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Why is it that most of the small town people are so conservative ? Is it because they never left their town ?
Probably. A friend of mine said there are some people in his remote county who have never traveled out of it before. I think conservatives love small towns since they don't change much. But they will be amongst the first to complain, if the town tries to start growing from chain stores coming in.
I grew up in a small town, never was happy. I always wanted more,, My mother could not understand my wanderlust ! Her favorite saying was "why can't you be satisfied with you have here"."? Yet my family were died in the wool Democrats, always, they ,remembered the great Depression with all the hard times, they supported FDR and all the good he brought too our little corner of the world, living on the farm.
I think a lot of our liberal thinking actually was conservative , mostly due the non religious nature we all practiced , yet they were Lutheran, as was most in small Midwest areas. As I recall, all the religious folks were conservative in their voting practices.,As for me, I tried to stay local after I graduated , and it lasted about 3 years.....then I left, end of story, The big city Chicago , was calling me, I never went back to that small world, except to visit my son from an early marriage, and my mother. It was sad he grew up without a Dad, or " Pops" as he calls me today. I only meet on Facebook some, since my mother past on 4 years ago...... I just did not fit in there,.Matters little now, most all family are dead .
I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many small towns and rural areas are based on simpler 'rules'. You work for what you get, you don't expect anything to be given to you, you expect your neighbors and shopkeepers to treat you fairly, your neighbors have the same expectations of you. There is a mutual dependence and cohesiveness in a small town or rural area. "Liberal" attitudes of "Well, we have to help them - they're poor!" just don't wash, especially when so many 'poor' are and remain poor because they expect, even demand, succor, in spite of their poor decision-making processes. The woman who drinks away her paycheck or Welfare check, and demands that the area 'owes' her children from numerous fathers not only an education but a comfortable lifestyle, is often unhappy in a setting where she is shunned by most folks who are married for a long time, who work 16 hour days, who are frugal and raise their children to be respectful of their elders. A man who brags about his many sources of income down at the bar - all dependent on social services, disability, or other 'handouts' - is shunned by the men who are working for a living and supporting their families with the strength of their backs and their hands. A person who does not give value for what they are paid for a job, who shirks his/her work, puts an extra workload on a small rural community. A small community is like a multiply-cogged piece of machinery; if one cog does not mesh with the others, or refuses to turn at the same speed and with the same power as the rest of the cogs, that cog has to be replaced or discarded, or it throws off the whole machine of survival.
Where there are a lot of easily-available resources, where there is more free time and less application to the basics of survival, then more liberal towns can grow. If you aren't spending your time out in the pasture fixing fence or delivering calves, or digging wells or fixing pumps to ensure water, or digging out from the next blizzard just to have access to pavement, if you have time to hang out with friends because you don't have to be plowing the fields or cutting the hay to feed your cattle for the coming winter, you have time to spend on arts and crafts, to indulge in a wider level of wants instead of needs, and the liberal mindset is not so offensive.
"Traveling" doesn't make rural conservatives more liberal; if anything, it reinforces their beliefs that too many people have too much time on their hands in 'the big cities'; and cater too much to those who only want minimal employment or minimal results. Rural teens don't have time to be gang-bangers or dropouts; their days start with chores at 4 AM and end with chores at 9 PM or later. Traveling 20 miles to join their peeps for a night of wild abandonment isn't feasible - and besides, their parents will get phone calls if they do. Taking away a rural teen's driver's license or pickup means he goes nowhere and does nothing away from the home. Period. Self-discipline and discipline are taught not only as required but essential; an undisciplined teen doesn't get the bank loan at 16 to buy his own cattle and sell them for a profit, doesn't get the perks of scholarships to gain an education in his/her chosen field to be a contributing participant in either his parents' or society as a whole. The liberal attitude of "I deserve" or "you owe me" simply because they were born and exist doesn't wash in most rural towns; no one owes anyone else food, clothing, a residence, or a lifestyle, it is earned - or they move on.
C'mon Granny. "I deseve," etc is no more a liberal value than the Klan or fear of intelligence are conservative ones.
I think independance is indeed a big part of it, though. Generally speaking, small towns are poorer and less populated. That simple fact means people are more likely to be self-reliant and needing space.
I think that *inter*dependance is a natural human need. But cities are more likely to legislate it into existance where rural areas have a small enough population it just develops naturally (once people know you're PART of the community, that is!)
So far as the social issues, yeah, I tend to think that's an exposure thing, too. If you've never known gay people, for example, you're not going to see that there's no more gay love than there is gay driving.
OTOH, if you've had wider experiences, you're more likely to believe love is love and people have the right to marry who they want (besides, for as bad as the straight community has screwed it up, we should let gay people have a chance to do so, too lol)
But if you've had a very small world (or worse, experienced the larger one and had an unpleasant time of it) you're going to believe the way it is now is how its supposed to be
I think that a lot of it has to do with the fact that many small towns and rural areas are based on simpler 'rules'. You work for what you get, you don't expect anything to be given to you, you expect your neighbors and shopkeepers to treat you fairly, your neighbors have the same expectations of you. There is a mutual dependence and cohesiveness in a small town or rural area. "Liberal" attitudes of "Well, we have to help them - they're poor!" just don't wash, especially when so many 'poor' are and remain poor because they expect, even demand, succor, in spite of their poor decision-making processes. The woman who drinks away her paycheck or Welfare check, and demands that the area 'owes' her children from numerous fathers not only an education but a comfortable lifestyle, is often unhappy in a setting where she is shunned by most folks who are married for a long time, who work 16 hour days, who are frugal and raise their children to be respectful of their elders. A man who brags about his many sources of income down at the bar - all dependent on social services, disability, or other 'handouts' - is shunned by the men who are working for a living and supporting their families with the strength of their backs and their hands. A person who does not give value for what they are paid for a job, who shirks his/her work, puts an extra workload on a small rural community. A small community is like a multiply-cogged piece of machinery; if one cog does not mesh with the others, or refuses to turn at the same speed and with the same power as the rest of the cogs, that cog has to be replaced or discarded, or it throws off the whole machine of survival.
Where there are a lot of easily-available resources, where there is more free time and less application to the basics of survival, then more liberal towns can grow. If you aren't spending your time out in the pasture fixing fence or delivering calves, or digging wells or fixing pumps to ensure water, or digging out from the next blizzard just to have access to pavement, if you have time to hang out with friends because you don't have to be plowing the fields or cutting the hay to feed your cattle for the coming winter, you have time to spend on arts and crafts, to indulge in a wider level of wants instead of needs, and the liberal mindset is not so offensive.
"Traveling" doesn't make rural conservatives more liberal; if anything, it reinforces their beliefs that too many people have too much time on their hands in 'the big cities'; and cater too much to those who only want minimal employment or minimal results. Rural teens don't have time to be gang-bangers or dropouts; their days start with chores at 4 AM and end with chores at 9 PM or later. Traveling 20 miles to join their peeps for a night of wild abandonment isn't feasible - and besides, their parents will get phone calls if they do. Taking away a rural teen's driver's license or pickup means he goes nowhere and does nothing away from the home. Period. Self-discipline and discipline are taught not only as required but essential; an undisciplined teen doesn't get the bank loan at 16 to buy his own cattle and sell them for a profit, doesn't get the perks of scholarships to gain an education in his/her chosen field to be a contributing participant in either his parents' or society as a whole. The liberal attitude of "I deserve" or "you owe me" simply because they were born and exist doesn't wash in most rural towns; no one owes anyone else food, clothing, a residence, or a lifestyle, it is earned - or they move on.
Not are you all over the place, but are wrong about rural America. I doubt you ever lived the life, cause then you would know.
First off rural and small town people help each other a lot, yes proud people, but everyone helps the other that's in need, mainly because everyone knows everyone, as neighbors. other than that, rural life has the same problems city folks do, just not as much, ( except for crystal meth which is everywhere in the country). Whats different is there is not much to do, IF you desire things only found where there were lots of people, simple math ! The schools in some cases have a larger drug problem than the city, its sad for sure.
Now , as I said before politics has in general been conservative , most wealthy folk and large farmers, always vote Republican, thats the money thing, the haves and the have nots. These people are few, they usually are not so nice to live around . What drives the less prosperous rural countryside to vote Republican is the Church. WE did not attend religious stuff, and, conservative in thinking , but Liberal in our Politics.( One of the reasons I left, too conservative and in this case I don't mean Politics) Why there are so many evangelical Churches, is because that was just a part of life in the early days. Social events, and get to gathers on every other crossroad Church. many long ago were also schoolhouses, I know I went Kindergarten in a one room school house.The day President Johnson got equal rights for the rural minorities, was the day all these folks switch sides, and the preachers just threw more fuel on the fire. Johnson knew what would happen, but, it was the right thing to do.
C'mon Granny. "I deseve," etc is no more a liberal value than the Klan or fear of intelligence are conservative ones.
I think independance is indeed a big part of it, though. Generally speaking, small towns are poorer and less populated. That simple fact means people are more likely to be self-reliant and needing space.
I think that *inter*dependance is a natural human need. But cities are more likely to legislate it into existance where rural areas have a small enough population it just develops naturally (once people know you're PART of the community, that is!)
So far as the social issues, yeah, I tend to think that's an exposure thing, too. If you've never known gay people, for example, you're not going to see that there's no more gay love than there is gay driving.
OTOH, if you've had wider experiences, you're more likely to believe love is love and people have the right to marry who they want (besides, for as bad as the straight community has screwed it up, we should let gay people have a chance to do so, too lol)
But if you've had a very small world (or worse, experienced the larger one and had an unpleasant time of it) you're going to believe the way it is now is how its supposed to be
I agree on the exposure thing in rural America. I am sure my Mother never talked to a black person, because there was none. Same goes for the Gay thing, but thats changing as more and more come out of the closet everywhere. I forgot to include this in my post, you said it well.
I don't know about the whole liberal vs. conservative small town discussion, but grew up in a rural small town and welfare was a way of life for a lot of people there. Think it's that way in a lot of poorer states, or in the rural areas that are far from the major cities. Even a lot of the working people get food stamps or commodities.
I don't know about the whole liberal vs. conservative small town discussion, but grew up in a rural small town and welfare was a way of life for a lot of people there. Think it's that way in a lot of poorer states, or in the rural areas that are far from the major cities. Even a lot of the working people get food stamps or commodities.
Depends on the area's overall culture, I guess.
There are many rural area of the country that always have been depressed, economically as well as the surrounding environment Good examples are the coal mining area in W. VA, East ky. and VA..Any area that has had a boom then a bust...there will be the remains, the people and the lack of any hope for a better life. I have seen his happen here in the UP of Mi., over in the Copper Country where the big moguls came in extracted the minerals, then left the area remains, and then no jobs,no money, to clean up the place.,This went on for many years until the Government required these mining Company's to clean up the mess and in the future do things differently. All has fallen on deaf ear's, depending on which Party is running the Country.
There are other places, not so evident , where like you said, a lot of people are on food stamps, etc. Mostly because of American Industry moving out to China.
I don't know about the whole liberal vs. conservative small town discussion, but grew up in a rural small town and welfare was a way of life for a lot of people there. Think it's that way in a lot of poorer states, or in the rural areas that are far from the major cities. Even a lot of the working people get food stamps or commodities.
Depends on the area's overall culture, I guess.
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Which is also a good point. If I remember correctly, rural areas get a disproportionately higher amount of welfare than their urban/suburban counterparts.
To be sure, if we were to count farm supports as welfare (which personally, I always have), it jumps a lt of rural areas into the net *reicever* category.
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It all depends
