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.
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
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.
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
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.
“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.
I’m always amazed that a bunch of redneck, Southern, city haters decided that a rich, Manhattan developer was one of them
Don’t be. They’re rubes. Dumber than dogshit. Just pawns in a game.
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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)
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.
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.
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It’s like they’ve never seen a Pace Picante Sauce commercial before.
Man that unlocked a memory from my youth…
…get a rope
Get fucked. These people are products of poverty and the system that is designed to fail them.
This is just Democrat/Liberal PMC propaganda to help them feel better about their abandonment of the working class people of America for the benefit of their donor class.
Then they have a shocked Pikachu face when the people they left to stagnate and rot, turn out to be the shitty products of their environment aka the neoliberal hellscape of modern day America.
And now that they are shitty people, we can just forget all about how we got here, and put all the blame on them.
I fully agree with you here that we’re not having a conversation about what produces these people. I have parents that are quite terrible people, but I can see what made them that way. They’ve watched their savings and pensions evaporate and their job opportunities dwindle. They feel strongly that the government doesn’t support their interests and share the feeling that most Americans have that the system isn’t working. They don’t feel represented.
Supporting Trump and other ridiculous conservative positions is their way of lashing out. It’s not a productive response, but I feel that this disenfranchisement is a major driver that creates these people. They are Americans too, and we should be asking what we can do to build unity and improve America for everyone.
Yes, they are still responsible for their actions. However, I think that it’s equally bad to ignore the factors that are producing these people in mass. I prefer to view these people as misinformed children who rather hurt others than fix problems.
Supporting Trump and other ridiculous conservative positions is their way of lashing out.
Worshipping the personification of the system that fucked them over is the stupidest reaction possible.
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loves gods and guns
Ok, I was well aware of the gun fetishism, but I gotta say that the polytheism is very surprising!
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.
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.
