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I've lived in both places and each one absolutely has it's bubble. But to say that rural America is a special case is wrong. I've met prolific travelers who hav

I've lived in both places and each one absolutely has it's bubble. But to say that rural America is a special case is wrong. I've met prolific travelers who have gone up and down each coast but who would never think of visiting the interior--something they are quite proud of. "Real America" is frequently the butt of jokes, and the people there are caricatured or casually dismissed as less important. This is all really unfortunate. US politics won't evolve past a tug-of-war if the sides don't attempt to sincerely understand each other (and that is almost never the case). The worst part of this election for me was seeing how each side would immediately jump to the least generous interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statement made by the other. Since language is rife with ambiguity, that virtually guarantees you see your opponent as consistently wrong, stupid, and evil. If that's what people want to see, that's what they'll see no matter the words. Bubble vision.

woodpanel 10y ago
Agree. I happen to think that a lot of US domestic issues could be solved if Americans would accept the other side of "population-density" as equal before law. For example: The acceptance of Gun Laws are directly correlated to density as density makes dense policing more affordable. How is it so complicated arguing about this, when all you'd need is accepting that different areas should be able to loosen/strengthen gun control, as the populace wishes? How much of that inability to understand each other comes from the fact that media is usually produced in high density areas?
marmaduke 10y ago
> each side would immediately jump to the least generous interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statement made by the other This is the frustrating part; there's no dialog, and no one's motivated to have one because it would deflate the polarization which props up the two party system.
someguydave 10y ago
This mutual ignorance is greatly assisted by 'traitors' like the one who wrote this article. He trashes his kith and kin because it increases his status with the low information coastal bigots. He could promote mutual understanding but he chose not to do so.
snarf21 10y ago
This is all so interesting and it really is solved with better tolerance. But how do you learn tolerance of something you've never seen or experienced? The people who live in big cities don't visit the country either. They have never worked on a farm or in a factory. The output of these things just show up at their stores with no thought of the effort to put them there. I know someone who is pretty racist against blacks... Until his son starting dating a woman with a black child, now not so much. People will always fear or blame those they don't know or understand regardless of whether it is white class rural, illegal immigrants, lgbt, or muslims. The problem is that most people aren't self aware enough to think about their place in the larger world, they only want to live their life and are get scared (and look for someone to blame) when they can't.

woodpanel 10y ago

Agree. I happen to think that a lot of US domestic issues could be solved if Americans would accept the other side of "population-density" as equal before law. For example: The acceptance of Gun Laws are directly correlated to density as density makes dense policing more affordable. How is it so complicated arguing about this, when all you'd need is accepting that different areas should be able to loosen/strengthen gun control, as the populace wishes? How much of that inability to understand each other comes from the fact that media is usually produced in high density areas?

marmaduke 10y ago

> each side would immediately jump to the least generous interpretation of an ambiguous or unclear statement made by the other This is the frustrating part; there's no dialog, and no one's motivated to have one because it would deflate the polarization which props up the two party system.

someguydave 10y ago

This mutual ignorance is greatly assisted by 'traitors' like the one who wrote this article. He trashes his kith and kin because it increases his status with the low information coastal bigots. He could promote mutual understanding but he chose not to do so.

snarf21 10y ago

This is all so interesting and it really is solved with better tolerance. But how do you learn tolerance of something you've never seen or experienced? The people who live in big cities don't visit the country either. They have never worked on a farm or in a factory. The output of these things just show up at their stores with no thought of the effort to put them there. I know someone who is pretty racist against blacks... Until his son starting dating a woman with a black child, now not so much. People will always fear or blame those they don't know or understand regardless of whether it is white class rural, illegal immigrants, lgbt, or muslims. The problem is that most people aren't self aware enough to think about their place in the larger world, they only want to live their life and are get scared (and look for someone to blame) when they can't.