I know you don’t reply to comments, but in another article, you talked about your local Democratic Club’s Rural Bluestorming Tour (adding you did not know your city was rural). I can’t know for sure, but I still have the impression that you live in a small town/city at least 50 miles away from a large city. If so, you are a rural liberal – welcome to the Rural Resistance.
There are 19,502 incorporated cities, towns and villages in America. 16,410 had a population under 10,000. Only10 American cities have a population of one million or more.
Back in the 1970s I was involved in the New Urbanism Movement. In the mid-1980s I moved to a small, rural area in California where I began working on planning. Suffice to say, the land-use and planning process in rural communities is a complete fluster-cluck. Moreover, its effed up for the same damned reason small businesses, poor people, people of colour and women are getting screwed so badly. The same reason also drove rural Americans into the Republican Party and Trump’s world.
Unfortunately, too many state and national politicians still operate on the “greater-good” logic (meaning they sacrifice the few, to save the many). To understand how sick this logic is, General Douglas MacArthur, Secretary of War Henry Stimson, General Dwight Eisenhower and the top Manhattan Project scientists strongly opposed dropping the atom bomb on Japan. Nonetheless, President Truman ordered two atom bombs dropped on Japan. In Truman’s mind, he was serving the greater good, by sacrificing the few, to save the many. Today, we know better.
Today, we know that the logic of the “greater good” is a trait of a psychopathic brain (link below). Nonetheless, state and national politicians, especially the older ones, still operate on the “greater-good” logic. To them sacrificing the few, to save the many is good and right and moral. As a result, these politicians cater to BIG populations, BIG corporations, BIG money, BIG name politicians, and BIG cities. In the name of the “greater good” these politicians sacrificed rural Americans and our communities to serve the many.
The collective power of rural Americans in Washington DC, state capitals and the American people has been declining for decades. Unfortunately, rural communities, towns and cities were too far away from each other, to represent their own collective interests and relied on state and federal politicians to represent them.
In the 1990s, the Democratic Party abandoned rural America. In turn, the Republican Party manufactured a culture war to fill the void. Ever since then, the Republican Party has been using rural voters and giving us nothing in return. In fact, Republicans didn’t just sacrifice rural America, they raped us.
Its time rural liberals unionized and started representing our common interests. Mr. Sabo, if you are interested in helping build the rural resistance, and are willing to engage in discussion, please contact me directly. Either way, I’m glad you are here, writing.
Here is the link I mentioned about psychopathic brains.
