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I am talking about communities where 90% of the population knows 90% of the population, so I would say I am talking about communities of about 2,000 people or less at most.
The question in this thread's title was prompted by this current thread about Let's Go Brandon yard signs, https://www.city-data.com/forum/poli...ard-signs.html
So now I am wondering if it is usual for rural/small town people to keep their political opinions out of their yards and off their car bumpers.
Here in my county there were virtually NO yard signs around election time last year except in the yards of the summer homes of wealthy people (about an even mix of Trump and Biden signs). Many wealthy homes also displayed Black Lives Matters signs (rather remarkable in an area that is over 95% white). However, whenever there is a strictly local issue -- like when Dollar General wanted to put a store in a small quaint tourist-oriented town -- it seems there were "NO DOLLAR GENERAL" signs everywhere you looked, and ditto when a company wanted to develop a planned community for RV owners and those who wanted to build very small camp-type homes.
(Btw, our county voted 48.5% for Trump and 50% for Biden, so maybe that has something to do with the lack of political outspokenness here, meaning no signs out of respect for the political opinions of many of one's neighbors?)
Most folks in my county share the same point of view, so no real arguments or problems. There are Trump Country signs and bumper stickers all over the place.
So it's a very civil, welcoming and courtious place to live.
It seems the outspoken people are the self-righteous ones who are chronically offended by everything around them. The rest stay quiet because it's not worth the aggravation of arguing. It wasn't like this until the area had an influx of people from sub/urban areas about 15 years ago.
My experience in a small town is that those who embrace the prevailing local political persuasion and attitude just assume that everyone in the community conforms to the same attitude and politics. There isn’t much political debate or discussion because it is perceived as preaching to the choir. I encountered it mostly in my church, a conservative Protestant church. They couldn’t fathom that someone would embrace a different view or different politics so never raised the topic.
I reside in two distinct areas...rural and comfortable suburban. Rural..no one hides their political leanings and Suburban...they overwhelming hide it. Breakdown is easy to assess and evaluate when I look at election results in detail.
How politically outspoken are most people in your rural/small town community?
Our little west Texas town has about 1200 people but I've not even driven through there for the past two months so your guess is as good as mine. Posting anything political on my farm property would be useless because there's no one who would see it except the post lady or possibly county workers. I'm not sure either would take note of it.
On a local level, I am MUCH more concerned about local issues than national ones. The people around me are salt of the earth folks that I absolutely respect on local matters. I might disagree with them on national politics, but none of us have meaningful impact there, so why debate the number of angels on pins and get upset about it?
Most folks in my county share the same point of view, so no real arguments or problems. There are Trump Country signs and bumper stickers all over the place.
So it's a very civil, welcoming and courtious place to live.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KCZ
It seems the outspoken people are the self-righteous ones who are chronically offended by everything around them. The rest stay quiet because it's not worth the aggravation of arguing. It wasn't like this until the area had an influx of people from sub/urban areas about 15 years ago.
These two sum it up. Esp the chronically offended.
My very rural northern Midwest state and little town of 1100 people rarely show any political signs. It voted around 90% Trump. So the only political signs I’ve seen are Trump signs, banners or pickups with big Trump flags. It’s a very quiet, friendly, crime free, safe town. Funny how that happens.
We're not outspoken . We quietly fly our Trump flags with occasional toots of the horn in support.
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