news" is actually a business and the business is owned by the right.

[NRaleighLiberal]

22. willful ignorance is a tragic, destructive thing

[Maribelle]

23. One key point in this piece is how he uses "allegations of corruption against him" ...

giving me a clear indication that it is tainted.

Just recently trump had to pay two million in fines for the bilking of his fake charitable fund, adding to a tall stack of court findings against his corruptions and frauds.

None of Trump's corruption can be viewed as "allegations" as the writer of the piece tries to claim. He is guilty of corruption. And beyond this, he is totally immoral.

Soft pedaling the motives of Trump voters is sickening. Trump and his gang of thugs were extremely successful at selling the hate which his voters devoured. Add to this the masked and dark vote corruption perpetrate by this same evil, and you end up with the worst president ever.

Trump voters have been brain washed. They remain hoodwinked idiots grappling with various reasons to try to explain away the state of their brain. But still, if Trump is reelected it will not be because of any American voter. It will be because of the continued corruption of the vote by Trump and his gang of thugs.

[LakeArenal]

24. As I think the attitude is bs....

I think the article is correct from my experience 35 years in a rural county who claimed for fame only one stop light in the county.( And they really fought against the one they have)

It’s the second least populated county and has no industry. Farmers, Christmas tree farms, bars and churches. I can still show you a “Hillary for Prison” signs around and I’m pretty sure you could buy a T-shirt that says the same.

They hate when a group of women laugh loudly in public. They blame the victims or worse celebrate the aggressors.

As time goes on Karma brings you friends who are liberal. But few will put up yard signs or especially political car stickers. Keying a car is a very real concern.

These folks are out there. Not all virulent but all think trump is grrreat. They claim the great economy when their personal situation hasn’t improved at all.

Progressives are clustered around the more enlightened college or university cities.

Even farmers suffering from tariffs and low prices don’t blame trump.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

26. I want to add to my comment, but so many people agree with it that I don't want to edit it,

so I’ll post it here. People in big cities are racist, too. We live in a white supremacy and it takes a lot of hard work for white people to dismantle the racism of their own perspective, much less the systems and institutions of our society. But racism definitely drives a lot of the conservative vote.

[Joinfortmill]

27. It's a serious problem

with no easy solutions.

[Skittles]

29. the solution is

to get out the vote

there are more of us than there are people who think a fascist pussy grabbing con man is their savior

[JDC]

28. "He's practically a hometown success story." So they are stupid. I get it now.

[Grasswire2]

32. yes, I heard two people on a city bus go on and on about how they wanted to be like Trump.

They compared him to a Rockefeller (although I had to provide the name Rockefeller, they couldn't come up with it). Takes whatever he wants. The boss.

[Grasswire2]

30. I propose required national service at age 18 in a community unlike your own.

Getting young people away from their own culture for six months or a year would be HIGHLY beneficial to our democracy.

Second, place tighter restrictions on home schooling and charter schools. Emphasize public school learning. Eliminate tax advantages.

Of course doing something about hate radio would also be positive.

[Squinch]

33. Oh, God. This again. We aren't allowed to say that people voted for Trump because they are

racist idiots, but then we are asked to understand rural America and the fact that they voted for Trump because they are racist idiots.

I personally don't believe that all rural America is made up of racist idiots.

Time to quit wondering what motivates the racist idiots. We know what motivates them. Racism and idiocy. Time to leave the racist idiots behind and GET OUT THE DEMOCRATIC VOTE. In urban AND rural America.

[cannabis_flower]

57. Of course not.

Some are just idiots.

[DBoon]

104. If we can get just 10% more white rural voters on our side

You will see change.

[Kaleva]

35. If true, then rural areas and small towns dominated by minorites would love Trump

While rural America accounts for just 20% of the population of the US, almost 80% of rural America is white.

[treestar]

97. There are some towns

one a "Hazleton" I think, Pennsylvania, that were anti-hispanic and xenophobic but then eventually, the majority was Hispanic. Interesting results occurred.

[Evolve Dammit]

39. You nailed it.

The racist resentment is vast, and a growing body of research has found that support for Trump is fueled almost entirely by hatred of out-groups: In 2016, the strongest predictors of Trump support were bigotry and lack of education.
"I love the un-educated" DJT

[Boomer]

45. I have family in rural America

We're no longer in communication because I realized there's just too big a gulf between their lives and mine. I'm liberal, atheist, gay, college-educated, and part Hispanic (not that side of the family). They don't approve of "my lifestyle" and from some of the racist "jokes" they sent my way over the years, it's obvious they don't approve of my mixed heritage either.

My nieces and nephews (who are actually older than I am) have high-school educations and low-skilled jobs. They're Evangelicals and they vote Trump. They rail that we need God in the classroom, and while Obama was president they wanted a Christian in the White House.

What I can see, that they can't, is how little they understand about the world around them. It's not their fault that they were raised in poverty, but it's an obstacle that has doomed them long beyond childhood. They don't grasp the full extent of what they've missed. It's more than just material goods like a decent income and a house instead of a trailer. It's an awareness and understanding of how the world outside their community works. It leaves them unable to accurately assess the validity of competing streams of information, what is credible and what is not credible. And there's the resentment against those -- like me -- who have a better life and appear to have turned our backs on their values.

So yes, the OP has nailed it. Even without racism in the mix, there's such a strong tribalism at work. I'm an Outsider even to blood relatives, because I don't fit into their view of who people should be. I'm the Other.

[Docreed2003]

65. +1

[renate]

103. you brought a depth of understanding to their way of thinking that I really appreciate

I feel a little more sympathy and a little less contempt for them now. It’s not just a simple matter of raising their heads and switching from Fox to NBC occasionally, it’s also that, if they did, many of them have never been exposed to a context from which to assess and process that new information.

Maybe it’s a little like North Koreans who have never heard anything other than that Kim hit 18 holes in one in his first golf game ever and never poops. Logic should be enough for them to be persuaded otherwise, but for many, it wouldn’t be.

[Boomer]

108. It's difficult to get in the mindset of people who don't know things we take for granted

I was always extremely cognizant that my way in life had been eased by (ironically enough) my Hispanic grandparents, who were well-todo, professional class Mexicans with a solid education and a lifetime of travel across Mexico, Canada and the U.S. They paid for my college education, among other financial support for my mother. In contrast, my half-sister, my father's daughter, was raised by Texas rednecks and worked in a factory all her life. She was widowed early, with three kids, and those deprivations easily explain why her children are so drawn to the prosperity Gospel that I absolutely loathe.

On the few visits I had with my sister and her children, I tried my best not to draw attention to myself, but it was impossible to erase who I was. They were all too aware of my accomplishments because my father (their grandfather) would brag about them (god, that made me cringe). I also had to really watch my facial reactions, because it seemed like every other minute their casual conversation would reveal gaping holes in their worldview. They knew I lived in New York City, but they got confused because New York was also a state, wasn't it? They knew I had published a book, so I suspect they thought I was rich; that most writers make very little money at all would have surprised them. They made no distinction between the pop culture book I wrote and a great American novel -- to them they were all the same thing.

So much knowledge that I took for granted as just the basics of living in a modern, industrialized society, they didn't have. On an individual level, it wasn't going to make their lives any better; on a collective level, however, we're all the worse for their poverty of mind.

[renate]

111. I loved your post--thank you so much!

What a useful insight it was into what a difference an education and varied life experience makes.

I do have that same mixture in my own family background but somehow I never really grokked why a person’s past experience could have such a huge and otherwise inexplicable effect on how they vote (against their own interests). The conservatives among them are good people and I love them, so it was simply confusing to me how they could vote the way they do. Thanks for helping me understand!

[certainot]

46. the racism, ignorance, and alt reality are caused by dems and liberals ignoring talk radio

whatever happens, those towns are getting the talk radio/limbaugh-driven spin - that's the primary buzz - 30 fucking years of it with fox providing the visual icing.

the racism and lies are pounded out there all day long with NO challenge or correction - the same shit repeated all fucking day onb 1500 radio station getting fed by putin now too

while dems and liberal leaders living in cities blame symptoms like fox and racism and money in politics, and the only response to aa 20-1 monopoly is it's just free speech and market demand. bullshit. they don't even poll for it.

40 states with 80 senators getting where there are no free easy alternatives while driving, working or doing chores

[Kaleva]

49. Oddly, hate radio has little impact on minorities in rural areas.

[Mariana]

93. I can't imagine why you think that's odd.

Would you listen to a radio show host who regularly blames *you* for all the problems in the country? Wouldn't you turn that shit off?

[Kaleva]

105. I disagree

Hate radio spends much of it's time attacking white liberals. All Hillary All the Time was common just a few years ago. Now the targets are people like Pelosi, Schumer, Warren, Biden, Bernie and other white folks.

[brutus smith]

48. And don't forget

The family tree of a lot of these people is pretty straight, few branches.

[Bayard]

51. What's that supposed to mean?

[AncientGeezer]

64. That we from rural areas are inbreds...not even trying to disguise it.

[brutus smith]

100. Most but not all

I live in a rural area in NW Ohio, where the "home growns" are all related to each other. Just calling them as I see them.

[AncientGeezer]

109. Being related in no way equates to what you insinuated..you KNOW what that was..

Don't try to blow smoke up my ass and claim it's cool breeze.
There was no ambiguity in your post....

For the impending jury....this is the hateful post....

"48. And don't forget
The family tree of a lot of these people is pretty straight, few branches."

[brutus smith]

113. My wife and I don't have any of the same relatives.

Neither do most people out of the rural setting. The only hate I see is coming from you. I'm stating fact,so don't tell me how to see things.

[onecaliberal]

50. I know everything I need to about the soulless vile fake Christian Right.

[totodeinhere]

56. This constant bashing of rural America has got to stop.

Let me tell you something. We are just as smart as you are. The only difference is we don't go around with our noses up in the air.

But if you are interested in getting more of our votes let me suggest that you champion robust affordable rural broadband available to all. Most of our candidates such as Bernie do favor that but they need to be more visible and forceful on the topic.

[AncientGeezer]

63. Thank you..

[treestar]

95. when will they quit city bashing?

calling people "elite" like it's a bad thing to have an education?

And use their greater political power over the federal government to benefit the entire country, not just them?

[AncientGeezer]

110. I live in (always have) a rural area...and have a Degree...my family also

Being in a City doesn't make you smarter or more educated.....that's not hard to prove.
In My family... in rural upstate NY...I have a Lawyer sister, an RN brother, I have a degree ...
"...like it's a bad thing to have an education?...Who claims that...you MUST have a source for that silliness....right?

[Mariana]

112. "This constant bashing of rural America has got to stop."

"The only difference is we don't go around with our noses up in the air."

Engaging in a bit of hypocrisy? The bashing has got to stop, except for your bashing?

[MrScorpio]

58. White mediocrity will be the death of America.

[Bayard]

68. The difference in my younger brother and I.....

We moved from Louisville to a small town in Indiana when I was entering high school. He is nine years younger than me.

This was a very close-knit, white, rural community. It was a big deal when a McDonald's finally opened. My best friend was another outsider like me. We learned that, along with other quaint local history, three black men had been hung in the town square in the earlier part of the century. Racism still had a tight grip on the town. When my friend's family brought in an exchange student from Brazil, she was viewed as exotic and highly interesting. She was actually quite popular, I think because she represented the great Unknown. Most people never moved away, and lived fairly close to the rest of their family.

I couldn't wait to get out of there after graduation. I moved to Minneapolis, initially living with my sister who had moved there, and then getting my first apartment. Got laid off after several years, moved back to Louisville, and started college. Got married, and eventually moved to Cincinnati. From there to California.

My little brother stayed in southern Indiana. I'm a liberal Democrat. He's a conservative Rethuglican. I attribute it to him never going anywhere else, his in-laws, and his work environment. No interest in higher education, but he's pretty damn smart. He has many redeeming qualities and I love him to pieces. He's been there for me though thick and very thin. We are family, but don't get us started on politics.

Is it genetic or environment? Our mom was a Dem, who loved Hillary Clinton. She would have been thrilled if she'd lived long enough to see her run for president. Its definitely an environmental issue. People who are never exposed to anything beyond their comfort zone, and don't want to be.

Its not a Southern or Midwest thing either. I unknowingly moved into a snake's nest when I moved to Calif. We were up in the mountains on a small farm that we loved. But the neighbors hated us from Day 1, and did their best to make our lives miserable. Same mind-set--we were outsiders (rich snobs, just because we worked hard at improving our property). We moved to the boonies for peace and quiet, basically just wanting to be left alone. It also made us worthy of suspicion, even though we were friendly. Since the contractor we often used was Hispanic, as was all of his workers, that made them irate. Same thing again, never been anywhere else, and no interest, or outright hatred, in anything different.

I think a major portion of the population is incurious. They deeply resent any change of status quo. It's incomprehensible to consider other religions or politics other than their parents', and their parents' before them. I think it will only come from expanding their children's horizons. Get them while they're young. Exposing them to other ideas. My brother's daughter is a liberal Democrat, who traveled around a good bit with a great job with a software company, received her Masters degree in Psychology, and has now moved to Germany with her new military husband. Her younger brother stayed home, and doesn't seem to be going much of anywhere.

Nature or nurture?

[Duppers]

79. Definitely nurture.

More later.

[leanforward]

75. This is one of the best threads.

My folks were from southern missouri. The difference for me was my military dad. Military families move a lot and I connected with the comments above with regards to living in those rural areas.

I have returned to the area periodically through the years. My living experience stretches from France to Seattle with a detail to RVN. Life experiences are an education and when you return to the hometown what difference. You experience the life in the area and look around and then realize things sure have changed.

One of the things mentioned above/or somewhere, is the lack of critical thinking. In our 2016 elections, something I noted was the lack of rural outreach. Mrs Clinton and the DNC did not have a ground game that was inclusive of rural areas.

I have seen, heard, and read about some of the history of the area that dates back to the turn of the century. I experienced attitudes on my returns that I found "hard headed". You can return to your old home, but you can never go back once you've experience life, formalized your education, and helped other people without regards to culture/race.

Let me close with, you don't separate children from their parents.

[stonecutter357]

78. if you vote for a racist pig you are a racist pig ......

[Tactical Peek]

82. Counterpoint:

. . . so to speak

As a child on the farm
I was warned of the wiles of the city
Of that demon disguised
As the dirt in the skies of the city

Well they say the proximity warps their minds
Until they're shooting one another just pass to the time
And we live it appeared
Both in spite and in fear of the city

I was constantly told
How our lives were controlled by the city
How they keep us in debt
With the trends that they set it's a pity

How the beautiful people in the magazines
Got the normal ones living beyond their means
And the things that they said
Made me go in my head to the city

When I finally came
There's some things still the same in the city
You're still under the thumb
Of the rich and the young and the pretty

Well they weren’t much different than we might act
If there was that many of us that closely packed
It’s an ancient idea
But it struck me so clear in the city

[NCLefty]

83. "To them, he's practically a hometown success story." -Inherited millions, not from rural area. But

SURE.

[JonLP24]

85. I hate it when people unfriend someone telling the truth

[roamer65]

87. A report from rural agricultural MI.

The tariffs are starting to bite. Many farmers will soon be filing for bankruptcy. Concerns there are that the agricultural land bubble is about to pop.

No sympathy from me.

[TheRealNorth]

107. Sounds like a grand business opportunity for the Wall Street hedge funds

Buy up the land on the cheap, and the farmers can work it as tennants. You know, because freedom and free markets.

[UpInArms]

92. I think a part of it is tied to

Religiosity.

These little town preachers say stupid things, like “tRump is on a mission from gawd” ...

And these folks just are too brainwashed to recognize their lies.

[Mariana]

94. This is absolutely true.

The majority of Christian voters, overall, cast their ballots for Trump in 2016. Among white Evangelicals, it was 81%. There's little evidence that the level of support for him among Christians in general, and Evangelicals in particular, has changed much. I think most of them will enthusiastically vote for him again in 2016, if given the chance.

[treestar]

98. There are plenty of suburban admirers too

they may not be proportionate, but white suburbs are as good a place as any to find Trumpeters.

[captain queeg]

101. Lots of truth but the US population is by far urban nowadays

[Garrett78]

118. Much can and should be done for rural America without futilely...

...trying to persuade rural white Americans to vote a certain way. Over time, such moves could produce changes that we won't bring about through argumentation. This Brookings piece is worth reading: https://www.brookings.edu/research/why-rural-america-needs-cities/.