I grew up in a rural community, began my career as an organizer in small towns, and now lead one of the largest efforts to rebuild pro-democracy, pro-worker civic capacity in rural America. So I can speak with some authority when I say that President Biden, somewhat surprisingly, has ushered in a new economic paradigm that can radically transform the lives of rural people and build a more politically and economically secure future for all Americans.
He calls his agenda āBidenomics,ā a term that will be hotly debated in the months ahead. But what does it mean? And whatās its significance for rural people?
In simplest terms, Bidenomics arguably is the most significant departure in 40 years from the āfree market revolutionā that rose to dominance in the 1980s ā a dramatic alteration to our countryās economic trajectory.
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The combination of executive and congressional action since Biden took office ā from the American Rescue Plan, to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, to the CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act and key executive action promoting competition and protecting workers ā presents greater potential for revitalizing rural communities than anything since the New Deal. These were huge steps in the right direction, and yet rural people are still struggling. The updated Rural Policy Action Report offers a continued roadmap for how to help rural communities, protect the environment and core freedoms, and renew shared prosperity across geographic divides.
To be fair, Republican policies have been horrible for them and they donāt know about that, but thatās two sides of the same coin. I donāt know that liberals have really been able to insert themselves into the rural propaganda space like conservatives have. All they need is some charismatic guy/gal in a folksy voice to talk about family values and the Bible, then just steer it in the direction of loving thy neighbor and taking care of your fellow man. Liberal/progressive values need to be normalized in rural areas and connected to the values they already have. Right now all theyāre really hearing are conservative voices.
It probably doesnāt help that most of the media targeting them is owned by people that want the regulatory state to go back to where it was in the late 1800s so they can become modern-day Rockefellers and Carnegies
Conservatives taking over AM radio stations in the 90s has had an underappreciated and disastrous effect on this country.