People gave me lots of flak for my diary where I pointed out, among other things, that rural communities who complained they were “left behind” continually voted for policies that hurt them for decades on end. They voted for politicians who favored outsourcing, loosening environmental laws, de-regulating “the swamp” etc. They vote to dismantle all levels of government out of fear of conspiracies that make less sense than X-Files fanfiction. And then they complain that government isn’t there when they need it.
And perhaps maybe, just maybe, I was a little too vitriolic.
Now I have a question: How do you reach people who want things that are completely contradictory?
Again, go to city council meetings run by these red hat brigades (which is 99% of rural America). Whether they’re in upstate NY or deep in the heart of Texas, you’ll see the same thing. People complaining that they want government to do stuff like fix roads but don't want to pay taxes for the roads. That’s the problem here: The rural white working-class demographic (especially the males) is not operating in reality. For the record, I am WWC male.
They claim they want to stop outsourcing but if the government tries to disincentivize it, they’ll scream about how it hurts the free market.
They like their Medicare, etc. But they call taxation theft.
They’ll ask why the government didn’t “do something” when a tragedy happens, but the minute government tries to do anything, they’ll call it “tyranny.”
They hate Wall Street corruption but not enough to vote for people who want to do anything about it.
The males will complain that men’s issues like the male suicide epidemic are being ignored but don’t want to make mental healthcare more affordable.
In short, rural America wants the good stuff of society. They like their Medicare, the VA, roads etc. But they don’t want the bad stuff like taxes or occasionally being told they can’t do something. And as a result, they’ve decided to dismantle society. I don’t even think they are conservatives anymore. They’re anarchists.
So… How do you reason with people who are that insane? I am legitimately asking my critics.
We can write all the pieces we want about how terrible and awful it is to live in rural America. We can weep for the “fact” that they were “forgotten.” But we can’t let them deny that they’ve outright rejected the government for decades and all but dismantled the government in their states and communities, largely so they can spite people they don’t personally like (and we know who I’m talking about). And now it’s bitten them in the ass.
And we can’t keep denying it ourselves.