Replies to post #315466 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[fuagf]

No doubt almost all would agree the GDP tax redistribution situation is irrefutable. Yes, it's the same in every country with any degree of wealth redistribution. As to the separatists, guessing they will pretty well remain a vocal minority, which is not to even suggest the rural city divide isn't a real issue, or one to be ignored. There wouldn't be much new in here for many here.

"I'm of a joking mind to call the bluff of these 'rural separationists'. Virtually every upper Midwest, Ne and west coast State has the same divide"

Thursday, Oct 22, 2015, 9:45 am

Why the Left Isn’t Talking About Rural American Poverty

By Lauren Kaori Gurley

[...to end...]

The 2016 election

Though the left has all but cornered the subject of poverty and its myriad dimensions, the fact that rural Americans tend to espouse conservative positions on social issues like abortion and gay rights does not make the liberal media or Democratic candidates any more sympathetic to rural American poverty. And if the 2008 Presidential Election is any indicator, poor rural Americans, especially whites, feel increasingly at odds with liberal politics and liberal candidates .. http://legalruralism.blogspot.com/2008/12/does-rurality-help-explain-arkansass.html .

“I think the assumption is that rural white voters are racist and illiberal and intolerant,” says Pruitt. “And so there are all sorts of incentives to distance ourselves—for the Democratic presidential candidates to distances themselves—from rural whites. I think that most rural white voters are pretty alienated from politics generally, and the Democratic Party in particular.”

In the upcoming presidential elections, both Pruitt and Lobao don’t see presidential candidates Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton making much of an effort to rally rural voters. “Does either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, as the leading candidate, care very much about white rural voters? I would say no,” Pruitt said. “They’re going to talk the talk, but, by and large, with the number of voters you’re talking about, it’s not necessary for a wining equation.”

It should be noted that Clinton does list “Rural Communities .. https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/rural-communities/ ” as one of the 24 issues on her campaign website. And in the recent Democratic debate, Sanders attempted to appeal to rural voters in his position on gun control, saying, “I come from a rural state, and the views on gun control in rural states are different than in urban states, whether we like it or not .. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/13/the-oct-13-democratic-debate-who-said-what-and-what-it-means/ .” Of course, the few minutes spent on gun control were the only ones in which rural America came up throughout the two-and-a-half hour debate.

Yet the left and working class rural Americans have many reasons to forge a stronger relationship—specifically in challenging the authority of corporate America and growing the bargaining power of workers. Lobao, clearly frustrated, says rural sociologists have spent a lot of time thinking about how the left could appeal to rural Americans and often find themselves mired in “platitudes.”

“The one thing that we could stress in terms of social values is the value of building community,” she said. “ ‘Do you like your community? Do you want to build it? Well why can’t we?’ We can try to emphasize building the community, you know, because people identify with their community whether they’re Republican or Democrat."

https://inthesetimes.com/rural-america/entry/18526/why-the-left-isnt-talking-about-rural-american-poverty