In the popular imagination of many Americans, particularly those on the left side of the political spectrum, the typical MAGA supporter is a rural resident who hates Black and Brown people, loathes liberals, loves gods and guns, believes in myriad conspiracy theories, has little faith in democracy, and is willing to use violence to achieve their goals, as thousands did on Jan. 6.
According to a new book, White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy, these aren’t hurtful, elitist stereotypes by Acela Corridor denizens and bubble-dwelling liberals… they’re facts.
The authors, Tom Schaller, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Paul Waldman, a former columnist at The Washington Post, persuasively argue that most of the negative stereotypes liberals hold about rural Americans are actually true.
I just love how if you don’t vote Democrat, or you don’t have liberal views, you’re a “threat to democracy.” I swear, if it was up to some of you, we’d be a one party system, with every single American thinking the EXACT same way…
Didn’t actually read the article did ya?
Hint: the article isn’t saying all Republicans are a threat to democracy. It’s saying that those who hold anti-democratic views–e.g. election denialism, supporting returning Trump to power by force, etc–are predominantly rural white Republicans.
Those are just facts. You can either accept those facts or join those folks in denying reality.
We both know the article is basically saying that one party is a threat, and the other can just do whatever they want. It’s been like that forever now… Republicans= bad, Democrats= good.
I’m always amazed that a bunch of redneck, Southern, city haters decided that a rich, Manhattan developer was one of them
It’s like they’ve never seen a Pace Picante Sauce commercial before.
Man that unlocked a memory from my youth…
…get a rope
They simply deny everything you present to them. Facts do not matter. They are literally living in their own imagination and refuse to accept reality. It is time to reopen the mental institutions and throw them back in, along with the ACLU clowns who let them out to begin with.
It is time to reopen the mental institutions and throw them back in, along with the ACLU clowns who let them out to begin with.
My gods y’all say some legitimately evil shit sometimes.
Defending against violent fascists is evil?
I know what side you’re on now.
Defending against violent fascists is evil?
You sound exactly like the rest of the violent fascists you deride as though they are any different from yourself, you tell us. As a reminder, what you said was:
They simply deny everything you present to them. Facts do not matter. They are literally living in their own imagination and refuse to accept reality. It is time to reopen the mental institutions and throw them back in, along with the ACLU clowns who let them out to begin with.
Tell me how that doesn’t sound like a “violent fascist” to you.
Or better yet, don’t. I looked at your post history. Less than a month old, and the vast majority of your comments completely ignore the crimes of the right – you know, the fascists you claim to hate – while pointing out front and center even the tiniest faults of anyone trying to make things right these days.
So tell it to someone else. Your posts sound exactly like the people trying to rile shit up from the right, and to the exact same end.
Don’t be. They’re rubes. Dumber than dogshit. Just pawns in a game.
Pawns, yes. Dumb, stupid as in an inherent trait, no. Just used and discarded by corporate America over the last 70 years or so.
It used to be, in the earlier part of the last century, that you could get as good an education in a small town as in a big city, and a lot of rural folk prided themselves on NOT being dumb hicks. WWI brought them out of the countryside by the scores and raised the expectations for all. These people went off to the wars, went to college on the GI Bill, and even came back to run their farms. This was the norm sixty years ago. This was the life my parents and grandparents lived, on both sides. They were never good at accepting differences in others, but education was HIGHLY valued, and sloth was the greatest failure of character anyone could imagine.
But now, look at corporate America, and especially BigAg, for stripping small towns of everything that made for good living and a pleasant life in rural communities. Walmart came and drove all the small stores out of business. Ace Hardware and others came and drove all the small hardware shops out. McDonalds and Waffle House came and drove all the little diners out of business. Fifty years ago, ALL the individual trades were well represented and thriving in rural areas, because everyone, rich or poor, still needed plumbers and blacksmiths and print shops and seamstresses, and it was difficult to find a town without its own proud newspaper.
All these small enterprises and career options and jobs at every skill level were replaced with what?
Sweet fuck all beyond fear, anger, drugs and debt.
Rural America is a wasteland filled with scared, angry, bitter people because WE, as a country, made it that way.
But they’re no different than the rest of us: give them a shot, decent jobs, decent education, futures to work for and they’re just like everyone else. That, and shut off the goddamn propaganda channels that have taken their righteous and well-earned anger and appropriated even THAT, turning it into emotional nooses for yet another set of rich men to control.
They are the cause of their own downfall and reject any ideas that might help them. They deserve no pity. They’ve earned their place in the intellectual hierarchy. The smart ones all leave for cities with no plans to return.
They are the cause of their own downfall and reject any ideas that might help them. They deserve no pity. They’ve earned their place in the intellectual hierarchy. The smart ones all leave for cities with no plans to return.
Guess that puts you in rural Bumfuck County, Nowhereland for life then, Clent, because even the most stupid among us know that crops don’t grow in cities, herds don’t graze in urban areas, but city folk still really like to eat.
I’m not sure what your point is. Being a farmer doesn’t make one worthy of worship. It also has no bearing on what I said. Most rural people are not farmers.
At least you know you’re among the most stupid, so you’ve got that going for you.
I’m not sure what your point is. Being a farmer doesn’t make one worthy of worship. It also has no bearing on what I said. Most rural people are not farmers.
My point, Clent, is that you have no idea how the world works, or where your food comes from, or even any idea that many rural people (including farmers) are college educated. You have no idea what business sustains rural areas, or what it takes for rural people to get their basic human needs met. You wouldn’t last half a day on a real farm, or anywhere other than your mom’s basement.
Your concern trolling fails to account for the humanity of others, and your all-or-nothing language demonstrates the maturity level of an angry preteen. This is all about you needing an outgroup to look down on and feel better than in comparison to yourself, and has nothing to do with the very real lives of the people you condemn as “stupid.” How old are you, twelve?
Look at this, lol:
They are the cause of their own downfall and reject any ideas that might help them. They deserve no pity. They’ve earned their place in the intellectual hierarchy. The smart ones all leave for cities with no plans to return.
When you call others stupid, Clent, you’re looking in the mirror, because I’ve known many of lesser IQ that had more humanity in their little toes than you’ve ever had in your life. Go back to your video games, angry boy, and let the grownups talk.
You have no idea what I do and do not know.
By your own reasoning as you’ve outlined it, you are the one looking in the mirror here.
You are presuming a whole lot about me here based on very little, which is hilarious and yet sad.
I stand by what I said. Your attempt to disparage me is about you. If you had any interest in proving me wrong, you would be able to do so with facts instead of lashing out at me like a wounded animal.
Hard to give them a decent education when they defund the school systems because ‘muh taxes’ and denigrate their teachers and everything else public Ed ('ceptin the “pride of the town”, the HS football team, because that one QB is gonna git scouted ‘cuz he’ s got a helluva arm)
Rural America is a wasteland filled with scared, angry, bitter people because WE, as a country, made it that way.
Sorry, one more thought. No one ever voted for “let’s impoverish rural america” just like no one ever voted for “let’s make sure teachers can barely afford to live on their salary, while also expecting them to be the primary source of education for literally everyone in the country.” Teachers (and many other groups) have a lot of righteous anger too. I don’t see them doing what maga is doing, and I wouldn’t expect them to get a pass if they did.
While I am more than OK laying much of this at the feet of corporate greed, I’m less so inclined to lay much of it at the feet of average non-rural folks just trying to get to work and feed their families every day. As you say - they’ve got the same requirement to do so as the magas.
I wrote what I wrote because there are a number of people here concern trolling, literally demonizing magas. That’s a right-wing division tactic and does not reflect the reality of the situation.
We as a country did this – but not knowingly. Did anyone outside of government really understand what Citizens United would do, or that the Supreme Court of that time would choose that course? There was a LOT of government dishonesty that led up to that, just like Lee Atwater is personally responsible for much of the hatred and division we are now reaping in society. We may not have voted for the end result, but as a country, we did choose our course, and I’m just as responsible as anyone else of voting age in those days.
But that doesn’t make right-wing voters stupid, or inherently less-than, anyone. Look at that chucklehead who responded to my post with this bullshit:
They are the cause of their own downfall and reject any ideas that might help them. They deserve no pity. They’ve earned their place in the intellectual hierarchy. The smart ones all leave for cities with no plans to return.
That’s right-wing hate dressed up in a “liberal” cause.
In the end, magas are propagandized, and the pressure in their communities to remain so is immense. Yet they are individually just as responsible for their own choices as you are, or I am.
That’s a fair point of view that I can’t argue with!
You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
Our style of government is the largest threat to democracy.
We need to eliminate the electoral college, primaries, the Senate, President restricted to 1 term, perhaps 6 years, term limits for the House, All elections publicly funded, No reason elections cant be conducted via encrypted open source app, where voting can be done remotely and checks in place to ensure the vote has been tallied. No party affiliation on any campaign documents, signs, advertisements, no straight ticket voting.
Voting booths exist for a reason. They are to ensure the privacy of the person voting.
Otherwise all sorts of overbearing people can force others to vote per their direction.
Consider an abusive partner, or a extremist pastor, or a factory manager. In all cases they have power over others, and voting may be one of the few places where individuals can express their choices.
Voting booths are an outdated relic. We live in the most technologically advanced age ever and we should still rely on methods from the 1800s? What would be more convenient than pulling out your phone, wherever you are, being able to pull up details and platform of every candidate, make selections, then cast your ballot? Force people to vote on policies, not parties.
i like the idea of voting by encrypted app as an option, but lots of disenfranchised/disempowered folks can’t rely on that. by which i mean there are homeless folks without phones, and people with abusive families who lack privacy/safety to really utilize it the way we night intend.
According to a recent study 94% of the unhoused have a cell phone.
Rural America is mostly a wasteland. It’s either where people of means deliberately choose to live away from society, or it’s people who are too ignorant, poor and/or drug-addled to have much choice. Neither group is going to be left-leaning… and that’s why when you look at electoral maps, you see all that red.
Pick a highway, any will do, travel along it and tell me what you see. I already know. One little failed town after another. They might have a dive bar or ancient gas station, but most commercial buildings will be long abandoned. If you need anything, you’ll have to find a decent city with a generic walmart, dollar general, mcdonalds, etc. Long gone are the mom-and-pop grocers, general stores, etc.
The irony is these are solid red Republican districts. Cities have major problems too, but they are full of action; plans, projects, hopes of a better future. There is no future for the average rural American.
They are frustrated and angry, as well they should be. Too bad they can’t see the forest through the trees.
As a resident of one of these towns, another issue is that many people who are knowledgeable or capable are simply trapped. Several years ago in the area I live we use to have an economic development council that sponsored some proposals on alternatives to the anchor industry here (coal fired power generation), I shit you not, one of the remarks made by the workshops was a reference to a 2017 WSJ article that stated "rural is the new ‘inner city.’”
Rural areas have, and I’m quoting someone who presented at a workshop “lower economic status, lower education levels, higher wage gap, poorer health, higher rates of teen birth, and greater impacts from the opioid epidemic.”
The largest obstacle facing the trapped knowledgeable and educated people in rural areas is the obscene fucking cost of housing and the double-negative we’re facing on having little equity and cheap housing, where we want to move somewhere desirable and progressive having housing that’s beyond our lifetime earnings potential.
For the ignorant, this feeds into the anger cycle of wanting to just burn the whole thing down, and for the reds they look at every way they can fuck things up for the rest of us as a middle finger back at the country for the squalor they’re stuck with. They’d rather burn the forest down than try to fix anything, because they’re also lazy. Lazy in the sense of not wanting or accepting change. They’ll work hard at what they know, but learning new concepts is pushed against.
That doesn’t make it right, and I agree with you on all counts. Unity would get them a hell of a lot farther than the same tired old Reagan rhetoric they peddle. I’m just extremely fortunate in threading the needle through economic transition and getting to stay at my house without worrying about having to move, and I don’t like the city after having grown up in the Bay Area California. What you said still resonates with me as I can tell you understand it. We have no action plan and no hope because these towns are full of people who would just rather be angry than change.
Yeah I know they’re facts. I spend far too much time as a semi-passing trans woman in rural America. I think a lot of people overestimate the proportions of these people, I’ve met so many thoughtful, kind, and progressive hicks, hillbillies, and other rural sorts.
But the fact is I’ve never seen passive aggressive Bible verses on mailboxes in cities. I’ve never heard an educated urban coworker rant and rave about how blm protesters are funded by George soros. I’ve never seen city folk wear a mask that says “government control device” on it or carry a Bible with them onto a factory floor or put newsmax on the company share point.
And the armed city folk I know are far more likely to be responsible gun owners and not have a couch gun. Jesus fucking shit so many people talk about their fucking couch gun and they always act like it’s reasonable and normal and every gun owner has one instead of the reality that that’s not a safe place to have a gun. They also don’t realize that you shouldn’t advertise owning the only thing that gets more valuable when stolen, especially not by putting a bumper sticker saying one is in the fucking car.
I’m sorry… couch gun??? Like they just shove a gun into the couch cushions? What the hell kind of purpose would that serve? Opening a beer can or turning on the tv? Or are they all just living in constant paranoia of someone kicking their door in and trying to kill them?
I couldn’t tell you. It boggles the mind in fact. This is so normal to these people that no explanation is necessary
The electorial college is a threat to democracy.
But neither political party wants to hand that control over to voters.
We need a critical mass of progressive politicians in office before we can fix the system, which is why they’re everyone else’s biggest political enemy
“mass of progressive politicians” so you want every single person in America to think, act, feel, and vote the same? That doesn’t happen anywhere in the world…well, except communist countries of course.
That’s not what they said. Progressive is just basically rational. Progressives think differently about things all the time. It isn’t really a nailed-down ideology of any sort.
Whereas conservatives are notable for not thinking much about anything at any time. Besides their fears. Having no discernible ideology themselves other than they want what they want. And they need someone to hate and scapegoat.
An liberals are? Why do these articles always attack one side? I live in California, I’m seeing first hand what these extreme liberal views are doing. There’s people literally fighting for the right to allow the homeless to use drugs, shoot up heroin, and shit and piss wherever they want… it’s ridiculous. And don’t get me started on the petty crime that’s being ignored…because apparently, according to liberals, we need to completely revamp our criminal and judicial system because people who steal shit shouldn’t be going to prison… it’s fucking ridiculous.
The funny thing is the electoral college was designed to counter exactly this event. In the case an absolute tyrant is going to get voted in, the electoral college is supposed to be the last chance to challenge it. But with the way the GOP is going, ain’t no one gonna challenge anything.
As they say, the devil will come bearing a cross wrapped in the American flag.
The GOP has shown, and proven, they will use any and all means necessary, including violence, to gain power. This isn’t theoretical anymore.
I’m so tired of my family members and other people that identify as “centralist” saying that both sides are bad.
No…only one side has used violence to overthrow an election. And that side’s political leadership said it was “normal political discourse”.
If both sides are the same, then you should be upset that “both sides” are violent.
That was the story, but the real reason was the existing tyrants didn’t want to be overthrown either.
You have to have a realistic view of what we started out with to understand why 99% of the people in politics don’t want to change it.
At the end of the day, America has never really been a democracy. And the people who can change that just don’t want to.
It’s just easiest to hold onto that power when we think change is just an election away. It’s a lot of elections away, we can’t just win one and go home. It’s a war not a battle.
loves gods and guns
Ok, I was well aware of the gun fetishism, but I gotta say that the polytheism is very surprising!
I think it’s funny that they call themselves monotheistic and then do these verbal gymnasics to keep that true (like calling other deities ‘saints’ or claiming that Jesus is god’s son but also 100% the same entity as god - oh yeah and that holy spirit thing too).
You mean you’re NOT your own dad, and also a disembodied spirit? I thought everyone was!
The most generous interpretation of Christianity is that it’s monotheish. The Doctrine of the Trinity is like crypto: you can’t understand it unless you believe in it.
