General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhy are people in rural areas and small towns so often republican..(not always though)
and I think I finally figured it out.. FEAR.. Fear of their neighbors.. fear of being on the outside of the town or rural area.. fear of even voting other than republican because they now believe that local people who run election areas can actually figure out how they vote and then again , they would be on the outside..
The reason I have come to that conclusion is just talking to people when they come into a larger area like Iowa City from a small town.. In that certain small town Trump is on all the barns.. they even still have a Trump store.. but get them into an area where they feel they can be more themselves, you find they cannot stand what their party is devolving into.
Anything we can do about it?? I honestly don't know.. but I think the very same thing happens in Russia.. in their rural areas..again not everyone can be intimated by fear of being the other .. but many can
vlyons
(10,252 posts)all go to the same church. all their kids go to the same school and play on the same sports teams. all do farms and ranching stuff at the same time. all shop at the only stores. And they gossip like crazy. It's an echo chamber.
I used to live in a rural town population 4.000. The pharmacy, hardware store, mortuary, and convenience store were all run by the same family. Sheriff was somebody's brother. local judge was somebody's relative. Preacher was head of a big extended family. Used car lot and coffee shop owned by the same family.
bucolic_frolic
(42,679 posts)Families live off the land to some extent, from a home business like trades or farming. Their relatives have lived there forever - generations usually. A local population is 300 years of extended family incest - actual and cultural. They go to the same professionals all their lives, as do all their relatives. They buy the same brand of truck from the same dealer. They don't want any of that to change. Outsiders are a disrupter to their mental and physical lives. Social programs are disruptive to their established ways. So yes they want to lock out the world with layers of insulation.
How Orange Stupid ever penetrated their psyche I have no idea. He just wanted to use them, rather than compete with them. And he brought money for campaigns. So they still felt safe.
CrispyQ
(36,234 posts)We need a student exchange program, only instead of international exchanges, make it a rural/urban exchange. City kids spend a semester in the country & country kids spend a semester in the city. For younger kids it could even be 2-3 weeks, maybe twice a year. I base this on a couple of stories by two DUer's who said they were conservative until they started to travel & see how other people lived. IDK. It's just an idea. Try to expose kids before they've had years of conditioning.
c-rational
(2,581 posts)Neema
(1,151 posts)how many Dems were needed in the lowest populated red states to completely flip the state. It wasn't that many. I've never wanted to live in a red state because I don't want to be surrounded by that mindset (and my partner is not white). But man, if Dems could organize a few thousand like-minded people to move to Wyoming, Montana, and the Dakotas, and live near one another for support, you could flip FOUR states pretty easily. The GOP would never again win back the Senate and the House would be way more secure.
dawg
(10,610 posts)Seriously. It isn't all that far from Denver.
130,000 new liberal residents would be enough to flip the whole state.
Runningdawg
(4,496 posts)80% of the people I grew up with in a town of 400 have never left the state of OK. They live in a continual state of fear of the world. Most of them dropped out of school to have a baby or support a baby by age 16. Some even earlier. Growing up, I only knew of ONE person who had been to college. She went for a year before coming back to town to teach Sunday school.
Meadowoak
(5,517 posts)We're asking for democratic ballots than republican ballots. I still think there was hinky with the vote count. As far as I can tell, nobody around here voted for Moscow Mitch.
yellowdogintexas
(22,119 posts)when your voter registration is by party, you can't choose the other party's ballot. In the general, everyone gets the same ballot and there is no choosing.
Just because they are registered as Democrats doesn't mean they will vote that way in the general. They might vote for some downballot Democrats they supported in the primary.
Texans don't register by party so we can cross over if we choose to. Folks think they can help get rid of a particularly odious candidate by doing that. It never works except at the most local level and if the party's voters are highly organized and motivated
Meadowoak
(5,517 posts)I was surprised that so many we're asking for democratic ballots. Pleasantly so.
WhiteTara
(29,676 posts)were used in KY and Maine
Meadowoak
(5,517 posts)WhiteTara
(29,676 posts)same as the old boss.
Same company, new name.
Shermann
(7,360 posts)There was this simmering resentment towards the Big City that I remember. There was this perception that the Big City and their mayor overshadowed the Small Towns and drew all of the state's resources and attention. This created a conflict of interest. And since the Big City and their mayor were Democratic, the Democratic Party couldn't possibly represent the interests of the Small Towns as well. So, the Small Town Republican vote was largely an anti-Big City Democratic vote.
WiVoter
(880 posts)Stargleamer
(1,979 posts)the propaganda is everywhere
Reich wing radio. Thats about the only thing getting broadcast on AM radio. And in some regions, that is all there is, just one or two AM radio stations
Meadowoak
(5,517 posts)All the local cable company offers is FOX. You have to have a satellite dish to get anything other than FOX.
txwhitedove
(3,922 posts)the only clear station was Fox via antennae. Then cable came in, but not everyone even wanted that.
Metaphorical
(1,601 posts)I've lived in small towns before in the Midwest. The culture there is very insular and is usually dominated by those who have a small position of power and who feel threatened whenever a potential destabilizer enters into the equation. The local gossips are usually associates of those in power, a convenient cutout if you will, who have power largely by association and being the maven.
Similar dynamics work in other enclaves. Gated communities have a similar dynamic at work, and not being of the right political party can exclude one from social gatherings, churches, and even school groups for your kids.
BlueGreenLady
(2,823 posts)Many are low information, gullible people who are easily manipulated by fear of others. They have little opportunity to move up and out of the small town mindset and milieu they grew up in. They are people with few options and low curiosity and no empathy for others outside their close family group.
It is very hard if not impossible to compete with Fox Noise Propaganda for their attention.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)PlutosHeart
(1,232 posts)Access to education and also more information is pathetically low and gives in to local right wing news access. Sometimes for free in our mailboxes! Also, to see a person of color in this town is always temporary as they move away.A muslim family used to live in our small city of 7000 and some locals banded together to harass them at their home.They moved for their safety.
When I speak to most people local I am stunned at how little they know.
Tetrachloride
(7,728 posts)Urban areas have more parking lots, arts.
Rural areas might have more nature.
Rural areas have less access to high speed (video quality) internet. Libraries are smaller. Some do not have a normal grocery store anymore, thanks to Walmart.
As for myself, its hard to respect a parking lot.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(23,862 posts)Most folks never experience cultural diversity here. They marinate in the same pot where new ideas are not really discussed. They reflect the same limited world views to each other which helps reinforce the same cultural outlook, generation after generation.
czarjak
(11,195 posts)in2herbs
(2,942 posts)I can't understand why they're not Ds. They're among the first to help out a neighbor which is the exact opposite of being an R nowdays. Is it because they became Rs at a young age (likely because their parents were) and now that they're in their 50+ stage of life still fantasize about the "good old days" when they were Rs growing up?
The articles I read on DU helps me with info to challenge their mind-set but it's just not enough.
Maybe past a certain age (youth) critical thinking is impossible?
mcar
(42,210 posts)But that's been the R message for decades. They always have a new boogeyman for their followers to fear.
Chainfire
(17,310 posts)in the room. Rural areas tend to be more Christian and also less well educated (the two may or may not be connected), however, both are predictors for conservatism. Poor areas are at the end of the line for all services including quality education. The best teachers avoid rural schools so our education system gets a little "inbred." (the same stupid coach that taught my science class in 1968 was still teaching in the same school 2008) and I doubt that he ever learned the difference in nitrogen and hydrogen. (another story) A lot of rural rural residents have spent their entire lives within their small communities, a lot of them live and die on the same piece of land so they don't get out much or see many things. When things start moving in one direction there are no outside forces operating to change it.
I live in the same rural area that I grew up in, however, I left for a very long time to make a living. Many of my high school class of about 30 people never left at all, they just stayed and replaced their fathers and mothers in what ever business or occupation that they were in. Some went to local colleges, most didn't. They are, for the most case, very conservative and openly racist and church going, Jesus and Trump loving folks.
I have lived in more than one major metropolitan area enough to grow sick of people, so late in life I came back "home." I live in a very rural area, in a poor and minority white County in Florida. We vote for Democrats, but you would not realize it driving through. Those of us learn not to display our politics on our sleeves as a matter of safety and so that we can get along with the people we have to deal with. Don't let the Trump signs and Confederate battle flags give you the impression that all country folk are conservative. We are in the minority, be we are out there.
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Of class "I'm not supposed to say Creationism is bullshit but it is."
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)More or less to spell it out.
BlueIdaho
(13,582 posts)And the desperation of rural economies. Drive through any small town. Unless they are a tourist trap, they are turning into ghost towns.
YorkRd
(326 posts)Its harder to hate minorities if you actually are exposed to them living their lives and seeing the similarities humans all have. People in rural communities hardly know any black people, Hispanics or Jews let alone Muslims, Asians, openly LGBT people or even the urban elites.
I used to live next to Marjorie Taylor Greens district and one of the most respected long time school teachers would discourage her students from going to Atlanta because nothing good would become of it, bad things happen there. Its like young white people are indoctrinated with structural racism, they can never know the other, only fear them.
Baitball Blogger
(46,576 posts)Lots we can do about it. But, we're not going to do it.
First step is to recognize the incredible Civil Rights abuses AND property rights abuses that occur in these burbs. Their entire way of life is legally actionable.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216496208
Kaleva
(36,147 posts)Simeon Salus
(1,132 posts)You go to school in Williamsburg, Iowa (pop. 3,346) and you'll see the same hundred people every day. Except for I-80 restaurant and gas station traffic every transaction at the bank, school, church, store, park is with someone you know or have known, mostly white folks. You drive everywhere. Every business is part of national chain. The mayor is a white man. Your tolerance for strangers and the unusual is low, because you're not used to many changes. Folks stay closeted. Little "c" conservatism is a reasonable POV.
Drive a few miles east on I-80 to Iowa City (pop. 74,828) and there are several main streets. Go to college at Iowa University. Almost half the population are students who come in and out every four years or so, mostly white and mostly from Iowa, but some from neighboring states and few internationals. Walk down campus corner and you'll experience hundreds of people you've never met before--every day. Mayor is a non-white man. Your tolerance of strangers is higher because the town relies on those strangers for church members, school teachers, bank tellers, store clerks, park users. It's still Iowa so still conservative, but way more (little "l" liberal than Williamsburg.
Move a few hundred miles to Chicago (pop. 2,746,388) to get a job in your chosen field. Every one of hundreds of neighborhood has their own main street. Lots of ethnic communities (where familiar folks and like-minded strangers create culture together). Lots of internationals. You take transit, but still drive. Daily tolerance of strangers is high because you see vastly more strangers than familiar faces. See thousands of strangers daily. Non-white openly lesbian mayor. It's normal to see a new store clerk, a new church member, new kids in the park. It's Chicago so conservative thought is deep in some communities but largely something you bring in on TV. Real life is liberal.
Get promoted and move a thousand miles east on I-80 to live in Brooklyn (pop. 2,736,074) and work in Manhattan (pop. 1,694,251). Every street is its own community. Almost everybody is a stranger, ethnic, from other states, or an international. Thousands of minor interactions with strangers daily. You sell your truck. Mayor is a non-white ex-cop man. The city is a world market center (where pragmatism usually beats idealism). Small retail businesses still predominate. Conservatism exists, but mostly radiates out of one building, 1211 Seventh Avenue. Everywhere else real life prohibits daily practice of bigotry, hate and intolerance. It's bad for business. The whole city votes liberal.
Comments?
jalan48
(13,798 posts)easily manipulated by sophisticated, right wing news networks that know which buttons to push.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)COVID-19 vaccination coverage with the first dose of the primary vaccination series was lower in rural (58.5%) than in urban counties (75.4%); disparities have increased more than twofold since April 2021. Receipt of booster or additional doses was similarly low in both rural and urban counties. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/71/wr/mm7109a2.htm#:~:text=COVID%2D19%20vaccination%20coverage%20with,both%20rural%20and%20urban%20counties.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)crime and racial/cultural issues of larger cities. They feel safest and happiest surrounded by people who are just like them. As others noted, it's basically white flight--except these are people who didn't really fly, they just stayed in smaller towns and rural areas. They have sorted themselves over the decades, the ones who wanted to leave for the cities have left--and this is the political result.
Simeon Salus
(1,132 posts)But IMHO, all this fear is broadcast from 1211 Ave of the Americas. Home of Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the NY Post.
Meadowoak
(5,517 posts)Is worse here than in Detroit.
Wingus Dingus
(8,049 posts)had a meth lab. After that was shut down and cleaned up, the homeowner rented it to a female sheriff's deputy. One day she came over to our house, knocked on the door, and asked us if we had seen anything suspicious around her house while she was away. She'd had her gun collection stolen. So I know what you mean.
Ocelot II
(115,280 posts)If you live in a large city you will probably see people of different races and nationalities and hear foreign languages spoken every day, and just it's normal, ordinary life. You don't think it's strange or frightening, and you just accept that not everybody looks or speaks like you or that they should. But if your experience is mostly limited to going into town every week and seeing the same people all the time who look just like you and go to your church, and what you think you know about those other people is based on tv shows and Fox "News," you will be fearful and suspicious whenever you visit the Big City, which you have been told for years is full of criminals and depraved foreigners and atheists and child molesters. It's pretty hard to bust that bubble.
Buckeye_Democrat
(14,848 posts)Last edited Sun Mar 20, 2022, 04:58 PM - Edit history (1)
... can't save their rural communities. They cover far too broad of an area to try to help all of them. It's hard enough to help people who are concentrated in the small area of a congested city.
So that leaves rural folks with their "values", and Republicans have tailored their messaging around that instead of policies. Any Democrats who promise to turn an old coal mining town or family-farm community into high-tech meccas are lying, and the rural folks know it. They'd be better off praising the rural folks for supposedly working hard, maintaining cohesive families, being God-fearing, etc. That's what Republicans do, and at least that makes the hillbillies feel better about themselves.
The do-nothing Republicans are more like their familiar church leaders. They might uplift their spirits, but they don't really do anything for them. When's the last time that some rural preacher started a business that gave their communities a bunch of jobs? They prefer to hand out collection plates instead, and maybe organize a bake sale to help buy uniforms for the church baseball team or whatever. But at least uplifting their egos is better than empty promises.
Diablo del sol
(424 posts)Obviously heavily populated area. Am also a Moderator on Nextdoor.
We have some small canyon communities in South OC. Basically full of libertarians, the areas are prone to flooding and fires. The percentage of alerts to population is heavily weighted to these communities. Same posters will literally go from Let's go Brandon, Gov't Sucks!, suburban communities stay the hell out of my business. To, where the hell is the Army Corp of Engineers to fix the washed out bridge, we need Newsom to step the hell up and declare our area in a State of Emergency during fires. I was actually concerned about the safety of one of the female residents when she posted that everyone needs to send thanks to Newsome for quickly responding to a flood situation a couple of months ago. (to my surprise no one went after her post)
Anyway, I think they view themselves as rugged individualists, and can't see the hypocrisy of demanding help when disasters occur. Reason being, imo, racism. They are white people who are entitled, the govt is supporting damn Mexicans in Santa Ana, Vietnamese in Garden Grove, etc.
The other big issue is tribalism. The lady I was afraid would get abused, she was a local. A previous poster from outside the area posted that due to global warming the residence should come up with some alternative solutions. Not a nasty post, just stating facts that dry brush is going to burn and hard soil is going to be prone to flash floods. The locals swarmed and abused the poor guy, can't imagine the direct messages he was getting based on the threats posted.
So, I don't think there is anything we can do about it. They need to fix it or suffer consequences. Just like Russians, just like Republicans, just like everyone. Until they feel the pain directly, outsiders will be blamed.
DashOneBravo
(2,679 posts)Im not being argumentative.
Stubborn or arrogant maybe. As for voting goes, unless youre highly involved in local or state elections. It does not come up work, for example. You wont see managers or supervisors talking or pushing one way or another.
People who live small rural committees are very much the kind that will help you out despite having a Biden sticker on your car.
People who live strung out in individual homes are very self sufficient.
FYI I grew up rural, left for 15 years and then moved back.
JI7
(89,182 posts)but the difference is the population in cities are much more diverse so overall they tend to lean democratic . Because of high numbers of non whites and large numbers of lgbtq, jews and other minorites .
There are of exceptions in places but the large majority is a as described above.