Why so much hostility toward cities? (farmers, countryside, transmission, buy)
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I think it's largely cultural. Urban and rural people have very separate cultural identities that don't necessary mesh very well. I suppose it comes from having an entirely different perspective of life. I have to be honest, many of the urbanites I've encountered have values, social habits and general tastes that are difficult to understand and often frustrating. That bleeds over into political issues as well, which can certainly create tensions of it's own.
That's not to say I hate them. I can understand why that frustration spills over into resentment, especially in regions where there are large influxes of urban dwellers into a formerly rural area or areas where a large city dominates a large rural area politically. However, hating things because they're strange or different is somewhat petty, I think.
I too, have lived in cities, the tropics, countryside, rurally, and though I dont 'hate' cities, I just dont like them. The smog, the crowds, the noise, its a whole different lifestyle. Rather than going into detail, some folks might only live there because they have to, for work....it dont mean we fit in or have to like it, we just have to 'accept' it. Personally I love country living where you dont have to have six foot high block fences, keep your home locked up tighter than fort knox, and you cant have garage parties, bonfires in your back yard. City folks can have their lifestyles but dont try to change the easy going lives of us small town folks. Just my 2c.
I have to say, I LIKE cities. Short vacations for my family are going to Denver for the weekend, staying in a snazzy hotel (that has multiple floors so the kids can ride the elevator), hitting the museums and walking the 16th Street Mall...
A big part of the problem is city people force their ideas upon rural areas. Witness rural upstate NY'ers having that gun ban forced on them by city people. Then you get the animal rights types trying to outlaw hunting or keeping livestock, then you get the urbanites moving in trying to bring in zoning, streetlights, pavement, taxes, surburban sprawl, etc., with them to the country. Vermont has suffered badly from this, when this state was "discovered" by outsiders from urban areas, first hippies then rich yuppy trust funders, who have doubled the population, forced whacky politics and ideas on the state, made it unaffordable for most, destroyed former farms and woods with their development. Urban dwelling wall street speculators have driven up the price of land in several areas of the country strictly for their personal investment purposes. Then we can also talk about all the pollution and crime the cities export. National Forests are being flooded with the drug gangs looking to hide their activity.
I despise cities and I'll make no apologies for that. They represent to me everything wrong with modern society-no freedom, pollution, overcrowded, materialistic, unsustainability, ignorance about the real (natural) world.
Ok, I'm still not sure if the OP is referring to cities or city dwellers. Cities? Nope. Don't have a problem with them. Don't want to live in them, like to visit them on occasion, but don't want to live in them.
City dwellers? Nope. Don't have a problem with them.
City dwellers who visit or move to the country and want to change things to the way we did it in the city? Yep, got a problem with them.
If ya like things so much in the city, why didn't you stay there? This isn't the city, we do things differently here. If you can't understand that, don't move or visit us. If you like the city so much, stay home.
This is the country. We do things our own way. If we wanted to do things the way you do in the cities, we would. We don't and don't appreciate your condemnation.
From my experience, it's not just that small town people don't care for cities. They've made hatred of the cities a core part of their identity. So much so that rural politicianss frequently invoke it just to prove their credentials. What gives? Life's to short to hate.
Maybe you need to study a little psychology. There is indeed a difference between likes in living spaces that does not carry over to feelings about places. In the country it is a lot easier to know who the enemy is or what is safe and unsafe to a person. When I see a bear, I know not to go near it.
In the city, people who are safe will sometimes look unsafe and people who are unsafe will sometimes look safe. I just find it much more relaxing to live in an area that is not so complicated. I like to be able to speak to everyone without fearing for my safety. It makes me uncomfortable to think of other humans as being someone to avoid.
So I get in my car and ride from one safe place to another safe place. I can enjoy the scenery instead of looking out for dangers.
There is a test that was done with mice living in a larger environment and when more population was added the personalities of the mice would change. I like wide open spaces. That does not mean I am mad at the city or anyone in it; I just don't want to live there. I know a better life is possible and prefer living that life.
I'd argue that those problems you describe come from deprivation, from people, or animals, not having the resources they need or think they need to get by living a healthy life where their needs are met. Deprivation and poverty are symptomatic of urban life in many American cities so what you're saying is totally true, as is the disease issue especially if there isn't proper sanitation in place. But the amount of living space is just one minor factor. In much of the world, the dense central cities are where the rich live and the poorer people live in the less dense suburban outskirts, and it is the suburbs that have such problems because the people there are living with deprivation. People living all on top of each other doesn't naturally lead to social and behavioural breakdown if we're talking about, say, rich yuppies with full bellies and plenty of cash to go and do the things they want. Likewise, there's some really crime ridden towns and rural areas as we all know (some reservations I'm familiar with come to mind). So, what I'm saying is that I understand what you're getting at, but I also don't think we can pretend that it's a natural law or something that people can't live healthy lives with less space, it's just one small factor in a big puzzle that can sometimes even be outweighed if there's lots of other benefits. My two cents on that, and I certainly don't mean it as a rebuke of rural or small town living, I just thought nuances deserved to be pointed out.
And I think you are totally wrong. Look at so many rich people on drugs and living destructive lives. They are basically just existing. They have all that money but have no purpose in life. I see posts on city-data and wonder where in the world that person learned to have such a warped view of everything.
I think overcrowding too many in a smaller space is a natural law and the result will always be what the study found it to be. Overcrowding brings out the worst in everybody.
I suspect the hostility exists because they deer and the antelope have no where to roam and play like back in the day at their home on the range and they are getting ready to rumble!
I think it's largely cultural. Urban and rural people have very separate cultural identities that don't necessary mesh very well. I suppose it comes from having an entirely different perspective of life. I have to be honest, many of the urbanites I've encountered have values, social habits and general tastes that are difficult to understand and often frustrating. That bleeds over into political issues as well, which can certainly create tensions of it's own.
As one who has easily moved back and forth between each of these settings, without changing who I am or how I act, I have to say I haven't really experienced this to be the case, just personally. My core values, tastes, social habits, and preferences haven't changed from when I was growing up in a rural area to living in various urban and suburban settings. I'm who I am, no matter where I'm living. My perspective on life is my perspective on life, no matter the setting. It hasn't really shifted, whether living on the farm or in a city.
So maybe if more of the rural types started paying their own way, they might lose some of that colossal chip on the shoulder against urban folks, who BTW are basically the ones supporting their "proud & independent lifestyle".
And this is where we have some discrepancy in appearances.
Many of those so-called "moocher" states are providing the vast majority of natural resources that the country needs to survive. Things like food, fuel, and lumber which are vital, but are seasonal and/or do not normally result in high state/individual incomes. The corporations who actually own those businesses (and are making the big bucks) are incorporated in another state (or country) and the income is recorded in THAT state, not the state in which they are obtained.
Many of those states also have large military and government installations and forces. The budget and payroll of which are recorded as a "benefit" even though the state and its residents don't get direct benefit from it. This also results in a state appearing to have a lower percentage of taxpayers, because the military and government personnel are still residents of their home states and the income & taxes are reported in THAT state, not the state in which they are obtained.
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