General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: We should dispel one big myth about Trump's base. [View all]BumRushDaShow
(128,865 posts)and I think it really is a "cultural" thing. Many multiple generations who lived and chose to stay in rural areas learned certain ways to "do for self" (for self-preservation purposes), so their entire "world-view" is quite different from urban and suburban-dwellers.
There are many "trade-offs" that they choose to accept that tend to strengthen that world view, but those trade-offs can be lethal when forced on others... And as we are now seeing with what started as a "meth crisis" that has morphed into an "opioid crisis", their ability to cope in that rural and abandoned company town environment, has been breached.
The old adage - "birds of a feather flock together" fits here because those who couldn't take anymore made the extra effort to leave.