In the popular imagination of many Americans, particularly those on the left side of the political spectrum, the typical MAGA supporter is a rural resident who hates Black and Brown people, loathes liberals, loves gods and guns, believes in myriad conspiracy theories, has little faith in democracy, and is willing to use violence to achieve their goals, as thousands did on Jan. 6.
According to a new book, White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy, these aren’t hurtful, elitist stereotypes by Acela Corridor denizens and bubble-dwelling liberals… they’re facts.
The authors, Tom Schaller, a professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and Paul Waldman, a former columnist at The Washington Post, persuasively argue that most of the negative stereotypes liberals hold about rural Americans are actually true.
Sorry, one more thought. No one ever voted for “let’s impoverish rural america” just like no one ever voted for “let’s make sure teachers can barely afford to live on their salary, while also expecting them to be the primary source of education for literally everyone in the country.” Teachers (and many other groups) have a lot of righteous anger too. I don’t see them doing what maga is doing, and I wouldn’t expect them to get a pass if they did.
While I am more than OK laying much of this at the feet of corporate greed, I’m less so inclined to lay much of it at the feet of average non-rural folks just trying to get to work and feed their families every day. As you say - they’ve got the same requirement to do so as the magas.
I wrote what I wrote because there are a number of people here concern trolling, literally demonizing magas. That’s a right-wing division tactic and does not reflect the reality of the situation.
We as a country did this – but not knowingly. Did anyone outside of government really understand what Citizens United would do, or that the Supreme Court of that time would choose that course? There was a LOT of government dishonesty that led up to that, just like Lee Atwater is personally responsible for much of the hatred and division we are now reaping in society. We may not have voted for the end result, but as a country, we did choose our course, and I’m just as responsible as anyone else of voting age in those days.
But that doesn’t make right-wing voters stupid, or inherently less-than, anyone. Look at that chucklehead who responded to my post with this bullshit:
That’s right-wing hate dressed up in a “liberal” cause.
In the end, magas are propagandized, and the pressure in their communities to remain so is immense. Yet they are individually just as responsible for their own choices as you are, or I am.
That’s a fair point of view that I can’t argue with!
That’s pretty much what I was trying to set forth with my first comment, but I’ll do my best to make it clearer from the outset next time. I thought your comments were fairly well balanced too; it’s damn difficult to communicate nuance these days, so mad props to anyone who even tries. Thank you for telling me, it’s very kind of you to acknowledge. I’m kind of shocked (but in a good way, lol).