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Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NVplumber
Well, as a rural Nevadan I can state with certainty that Rural Westerners don't share this same worldview you are saying is so common to the South. Oh, we have some fundies, running from Baptists to Mormons to a few others, but this is hardly a majority.
Quite honestly we rural types here see the biggest threat to our nation as coming from elitist urbanites and criminal elements. We see the street gangs as Mexican cartel boots on the ground, and old school native Nevadans see the biggest threats as coming from CA cesspools like San Fran and LA.
My opinion is that CA and their sanctuary policies are allowing huge influx of criminal types, to the detriment of not just my home state but the whole country. And these vermin are not staying just in the cities anymore. They are showing up in the rural areas now a lot because of the availability of remote locations for meth labs.
Cesspools....
As an urbanite, I see small towns as the real cesspools
"Rural Americans are a core threat to our democracy." - Joy Reid, MSNBC
Just another broad generalization that's bound to stir up controversy.
From the number of posts in this thread, it was successful at doing just that.
I grew up in small town America where the economy was heavily dependent on agriculture. And the "good" jobs were with the railroad, but they were few and hard to get.
Just about anybody in my old HS class with any ambition and ability left town shortly after graduation. When I'd go back for a visit, the ones who stayed just aren't doing well, for the most part. The women looked old before their time and the men looked tired and unhealthy. Both sexes tended to be overweight and smokers. I'm surprised at the number of my classmates who didn't even make it into their mid 50s.
It's no wonder that they're angry and frightened. Fox News and hate radio tell them it's not their fault that they made poor decisions. They're being held down by a "liberal conspiracy."
What they don't grasp is that opportunities dried up about the same time our class graduated and small town life that was so good in the 50s had begun to decline by the early 70s and it hasn't done anything but slide since then. Lots of us saw it coming and got out. Those who stayed suffered. Factories closed down and the railroad moved its operations to another town 50 miles away. Still has a Walmart and fast food joints. Probably a good amount of meth.
As an urbanite, I see small towns as the real cesspools
Wealthy urbanites tend to have vacation homes outside of the city. They clog up the roads in the summer to get away from vibrant urban areas to come to the cesspools with our nasty mountains and lakes and boring clean air. I wonder why they would go through all that expense to leave the beauty and diversity of the city.
Just another broad generalization that's bound to stir up controversy.
From the number of posts in this thread, it was successful at doing just that.
I grew up in small town America where the economy was heavily dependent on agriculture. And the "good" jobs were with the railroad, but they were few and hard to get.
Just about anybody in my old HS class with any ambition and ability left town shortly after graduation. When I'd go back for a visit, the ones who stayed just aren't doing well, for the most part. The women looked old before their time and the men looked tired and unhealthy. Both sexes tended to be overweight and smokers. I'm surprised at the number of my classmates who didn't even make it into their mid 50s.
It's no wonder that they're angry and frightened. Fox News and hate radio tell them it's not their fault that they made poor decisions. They're being held down by a "liberal conspiracy."
What they don't grasp is that opportunities dried up about the same time our class graduated and small town life that was so good in the 50s had begun to decline by the early 70s and it hasn't done anything but slide since then. Lots of us saw it coming and got out. Those who stayed suffered. Factories closed down and the railroad moved its operations to another town 50 miles away. Still has a Walmart and fast food joints. Probably a good amount of meth.
At least we have a poster that has lived in a variety of places unlike so many others posting here.
The only thing I would note Gringo is that BOTH political sides try to stir fear to gain votes...the most partisan of course don't see it that way.
Also, it's funny now that poor whites jumped ship this past election that you and several others are beginning to sound more and more "Ayn Rand" about dumb poor people that made bad decisions etc. That used to be just a Republican plank.
At least we have a poster that has lived in a variety of places unlike so many others posting here.
Born and raised in Cleveland Ohio but now live in WV.
Quote:
The only thing I would note Gringo is that BOTH political sides try to stir fear to gain votes...the most partisan of course don't see it that way.
It's a religion for many.
Quote:
Also, it's funny now that poor whites jumped ship this past election that you and several others are beginning to sound more and more "Ayn Rand" about dumb poor people that made bad decisions etc. That used to be just a Republican plank.
I've also wondered when principles went out the window.
Ever see a small town with a gang problem? Homeless, graffiti? No? Me neither.
I have. I grew up in one. Fremont, NC. The gangs & graffiti issue became a big problem in the 2000's. The Crips came into town and left their mark on the streets and inside a laundromat next to the grocery store that my dad worked at. It wasn't taken care of until a few years ago because the several previous police chiefs the town went through either didn't give a ****, got in trouble themselves, or were too scared to handle the problems Fremont was having at the time. They finally got a police chief that knew what the hell he was doing and how to do it and crime dropped like a rock. It's a much better town now.
That's just one example. I can name others I've seen. I don't agree with the other poster saying that all small towns are cesspools, but to say that gangs, graffiti and homeless don't exist in small towns is asinine.
Wealthy urbanites tend to have vacation homes outside of the city. They clog up the roads in the summer to get away from vibrant urban areas to come to the cesspools with our nasty mountains and lakes and boring clean air. I wonder why they would go through all that expense to leave the beauty and diversity of the city.
Maybe that's the problem right there. White urban elites go to a lot of trouble to get out to the country on the weekends and holidays and then there it is all filled up with rural peasants.
"The trouble with Scotland...is that it's full of Scots!"
Just another broad generalization that's bound to stir up controversy.
Let's see.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Gringo
......Just about anybody in my old HS class with any ambition and ability left town shortly after graduation. When I'd go back for a visit, the ones who stayed just aren't doing well, for the most part. The women looked old before their time and the men looked tired and unhealthy. Both sexes tended to be overweight and smokers. I'm surprised at the number of my classmates who didn't even make it into their mid 50s.
It's no wonder that they're angry and frightened. Fox News and hate radio tell them it's not their fault that they made poor decisions. They're being held down by a "liberal conspiracy."
What they don't grasp is that opportunities dried up about the same time our class graduated and small town life that was so good in the 50s had begun to decline by the early 70s and it hasn't done anything but slide since then.
Yep. Just another broad based negative generalization against an entire segment of American society. Don't you and Joy Reid support the same things too?
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"Rural Americans are a core threat to our democracy." - Joy Reid, MSNBC
