The Problems Of Rural Christian White Americans

[TSwizzle]

Putin will see to Trump'a victory next election.

LMFAO.

That and those pesky white, inbred, sister fucking, hillbilly xtians !!

On the floor.

 

[Elixir]

Putin will see to Trump'a victory next election.

Probably right, assuming that Dem turnout doesn't double or nearly so. Then again, I'm not certain that Uncle V has truly made up his mind who will win next cycle. A puppet that self-immolates might be worse than no puppet at all.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

I think it was more about America being sick of establishment insiders, so they lost to an outside radical, giving a big middle finger to the insiders. That coupled with the TV reality drama and hilarity that was Trump. A lot more people got off on Trump as a fuck you to the establishment and corrupt political system that we give credit for. And few if any of them expected him to actually win. I don't think even he expected to win.

It was also about Obama failing to deliver on his promises and people who had voted for him staying home or voting against his successor. The fact that so many voted for Obama and then for Trump really undermines the whole "its just about racism" rhetoric we often hear about Trump being elected.

Another big part of it was the constant pushing of identity politics. We kept hearing about the "black vote", the "latino vote", etc. Well... keep pushing identity politics and you are going to galvanize more and more white people to see themselves as first and foremost that and to push back against being told how horrible white males are. Push for identity politics, and you push the white male to vote for white male interests and pick Trump as a cheerleader when before he may have been more concerned with other things.

And the big question is will Democrats learn from what happened or will they continue to push forward with "super delegates", massive corporate contributions to campaigns, a candidate with speeches for profit to wall street, etc. And the other question is will Trump mess up on a grand enough scale for people to want the corrupt insider system (instead of the corrupt single individual and his ego') back.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

I think it was more about America being sick of establishment insiders, so they lost to an outside radical, giving a big middle finger to the middle class. That coupled with the TV reality drama and hilarity that was Trump. A lot more people got off on Trump as a fuck you to the establishment and corrupt political system that we give credit for. And few if any of them expected him to actually win. I don't think even he expected to win.

It was also about Obama failing to deliver on his promises and people who had voted for him staying home or voting against his successor. The fact that so many voted for Obama and then for Trump really undermines the whole "its just about racism" rhetoric we often hear about Trump being elected.

Another big part of it was the constant pushing of identity politics. We kept hearing about the "black vote", the "latino vote", etc. Well... keep pushing identity politics and you are going to galvanize more and more white people to see themselves as first and foremost that and to push back against being told how horrible white males are. Push for identity politics, and you push the white male to vote for white male interests and pick Trump as a cheerleader when before he may have been more concerned with other things.

And the big question is will Democrats learn from what happened or will they continue to push forward with "super delegates", massive corporate contributions to campaigns, a candidate with speeches for profit to wall street, etc. And the other question is will Trump mess up on a grand enough scale for people to want the corrupt insider system (instead of the corrupt single individual and his ego') back.

I have a tendency to agree with you, but on the other hand the very middle of the road, corporatist Democrats have really dropped the ball as a political party.

 

[Toni]

An insider explains how rural Christian white America has a dark and terrifying underbelly

"As the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides: “Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.”

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

It is a problem.

I live in a fairly rural are of the Great MidWest. I grew up in a different rural part of the Great Midwest, but I lived for a number of years in Big City East Coast and then in Big Midwestern City for a bunch more.

YES city folk DO look down on small town, rural areas when they aren't busy ignoring them or thinking: why don't you just move to the city like real people.

It's an issue. It's a BIG issue.

I don't remember where you are living or where you have lived.

Rural/small town/midwestern flyover country DOES understand it's problems and it's not a lack of Starbucks.

Rural areas and small towns deal with poverty, lack of infrastructure, being passed over for improvements to infrastructure in favor of big city projects, lack of employment opportunities, needing to spend an inordinate amount of school budgets on transportation, loss of access to good health care and a lot more but still get to deal with all the problems associated with drugs (including gangs, btw), illegal firearms, pollution, and yes, immigrants who are re-settling in the area but the areas don't have sufficient resources to support the families in need who have lived there for a generation or three and aren't equipped (without resources) to provide a good welcoming spot to refugees and immigrants whose lack of English skills adds a not -insignificant burden on the strapped for cash school systems and can cause some real cultural clashes. But darn it, we do try mighty hard. Often through churches and local community groups--which means: we pay for it ourselves.

We send our kids off to college, knowing they probably won't come back because the jobs are not here. Neither are doctors, hospitals or educational opportunities. Or respect.

 

[humbleman]

Mr. Donald Trump won the elections because in the US rural areas cows don't need to show an ID to vote....

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

An insider explains how rural Christian white America has a dark and terrifying underbelly

"As the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides: “Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.”

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

It is a problem.

I live in a fairly rural are of the Great MidWest. I grew up in a different rural part of the Great Midwest, but I lived for a number of years in Big City East Coast and then in Big Midwestern City for a bunch more.

YES city folk DO look down on small town, rural areas when they aren't busy ignoring them or thinking: why don't you just move to the city like real people.

It's an issue. It's a BIG issue.

I don't remember where you are living or where you have lived.

Rural/small town/midwestern flyover country DOES understand it's problems and it's not a lack of Starbucks.

Rural areas and small towns deal with poverty, lack of infrastructure, being passed over for improvements to infrastructure in favor of big city projects, lack of employment opportunities, needing to spend an inordinate amount of school budgets on transportation, loss of access to good health care and a lot more but still get to deal with all the problems associated with drugs (including gangs, btw), illegal firearms, pollution, and yes, immigrants who are re-settling in the area but the areas don't have sufficient resources to support the families in need who have lived there for a generation or three and aren't equipped (without resources) to provide a good welcoming spot to refugees and immigrants whose lack of English skills adds a not -insignificant burden on the strapped for cash school systems and can cause some real cultural clashes. But darn it, we do try mighty hard. Often through churches and local community groups--which means: we pay for it ourselves.

We send our kids off to college, knowing they probably won't come back because the jobs are not here. Neither are doctors, hospitals or educational opportunities. Or respect.

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

 

[Rhea]

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

I kinda gotta agree with Joedad here. I live in the reddest of red, on a dirt road with one house per half mile in a town with no traffic lights. Their concern for poverty does not translate into a desire for eduction. And the increase in confederte flags in my northern county belie any claim of seeking equality. They are simply of the belief that the only way to get ahead is to step on someone’s neck. And when someone omeone white and rich steps on theirs, they smile and say, “I’m gonna be like that some day!”

 

[TSwizzle]

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

 

[TV and credit cards]

The article was good for calling out the problem, even to the point of being insulting. Was that to be their solution? I sure didn't read any other in that piece. I too have spent much time in rural America. More than just live in it, I love to travel through it. More than seeing a confederate flag and projecting it onto the entire community. More than seeing Trump signs and doing the same. The most common thing I do see that I most definitely can project onto the entire community is a long since shuttered place of employment.

But that was a generation or more ago. The major source of employment vanished and there they were, homeowners of houses they had little chance of selling even if they were to take a significant loss. They're stuck. So they made due. And they watched life pass by on TV another world away in the big cities. What did they see?

They've had children now, born into rural poverty. These children have grown up listening to mom and dad complain. They are raised into a very different community than the one their parents grew up in. There is no money flowing in their town. They're bound and determined to do something about it. They're not going to live this life. Wait. Is this where we cue the story of junior going off to college? Well, maybe, for a few. But more than likely not. See, it works like this: Two people that are, um, let's call them not college material do not get together and make a baby who is college material. So the offspring of these once blue collar workers are the town's idle hands. They may have had high hopes in high school but in the few years after, reality set in. They are their parents minus the blue collar paycheck.
By the way, high school completion rates are up in rural America and college completion rates are down.

These people are no different than the rest of us. When life doesn't go right, they look outward for fault. Look for someone to blame. Bottom line is, there are no jobs for these people. None that pay a living wage. This problem has bled into the suburbs. But at least there are enough crappy jobs to go around in the burbs. In these rural towns, there aren't even that.

So, I hear Stockton, CA is going to experiment with UBI. $500 a month for a year for what amounts to a handful of residents bankrolled by some wealthy folk with, hold on to your hats, one million dollars! Cue the Austin Powers scene. No one whispered into their ear, I guess. So, the altruistic portion of the 1% believes in UBI. That the 1% should be paying it forward. Thing is, they don't need government to do this. They made need government for full participation but nothing is stopping them from running this program in a number of communities in different demographics. If it works, they can keep it going. But for now, a handful of the very rich managed to scrape together one million for a handful of the poor in Stockton.

In the meantime, the federal government should provide for free college/vocational training and relocation assistance in these rural depressed areas for those who want to take advantage of it.

 

[braces_for_impact]

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

Just out of curiosity, is this your schtick? The troll, lmao. rotf, whining things that has no substance? I try to give people the benefit of the doubt when possible, but you're acting like Nelson from the Simpsons except you're not funny. Or are you like 13? I We have people on this board that I vehemently disagree with often, but at least they use cogent arguments. Save me the trouble of doing a search with your name will you? There's a lad.

 

[Angry Floof]

For anyone who is curious or confused about this topic, please read the free ebook at the link in my signature.

It's a personality, a mentality, an ideology. It's a list of human traits and cognitive tendencies that aggregate into what we call right wing authoritarianism. It's a disease of epidemic proportions in the US. It feeds off of fear and ignorance and ego.

Everyone has the capacity for these traits, but not everyone has the tendency and not everyone exists in an ideological identity bubble that pounds on fear and ignorance and social reinforcements to exacerbate them.

This is a real thing. It's a real problem. It's a real danger. It is not a "both sides" problem.

What to do about it? Fuck if I know. The left has insisted that we respect ideas that are not only not remotely worthy of respect, but which clearly pose a danger to our society when left unchecked and the people who hold them unaccountable.

How do we hold people accountable for what's in our heads? Read the ebook in my signature and read the article in the OP. If you're not getting a clue about the problem now upon us in the US, then you are the problem. It's you being described in the article. Must follow ideological identity group. Must not question authority. Must not trust anyone with even slightly different views. Must be wary of education. Must blame others. Must not under any circumstances engage in self reflection.

If this is you, then congratulations, you are a soldier in an army of suggestible Manchurian candidates and the batshit GOP and religious fundamentalist mouthpieces own you through and through, and they are using you to spread a disease that benefits them and no one else. You're a puppet, you're the problem, and don't get too cozy in your self righteousness. Just because you can't step out of the cave and question anything doesn't mean the rest of us aren't working on a cure for your disease with or without your help.

 

[Rhea]

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

Your posts don’t seem to be related to the thread.

 

[Rhea]

I too have spent much time in rural America. More than just live in it, I love to travel through it. More than seeing a confederate flag and projecting it onto the entire community. More than seeing Trump signs and doing the same. The most common thing I do see that I most definitely can project onto the entire community is a long since shuttered place of employment.

Not sure I understand how traveling through gives more insight than living within?

I mean, yeah I love to travel the back roads, too, but talking to people gives a different picture than just looking at their houses.

One interesting thing that I think about is how many minority people picked up and moved to find work and are now denigrted for living in cities. Well, they followed the work. (And large numbers are moving bck to their grandparents area. Not all, but there is a large enough wave to detect.). But these rural white folks are like, “who’s gonna bring jobs to my doorstep?”

Anyway, I don’t project one confederate flag onto the whole town. I know where the others are, too. And the bumper stickers, and the trump campaign signs that are _still_ up and lovingly tended to remain visible. More than that, I hear the conversations in the cafe, the town hall and the facebook (local people, not unknown trolls).

This isn’t rocket surgery. One can listen to them and gather their main objections. Let’s not sugar coat them. When they tell you who they are, believe them.

 

[TSwizzle]

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

Your posts don’t seem to be related to the thread.

So ? The OP is not related to reality !!

LMFAO !! Best thread ever !! Comedy gold.

Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Crack on !!


Oh my sides !!

 

[Toni]

An insider explains how rural Christian white America has a dark and terrifying underbelly

"As the election of Donald Trump is being sorted out, a common theme keeps cropping up from all sides: “Democrats failed to understand white, working-class, fly-over America.”

Trump supporters are saying this. Progressive pundits are saying this. Talking heads across all forms of the media are saying this. Even some Democratic leaders are saying this. It doesn’t matter how many people say it, it is complete BS. It is an intellectual/linguistic sleight of hand meant to draw attention away from the real problem. The real problem isn’t East Coast elites who don’t understand or care about rural America. The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

It is a problem.

I live in a fairly rural are of the Great MidWest. I grew up in a different rural part of the Great Midwest, but I lived for a number of years in Big City East Coast and then in Big Midwestern City for a bunch more.

YES city folk DO look down on small town, rural areas when they aren't busy ignoring them or thinking: why don't you just move to the city like real people.

It's an issue. It's a BIG issue.

I don't remember where you are living or where you have lived.

Rural/small town/midwestern flyover country DOES understand it's problems and it's not a lack of Starbucks.

Rural areas and small towns deal with poverty, lack of infrastructure, being passed over for improvements to infrastructure in favor of big city projects, lack of employment opportunities, needing to spend an inordinate amount of school budgets on transportation, loss of access to good health care and a lot more but still get to deal with all the problems associated with drugs (including gangs, btw), illegal firearms, pollution, and yes, immigrants who are re-settling in the area but the areas don't have sufficient resources to support the families in need who have lived there for a generation or three and aren't equipped (without resources) to provide a good welcoming spot to refugees and immigrants whose lack of English skills adds a not -insignificant burden on the strapped for cash school systems and can cause some real cultural clashes. But darn it, we do try mighty hard. Often through churches and local community groups--which means: we pay for it ourselves.

We send our kids off to college, knowing they probably won't come back because the jobs are not here. Neither are doctors, hospitals or educational opportunities. Or respect.

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

Bull fucking shit.

Racism and bigotry are no more prevalent in rural areas than in those nice big cities you seem so enamored with.

It's just a hell of a lot easier to see the stick in someone else's eye. Especially when you have your very own brand of stick stuck way deep in your own eyes. And up your ass.

I mean, how on earth do you explain Donald Trump's bigotry and casual racism?

Or this: http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nyc-billionaire-suggests-black-ny-senator-is-worse-than-kkk-2017-8

 

[Toni]

I too have spent much time in rural America. More than just live in it, I love to travel through it. More than seeing a confederate flag and projecting it onto the entire community. More than seeing Trump signs and doing the same. The most common thing I do see that I most definitely can project onto the entire community is a long since shuttered place of employment.

Not sure I understand how traveling through gives more insight than living within?

I mean, yeah I love to travel the back roads, too, but talking to people gives a different picture than just looking at their houses.

One interesting thing that I think about is how many minority people picked up and moved to find work and are now denigrted for living in cities. Well, they followed the work. (And large numbers are moving bck to their grandparents area. Not all, but there is a large enough wave to detect.). But these rural white folks are like, “who’s gonna bring jobs to my doorstep?”

Anyway, I don’t project one confederate flag onto the whole town. I know where the others are, too. And the bumper stickers, and the trump campaign signs that are _still_ up and lovingly tended to remain visible. More than that, I hear the conversations in the cafe, the town hall and the facebook (local people, not unknown trolls).

This isn’t rocket surgery. One can listen to them and gather their main objections. Let’s not sugar coat them. When they tell you who they are, believe them.

Heh. Not hardly.

'Round these parts, we have small towns and cities bending over backwards to keep whatever businesses are in the are. Double or triple that if the business has been around for more than 10 years. Multiply times 10 if it's been around more than 50. Literally will screw over the rest of the area in order to keep the wonderful long time mills or factories in place. And then the 2nd or 3rd generation of the family business decides to retire and the kids don't want it and so, despite all of those concessions, including very paltry wages and benefits, the business closes. And round and round and round she goes. Walmarts? They cannot stick their tongues far enough up Walmart's ass, no matter what heretofore protected wetlands it wants to build on, no matter how many mom and pop stores it takes out of business. No matter how many extra cops are needed to deal with the stuff that goes down in your average Walmart.

Welcome foreigners? Hell, we help them set up festivals, invite them to our churches, let them take tax producing storefronts and turn them into tax free houses of worship and community centers.

People see what they want to see.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

They are going to support whatever candidate hates niggers the most, whether they have great blue collar jobs or not.

The fact is that they can afford to do this because of the success of liberal legislation and big government, two things they hate. The ones I know have government pensions and government health care. They're able to put their indigent parents into homes where Medicaid and the state pick up all the costs. They're not smart people.

Oh, and yes, it's all about Jesus, and that plank in my eye. Too funny.

 

[TSwizzle]

What a gigantic pile of horseshit. Rural white america hates niggers, furriners and mooslims, evolution and higher education. So they like Trump. They like the Klan. That's it. Stop sanctifying their bigotry. And they do it all for Jesus too.

Those soccer moms are just KKK supporting cunts. Waaaaaaaah. They stole the election. waaaaaaah. And the Russians ! Waaaaaah

LMFA !!! On the floor !!

Ordinarily, I'd put you down as as a troll. But you are so sincere.

LAMFAO !!!

They are going to support whatever candidate hates niggers the most, whether they have great blue collar jobs or not.

The fact is that they can afford to do this because of the success of liberal legislation and big government, two things they hate. The ones I know have government pensions and government health care. They're able to put their indigent parents into homes where Medicaid and the state pick up all the costs. They're not smart people.

Oh, and yes, it's all about Jesus, and that plank in my eye. Too funny.

Waaaaahhhh !!!

Some serious butt hurt. Hillary lost, get on with it.

LMFAO !! On the floor !!

Crack on fella !!

 

[ZiprHead]

The OP is not related to reality !!

In what way ??