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Old 11-20-2016, 10:37 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,487 posts, read 47,436,183 times
Reputation: 77716

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What if a liberal wants to visit a farm? You have to be kidding me? You've got to stop believing everything you read in the liberal press.

Nobody is going to lynch you. Farm area people are helpful and more friendly and open than the residents of large cities. They tend to be charmed by foreign accents and will merely ask you to repeat yourself if they can't undestand your accents.

One warning, though. I've heard city dwellers tell me that out in the country, the way it is done is to sit in your car and repeatedly blast the car horn until someone comes out. Don't do that. It is beyond rude and it is not how things are done in the country

Im very surprised to hear that in Eastern Europe mobs of farmers beat tourists to death with pitchforks. No? Doesn't happen? Well it doesn't happen in the USA, either.

If you would like to see some really lovely farms, try the Oregon wine country and take a wine tour.

I hope that you are aware that farms are someone's home and they aren't there to entertain tourists, and it is not OK to invite yourself into someone's home. You wait for an invitation or else go to one of the tourist attractions, or, better yet, go to a U-Pick or a place with a farm stand
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Old 11-20-2016, 12:57 PM
 
26,825 posts, read 43,300,897 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jakeryan View Post
We all know that liberals tend to live in bigger urban areas. But what are some rural/country areas in the USA where there are liberal people? What if you are a liberal, a foreigner but you want to visit a farm?

Life in the Calvinistic protestant Dutch bible belt with conservative values has taught me that some rural places tend to be very friendly... as long as you're a local. But I felt relieved when I moved to a larger city in the more liberal Southern (Catholic) Netherlands.

Well, I definitely have much better understanding of English than Dutch, but I bet as a guy from Eastern Europe they might notice some discrepancies in my speech, etc. and make me feel excluded or make fun of me. I am apolitical, yet my views are mostly aligned with liberalism, especially after going abroad and becoming "the Other". I know from first hand what it means to be excluded, locals to give you angry looks and brush you off with offensive hand gestures as you have an accent.

I am going on a vacation to the USA and in addition to the Big Apple I'd also like to visit a typical American farm with barns, bales of hay, huge fields, etc. However, I realize that rural area residents are often intolerant to outsiders, not to mention foreigners. But I love nature and farmlands, the lush green or yellow fields, you name it. Village-like towns are welcome as well. My ideal thing would be something of a hippy rural community with less drugs lol. Any ideas?
Not far outside of NYC is the Hudson Valley area to the north which fulfills your criteria very well. Check out the town of Hudson and Columbia County as areas to the east of town are filled with varying farms.

Things to See and Do in Columbia County NY
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Old 11-20-2016, 02:09 PM
 
4,668 posts, read 3,863,819 times
Reputation: 3437
This is an interesting read. Kansas in the early 20th century, even up to the 1940s had a large socialist movement. They dominated many rural areas in Eastern Kansas and held many local offices. Not mentioned in the article are that 2 of the 3 largest socialist newspapers in America were based in Eastern Kansas in small towns, a long with a handful of others. Rural areas in most of the country, perhaps with the exception of the south and western states, have never been dominated by those who believe in economic freedom. The Republican Party heavily favors subsiding farms and rural areas even today.

https://www.kshs.org/p/socialism-his...llection/14117
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:03 AM
 
104 posts, read 148,335 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
What if a liberal wants to visit a farm? You have to be kidding me? You've got to stop believing everything you read in the liberal press.

Nobody is going to lynch you. Farm area people are helpful and more friendly and open than the residents of large cities. They tend to be charmed by foreign accents and will merely ask you to repeat yourself if they can't undestand your accents.
Oh yeah? Guess what, I had a terrible time living in the middle of the Dutch Bible Belt - Calvinistic, conservative locals that could really lynch me if it was not punishable. They couldn't hide their animosity for non-locals, heck they even hate other Dutch people not from there probably. On the other hand most people in the Randstad (liberal) and Noord-Brabant (Catholic and more liberal than Calvinists) are far more accepting. They mind their own business without giving you angry looks or shaming you when they hear/see you're "not from here".

As one American friend said "The Dutch Bible Belt makes America's Evangelicals looks like Socinians" And judging by forums like ATS and GLP where most posters are American conservatives I'm not sure I'd be welcomed in their US towns or farmlands any time soon. On the other hand I'm much better in English than in Dutch, so who knows.

Mind you, I don't mind families living in good ol' fashioned way, I mind such families that feel the need they have to preach and insult those who live in a different way like the crazies shouting at malls you have. I'm just as annoyed by extreme liberal people that want to ban everything and fight sexism with male bashing, but they are far less than extreme conservative people. I want to visit a farm, because I love that back-to-nature feel, the real-food-eating mentality, and the feeling of calmness being in nature gives you. If only we could have that without all the xenophobia. bigotry, racism and sexism...
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:05 AM
 
4,277 posts, read 11,714,657 times
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For a visitor from out of the country, it seems some level of tourist developed rural attraction is needed.

Vermont seems the most obvious first choice. Bear in mind its closest international transatlantic service airport is Montreal (3 to 3.5 hours drive), although there is very slow (by Euro standards) rail service from New York City to the two largest "cities" Burlington or Rutland (two very different routes).

Attractions also have significant seasonality. Vermont's main rural attractions appear to be open fairly lengthy seasons https://www.cabotcheese.coop/cabot-visitor-center-tours https://shelburnemuseum.org/visit/ Ben & Jerry's Factory Tour and Ice Cream Shop in Vermont

The area around Ithaca, NY tends to have smaller attractions that are not open outside a May-Sept (sometimes even June-August) high season, and less likely to see international visitors. The closest airports to Ithaca with meaningful transatlantic international service are Philadelphia and Toronto (four hours one way drive each), each slightly closer than the New York City airports (closer to five hours driving).

Possibly the easiest to reach rural USA attractions for the European would be Lancaster and Hershey, PA. These are in a more politically conservative area (although Hershey is in Dauphin county which barely voted for Obama and Hillary Clinton) but are Uber-ride distance from rail stations with what by USA standards is frequent rail service with one change to either Philadelphia or Newark (one of the New York City area) international airports. If driving, the most convenient to Lancaster and Hershey may be Baltimore (Baltimore-Washington International, BWI) followed closely by Philadelphia (either 1.5 hr drive plus traffic).
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:09 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,819 posts, read 30,876,901 times
Reputation: 47101
Keep in mind there is going to be a difference between "voting Republican" and in your face conservatism.

I'm a conservative and live in a small town in Tennessee. It's common to be invited to church randomly, for people to pray at work, etc. I went out Friday night to a nice pizzeria (not some hole in the wall redneck joint) and there were two loud people at the table beside me praising Limbaugh. If you are not a conservative, you will go crazy here.

I've also lived in Iowa and Indiana and in neither state does politics come up as frequently as it does here, even though small town Indiana is about as Republican as small town Tennessee. Much of that is just a more reserved Midwestern culture than here in the South where talking about politics and religion is more acceptable.
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:19 AM
 
104 posts, read 148,335 times
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Oh, I don't mind people praying or saying "God bless you", "I wish you well" all the time. I myself am spiritual (but non-religious) and if they really mean it it's nice. However, I cannot stand people that make faces, grimaces, or shun you when they hear/see you are not a local or are a foreigner. Political discussions are a big part of Bulgarian culture, but I avoid them like the plague. We are one of the most pessimistic nations, and imo the presence of political discussions everywhere and time is one of the reason for that. And most of them turn to bitching about how bad it is, how the people are doomed and the politicians are corrupt, which never amounts to anything.
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:25 AM
 
Location: TN/NC
34,819 posts, read 30,876,901 times
Reputation: 47101
Quote:
Originally Posted by jakeryan View Post
Oh, I don't mind people praying or saying "God bless you", "I wish you well" all the time. I myself am spiritual (but non-religious) and if they really mean it it's nice. However, I cannot stand people that make faces, grimaces, or shun you when they hear/see you are not a local or are a foreigner. Political discussions are a big part of Bulgarian culture, but I avoid them like the plague. We are one of the most pessimistic nations, and imo the presence of political discussions everywhere and time is one of the reason for that. And most of them turn to bitching about how bad it is, how the people are doomed and the politicians are corrupt, which never amounts to anything.
I have no clue about anything in Bulgaria, but there are plenty of parts of the rural US where it feels like they are "overrun" by transplants from outside the area.

I lived near a retirement center in western North Carolina that draws a lot of people from the wealthy areas of the northeast. Many have the attitude that if they find something that is different from up north - they'll just spit out "that's not the way it's done in <x>!". They often have attitudes and look down at the locals.

Meanwhile, the influx of transplants with money raises the cost of living for everyone, but the locals aren't getting pay increases.

It's a delicate balance.
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:29 AM
 
104 posts, read 148,335 times
Reputation: 57
Well in my case I was paying taxes for a university and doing my shopping in the Dutch Bible Belt with money from Bulgaria, so in a way I was investing in their places, yet they never made me feel any good. I had to make sure I avoid locals like the plagues as if they ask me something my origin would become evident. It was a lonely experience but I stuck mostly to fellow expats and Dutch people that came from other areas. At least I grew a somewhat thicker skin there, but I'll never go back.
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Old 11-21-2016, 09:40 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati (Pleasant Ridge)
610 posts, read 788,951 times
Reputation: 529
Athens County, Ohio is one of few liberal Appalachian counties in the country, mostly thanks to Ohio University. The county is only home 65,000 people and Hillary won with 57% of the vote.
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