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To summarize your argument, the rural-urban political divide is driven by self-selection and environmental factors, where right-leaning individuals deliberately

To summarize your argument, the rural-urban political divide is driven by self-selection and environmental factors, where right-leaning individuals deliberately choose rural areas to avoid left-wing influences, while urban areas reinforce left-wing views through higher education, workplace policies, and cultural pressure. This is a novel argument, one that I have not seen discussed a lot. If this is the truth then great. But I am worried that it is not true. I am worried that what is really happening is that Billionaires are taking advantage of less educated voters by convincing them to vote against their self interests. They do so by shifting their focus to the "values and cultural issues" of the moment. In the past, it was gay marriage and abortion; today, it's trans kids and DEI. Once these issues dominate the conversation, little attention is paid to the real priorities and actions of these billionaires: Cuts to funds that research cancer (the topic of this thread), cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and other welfare programs, cuts to education, cuts to development assistance to the poorest in the world and so on, all to fund tax cuts for the wealthy. If you're interested in this angle here's a book I can recommend: https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-America/dp/080507774X/ref=sr_1_1 https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Matter-Kansas-Conservatives-Ame...

TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago
If your fear was true, the solution would be simple: the democrats could focus on important issues instead of pushing these (from my point of view, ridiculous and dangerous) cultural issues. Yet they push them vehemently, which caused this response. Why do you think they do that?
- breadwinner 2y ago
  The current democratic leadership is dumb, in my opinion, because they allow attention to be diverted. They should shift towards the center on the "values and cultural issues" in order to neutralize the conservative advantage, then they will be able to do things that the middleclass (and lower) cares about, such as healthcare and health research, education, consumer protections and so on, and make the Billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.
  - TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago
    I am afraid that is not what they learned :/ from what I can tell, they think Kamala ran too far to the right (whatever that means) and lost her base. It seems to me that these values are more important to them than we would rationally think possible. To come back to the previous topic: n=1, but I moved out of a city to escape the bullshit and find some common-sense. I have a master's degree and my wife is an MD. We are not the only ones in our circle that deliberatly moved into a rural area :)
    - breadwinner 2y ago
      How happy are you with the NIH cuts, US withdrawal from Climate Agreement, vaccine sceptic being made secretary of health, US alienating Europe, proposed ethnic cleansing of Gaza, etc.? Maybe you have to deal with fewer trans kids, DEI and other such bullshit, but when you look at the big picture was it worth the trade off?
      - TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago
        I believe in subsidiarity. If we cannot maintain strong families and raise children well, larger issues will become unsolvable in the future. Focusing on larger-scale issues at the expense of the most basic health of society is a recipe for long-term disaster. Which means are justified to solve climate change and achieve world peace? And if we sacrifice everything our society is built on to reach those ends, where does that leave us?

TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago

If your fear was true, the solution would be simple: the democrats could focus on important issues instead of pushing these (from my point of view, ridiculous and dangerous) cultural issues. Yet they push them vehemently, which caused this response. Why do you think they do that?

breadwinner 2y ago
The current democratic leadership is dumb, in my opinion, because they allow attention to be diverted. They should shift towards the center on the "values and cultural issues" in order to neutralize the conservative advantage, then they will be able to do things that the middleclass (and lower) cares about, such as healthcare and health research, education, consumer protections and so on, and make the Billionaires pay their fair share of taxes.
- TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago
  I am afraid that is not what they learned :/ from what I can tell, they think Kamala ran too far to the right (whatever that means) and lost her base. It seems to me that these values are more important to them than we would rationally think possible. To come back to the previous topic: n=1, but I moved out of a city to escape the bullshit and find some common-sense. I have a master's degree and my wife is an MD. We are not the only ones in our circle that deliberatly moved into a rural area :)
  - breadwinner 2y ago
    How happy are you with the NIH cuts, US withdrawal from Climate Agreement, vaccine sceptic being made secretary of health, US alienating Europe, proposed ethnic cleansing of Gaza, etc.? Maybe you have to deal with fewer trans kids, DEI and other such bullshit, but when you look at the big picture was it worth the trade off?
    - TsiCClawOfLight 2y ago
      I believe in subsidiarity. If we cannot maintain strong families and raise children well, larger issues will become unsolvable in the future. Focusing on larger-scale issues at the expense of the most basic health of society is a recipe for long-term disaster. Which means are justified to solve climate change and achieve world peace? And if we sacrifice everything our society is built on to reach those ends, where does that leave us?