Poverty, violence, racism. Rural voters a threat to democracy in the USA
In 2016, Hillary Clinton divided Trump's supporters into two “baskets”. The first one was to include a typical republican electorate, the second – voter of “regret” ( deprables). The indignation was huge. How could she! Is there no pure liberal elite arrogance through Clinton?
Of course, there were immediately people who turned this offensive word into a reason to be proud. From that moment, some supporters of Trump walked with a roof caps, on which there was no more the slogan “make America Great Again”, but “Deplorables”.
The book “White Rural Rage” (“White Country anger”) by historian Paul Schaller and journalist Paul Waldman is currently a sensation in the United States. Each reader could be forgiven if he decided that in 2016 Hillary Clinton underestimated the situation. It turns out that the “one basket” of Trump's supporters is problematic, but all his voters. After reading this book, no one will want to call them “regrettable” but rather dangerous.
Trump like a messiah
No contrast in today's America is sharper than the one between the city and the village. The United States is a country with low population density – most residents are crowded in a few metropolises. Less than one fifth Americans live in rural areas, mainly white Protestants. In almost every election they vote for Republicans. In some regions there is no opposition from the democratic party at all.
Flags of Donald Trump's supporters. November 2, 2020, Solvang, California
Schaller and Waldman traveled rural America along and across, analyzed the statistics and came to the following conclusion: White Americans living in rural areas are often racist and xenophobic. They don't like illegal immigrants so much, but they hate immigrants at all.
They will believe in every, even the stupidest conspiracy theory (chips in vaccines, pedophile elites feeding on the blood of children). They believe that democracy is rather annoying. Behind the lie that their Messiah Trump won the election in 2020, there is the belief that voices in urban centers should not be counted at all.
Country worship of violence
According to the authors of the book “White Rural Rage”, Americans in rural areas are practically enchanted by violence. In their eyes, the crowd, which devastated the captain on January 6, 2021, are the heroes of freedom. This is also important because most of these people have at least one piece of firearms at home.
Wherever possible, right -wing propagandists disseminate information that the main cities of the United States are hellin which white women are constantly raped by immigrants. The illustrations for these materials usually look as if they were taken from the “rattles” – the iconic class B film from the 1980s.
Supporter Donald Trump sells campaign gadgets. November 2, 2020, Solvang, California
Schaller and Waldman prove that It is exactly the opposite – in rural areas, not in large cities, the murder rate has increased in recent years by 40 percent. To be in the middle of a dangerous situation today, you do not have to go to the Bronx district in New York – just go to the rural state of Tennessee.
In general, the average life expectancy of the country in the US is much lower than in the city. It also results from the fact that The privatization of health care led to the closing of most hospitals outside of urban centers.
Pick-up. Twilight of the American legend
One of the best chapters of the book applies to pick-ups-a high body with a high body with a loading space, which are practically the best symbol of American masculinity in a rural edition. Especially when there is a sticker with a confederation flag on the rear bumper (confederated America's states). Initially, the pick-up has been designed so that American farmers can transport small amounts of wood.
Schaller and Waldman write that pick-ups have been transformed into vehicles that offer a lot of comfort under the appearance of a rough appearance. The loading spaces are becoming smaller and the seats are getting more and more convenient. In other words, pick-ups are so-called Cultural facial expressions: they reflect a lifestyle that really no longer exists.
The supporter of Trump in a pick-up express Solidarity with the former president during his interrogation before the court. New York, April 15 this year.
Americans from rural areas have disproportionately large political power. In the presidential election they are favored by the electoral college system. In all others – by gerrymandering constituencies (method of determining constituencies, which in some cases favors Republicans – ed.). The issue of representation in the American Senate is grossly unfair – each state, even the most deserted, has two representatives in it.
In American folklore, country white Americans were idols and heroes, according to the belief that “real America” lives in small towns. Last summer, the right -wing Country singer Jason Aldean achieved a great success with a song in which he suggests that city residents can be lynched in smaller urban centers.
“Try that in a small town” (“try it in a small city”) is the title of a hit about how the forms of protest practiced in the urban environment – smoking the American flag, demonstrations, attacks on policemen – in rural communities would immediately meet with an aggressive reaction.
Complaints on Obamacare
It is interesting that – contrary to pop culture status and overrepresentation of urban areas in the Senate – Politicians do little to help the inhabitants of the American village. Republicans are mainly busy with cutting social programs that would benefit the inhabitants of rural areas. Democrats do much more, but they do not have a political representation in smaller towns.
The most characteristic example is the so -called Obamacare – the first attempt at universal health insurance in the United States. Many Americans from rural areas depend on this system – otherwise they would never be able to pay their medical accounts.
However, this does not stop them from the angry rejection of Obamacare. Why? Because of the name. They cannot forgive the first black president of America that he helped them. Some white Americans praise the Affordable Care Act and complain about Obamacare – without realizing that these are two names of the same program.
Allegations against the authors
The essay with white and angry villages is controversial. Reviewer Tyler Austin Harper described the book of Schaller and Waldman in the reputable American magazine “The Atlantic” as “completely misleading”.
If I understood his criticism correctly, it can be brought to three points. First of all, he felt personally offended as a resident of a small American town. Secondly: Schaller and Waldman did not present a clear definition of the term “rural”. Thirdly, the problem is not white in the countryside, but whites in the suburbs and in the city centers.
Harper does not provide any statistical evidence for this recent claim. It is also quite surprising when you look at the results of the election.
Voice from the forest in Minnesota
Fortunately, I found a person whom I could ask for an opinion on this matter – my brother.
He lives in the house in the middle of the forest in Minnesota. If he goes one way, after 10 minutes he will reach Duluth, a city of 86 thousand. residents. If he goes to the second, he will be in the middle of the wilderness. His commune is called Normanna Township and ends just off the city limits. As my brother says, two -thirds of his neighbors are Trump's supporters.
In Duluth, of course, the opposite is the opposite – two -thirds of the inhabitants are democrats. Although there are almost no representatives of ethnic minorities in the town and the surrounding area, Duluth is called “San Francisco of the Middle West”. Not only because the streets are very hilly. The city has been considered the center of gay and lesbian community for years.
When I told my brother that a journalist said that American cities were actually a habitat for Trump's supporters, he replied only in one word: “Nonsense”.
