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Since just over 80% of US population lives in urban areas, what you say makes no sense.
FYI, after Wall Street,the segment of the US economy most dependent on federal handouts is agriculture.
That's only marginally true.
59% of the USDA budget goes to food stamps, and those aren't handouts for farmers.
59% of the USDA budget goes to food stamps, and those aren't handouts for farmers.
Its totally true, I said segment of the economy, not what department gets to administer a program.FYI, I live on a farm,many farmers get food stamps,family dairy farms around here have negative cash flows.
It seems to be the case. Cities are almost always where the Liberal populations reside, while more rural areas seem to be home to the Right Wing.
Do you think that an individual's political preferences also play a part in that person's residential preferences?
In the country, you have more individual liberty. I can shoot off my guns in the yard til the cows come home and nobody can tell me otherwise. Free of zoning restrictions, your property is truly yours to do as you please, so long as you pay the property taxes, which tend to be a lot lower than in cities.
This is why I like living in the country, because I can do what I want and there's nobody to tell me I can't. To me, this seems to suit a conservative political ideology as well.
Somebody want to chime in about city dwelling as well and maybe why a Liberal would prefer living in a city as opposed to the country. What about people who are the opposite of my hypothesis? Any conservatives here who actually prefer city life or liberals who prefer rural living?
I think this is an interesting question. When I was younger (18 - 21) I lived in a city because, in my opinion, when you are younger you are more willing to look the other way and put up with stuff (noise, smells, crowds, potholes, honking horns, dirt, tourists) more. As I grew older I came to dislike cities. The older I got, the more conservative I got. I don't even like to visit cities, now.
I think it's a lot of work to live in cities and I like my life more simplified. I like to drive. It represents freedom to me. Maybe I appreciate freedom more as a conservative. It's a pain in the butt to drive and park in cities. I don't want to devote X hours of my life per week sitting in traffic, looking for a parking space, putting money in meters, waiting for public transportation, going to and from public transportation or my car and I certainly don't think I should pay for the privilege of leaving (bridge, road and tunnel tolls) a city. I have better things to do with my time.
Because it's a pain in the butt to leave and enter cities, city dwellers don't get around much outside of the city. I think city dwellers are insulated too much. They expect everything to come to them (entertainment, art, sports, shopping, parks, etc.) whereas people outside of cities travel to the things they like to see and do daily and as a result see more of their country. I think that's why it's more conservative outside of cities and why conservatives seem to appreciate their country more, and I mean that in a physical way. They just see more of it on a regular basis.
There are too many rules and regulations in cities and we conservates don't like government in our business. Then there are taxes. I think you know how conservatives feel about taxes. There are more taxes in cities and cities are liberal. It's noisy in cities. I like quiet. It smells in cities and not in a good way. I like the smell of freshly mowed grass and that first Fall snap of cold air. Heck, even an occasional skunk makes me smile. But, Im not fond of BO or the smell of urine in the morning.
I find it hilarious that people (liberals) who live in a concrete jungle with a patch of grass, a couple of trees and a few benches want to dictate to the rest of us how green we should be or people who rarely drive dictate to us what kind of vehicle we should drive. Do we tell city people how to build your buses and trains? Do we non-city people tell you how to regulate your street vendors? That brings me to another point. There are a lot of people in cities who theorize about how life in the USA should be based on a lot of reading and lectures but there are a lot of us who don't live in the city and actually partake in the things the city people read and lecture about. Which one of those electric clown cars that looked good on paper is going to tow my neighbor's boat, carry a friend's 3 hunting dogs or pick up bales of hay or didn't the city people consider that when they were sitting in an office on the 88th floor of some skyscraper or riding home on the subway last night dreaming about ways to change our non-city lives?
You know, wildlife isn't some Noah Wylie polar bear commercial, an Al Gore video or a visit to the natural history museum. It's the geese in the pond behind my apartment, the great blue herons and fish at the lake at the end of my road, the rabbits, turtles, groundhogs, hawks, deer and songbirds in the woods surrounding the college around the corner from where I live. I don't visit the zoo or take an annual vacation so I can see/appreciate wildlife. It's right here outside my window, down the road, around the corner or in an adjacent town. When I lived on the eastern part of Long Island, it was the ocean, the bay, the sound, the fish, the clams, the seagulls 10 to 15 minutes away. The point is we non-city folks spend more time in the environment the city people read about but that doesn't stop those city liberals (and the urban media) from thinking they know better and pushing their agenda on us. And don't think we don't resent it, either.
Then there are traditions that city liberals like to **** all over but conservatives find comfort in....
I still can't answer your question, though. I read a book called "The Big Sort" that says people like to live with like minded individuals and choose to sort themselves that way and if I remember correctly, it started happening in the 70s. As they sort themselves they become less tolerant of diversity of opinion.
Liberal ideals are more consistent with a complex society. The solutions proffered by conservatives are simply unworkable outside a more simplified rural community. For example, a City Council meeting in Philadelphia has far more issues to contend with than crumb cake discussions of a town like Wasilla.
In a nutshell, this is it. A city is generally a very Hamiltonian thing. The design and regulation of it is done by strong central planning and the result is something complex, that requires complex rules and regulations in order to ensure the happiness of a many as possible. In other words, society.
My personal biases aside, the right in this country tend to draw their influences from the very early periods of the nation's history, when the nation was very small and mostly rural, when there was much less regulation of everything. Everyone could own a rifle and there was no need for a central banking establishment. But the problem with that is that society has grown larger and more complex by leaps and bounds since then, and living in a city this is painfully apparent. Living in the country however it is easy to get the idea that decentralisation would work everywhere. It might be feasible in rural areas for there to be very high gun ownership, for example. But in areas where people are in very close quarters, we've seen that it only ever leads to bad things. This is the different. We literally live in different worlds.
As for my own personal position, as I understand, larger societies inevitably grow more complex. Throughout history, I can't recall an example of civilization growing while becoming more decentralised.
Its totally true, I said segment of the economy, not what department gets to administer a program.FYI, I live on a farm,many farmers get food stamps,family dairy farms around here have negative cash flows.
The overwhelming majority of food stamps go to people living in cities. After all, 80+% of Americans live in cities.
Also, if you're familiar with target pricing and farm subsidies, you'll know that for the last couple years, the average price of most agricultural commodities has exceeded the target price. Therefore, far less dollars in subsidies.
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I don't imagine you've been here, the Metro doesn't run down this far.
Like many urban dwellers I have property in less urban areas. That property include a sailboat and while I've never bothered to stop, I've been by North Beach quite a few times while on the water.
You haven't been to the country lately, have you?
Have you EVER been to the country?
I grew up and lived in Chicago for over 30 years. I have spent extended periods (months) on a farm in rural Central Wisconsin, by a town (pop: about 1,000) called Milladore. Living in the country is wonderful. Like LauraC mentioned, the smell of cut grass, the sounds and fragrances of the country are very appealing. I liked the domestic animals.
I also spent months with a friend's family in a country house, on a gravel county road, in Michigan, about 20 miles from Grand Rapids. For him, the thrill of living in the country was that he can shoot his guns from his deck. Otherwise, he spent his life drinking (daily) into oblivion while watching TV.
In my post I mentioned that cities (especially the larger ones) have a window to the world. That doesn't mean that city dwellers are informed about worldly current events, but for those who have an interest, the opportunity is there. What I find about rural people is that their world is as far as they can see from their windows.
From rural people I've heard many misconceptions about city life, such as dead bodies all over the place, every second person in the streets is a mugger looking for victims, and that it's not safe to be out after dark.
I find it hilarious that people (liberals) who live in a concrete jungle with a patch of grass, a couple of trees and a few benches want to dictate to the rest of us how green we should be or people who rarely drive dictate to us what kind of vehicle we should drive. Do we tell city people how to build your buses and trains? Do we non-city people tell you how to regulate your street vendors?
Actually, it happens frequently on the national stage. Conservatives have the audacity to push their agenda on the Democratic leaning people. We resent it because we have different ideals of life. And I know that here in WA state, there's a guy by the name of Tim Eyman who has no idea what it is like to live in a city but thinks he can run it better and tries to propose laws to screw things up.
But then again we live in a representative democracy, and everyone has a right to express their opinion and elect officials who will (hopefully) further those opinions.
The rest of your points I kind of relate to. I make sure I can live in an area where I commute against traffic and I've never worked in a dense urban core, but if I did, I would commute by mass transit because highways are great for traveling around between cities, but not in cities (I think 60 years of traffic jams in cities has proven that).
And it's an irony that most conservatives are closer to the land but are happy to mine, clear cut, dig out, and blast it to make a buck. At least that is what their elected officials do. In the words of one of my more conservative minded friends when she remarks on the natural beauty of the Pacific NW: "Thank God for liberals! They protect this stuff."
Like many urban dwellers I have property in less urban areas. That property include a sailboat and while I've never bothered to stop, I've been by North Beach quite a few times while on the water.
Let me know when your boat's in the water. I'll let you know when we get our slips dredged so you can tie up at the pier.
Let me know when your boat's in the water. I'll let you know when we get our slips dredged so you can tie up at the pier.
My boat stays in the water year round. But it's put up for the winter.
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I read a book called "The Big Sort" that says people like to live with like minded individuals and choose to sort themselves that way and if I remember correctly, it started happening in the 70s. As they sort themselves they become less tolerant of diversity of opinion.
