The Republican Party is still viable because of so-called “small town values.” Yesterday, inspired by Paul Waldman’s look at Doug Burgum campaign, I began contrasting small town values and big city values. I wound up spending hours listening to videos, reading poems and going back over literature. So much so that I barely had time to make my main point: these so called “small town values” are at the heart of what ails not just rural America, but all of America.
Let’s get real— the idealization of the myth of “small town values” is nothing but the superficial happy face on the narrow, closed-mindedness and fear of “the other” that haunts rural America. Bigotry, racism and xenophobia, for example, are the result of insular attitudes and a resistance to embracing diversity and unfamiliar perspectives.
Do I blame rural America for Trump and the GOP? Duh! Before I get lost in more Lou Reed songs about the urban experience, let’s go back to the 2016 election and take another look at these "small town values" and some of the political dynamics and sentiments associated with them. After all, "small town values" manifested politically by allowing the Trump campaign to easily tap into a sense of discontent and frustration among rural voters who felt overlooked or left behind by economic and political “elites” and urban minority groups. Trump's rhetoric and policy proposals resonated with those who were seeking change and perceived him as a champion for their concerns and values. These “small town values” encompass traditional cultural and social norms that give the GOP an opportunity to appeal to voters who feel a sense of cultural anxiety and want to preserve what they view as traditional American values, such as a focus on faith, family, and community.
At the same time, Republicans use dishonest tropes to appeal to voters in rural areasin economic decline with debilitating job losses due to factors like globalization and automation. Trump's emphasis on protectionist trade policies and promises to bring back manufacturing jobs struck a chord with voters who felt the effects of these changes in their communities, even though he did nothing to make their situations any better and GOP policies are never geared towards the root causes of rural decline. Instead the GOP exploits small town distrust of the political establishment. They got sucked into the fantasy of an outsider who would challenge the status quo— albeit a dishonest New York City billionaire with nothing but contempt for their and their values. Trump's outsider status and confrontational style appealed to those who wanted a break from the perceived entrenched political class.
The GOP has benefited from a basic flaw in the constitution that— because of a tawdry compromise— gave precedence to the artificially created states over human beings… ie, a Senate that allows 578,803 voters in Wyoming elect two senators, just like 39,237,836 voters in California do leading to a situation where a minority of the population has significant control over legislation and policy decisions, utterly disregarding the will of the majority. Wrap it up in a bow and call it democracy.
Look, the principle of "one person, one vote" is still central to democratic ideals, and equal state representation completely undermines that. It has created a situation where the votes of individuals in smaller states carry more weight than those in more populous states, leading not just to an imbalance but to a complete distortion the democratic process that reactionary and special interests have been able to take advantage of for their own benefit. The equal representation of states has always hindered progress and necessary reforms. It has always allowed a minority of states to block or resist change even when there is a broader consensus or majority support for particular policies or initiatives.
Exacerbating the problem is a serious brain drain from rural areas— a steady talent migration from rural areas to urban areas which has had devastating consequences for rural America. Let’s face it— when educated and talented individuals leave rural areas for cities, looking for better economic opportunities (or to escape “small town values”) it obviously results in a loss of human capital for those communities. The steady departure of skilled workers, professionals and young people has led to a shortage of expertise and skills in areas such as healthcare, education, and entrepreneurship which are vital for the development and prosperity of rural communities. The outmigration of talented individuals has contributed to economic decline in the rural parts of our country. As young, educated individuals have left, there has been a cycle of decreasing job opportunities, innovation and investment, perpetuating economic stagnation that further deters talented individuals from staying or returning to rural areas. The loss of talented individuals negatively impacts community development efforts in rural areas. Skilled professionals are vital to community organizations, local government and social initiatives that promote growth, infrastructure development and quality of life improvements. The absence of these individuals has hindered progress and left rural communities with fewer resources to address their challenges.
And I’ll leave for you to think about how this has affected the gene pool in rural areas, which could also explain how an obvious conman like Trump could be so popular in rural areas.
I want to offer 5 indexes to measure the overall well-being of people in counties in America— the Human Development Index (HDI), a composite measure that incorporates factors such as life expectancy, education, and income to assess the overall development and quality of life within a county; the Well-Being Index, which considers multiple dimensions of well-being, including physical health, emotional health, work environment, social connectedness, and access to basic needs; the county health rankings, which assesses various health factors and outcomes, such as mortality rates, disease prevalence, access to healthcare, and health behaviors, to determine the overall health and quality of life within a county; economic indicators, such as median household income, poverty rates, unemployment rates, and economic growth, can provide insights into the economic well-being and standard of living within a county; and education measures of educational attainment, such as high school graduation rates and college enrollment rates.
Let’s uses those criteria to find the dozen worst shithole counties in America— where no one would want to live if they could escape— and correlate them to how they voted in 2020.
McDowell County, West Virginia- 78.9% Trump
Owsley County, Kentucky- 88.1% Trump
Lake County, Tennessee- 73.3%
McCreary County, Kentucky- 88.0% Trump
Union County, Florida- 82.1% Trump
Leslie County, Kentucky- 89.8% Trump
Pushmataha County, Oklahoma- 84.7% Trump
Big Horn County, Wyoming- 83.5% Trump
Wayne County, Kentucky- 80.4% Trump
Crook County, Wyoming- 88.6% Trump
Latimer County, Oklahoma- 80.9% Trump
Mingo County, West Virginia- 85.2% Trump
Imagine that the people who live in these counties with small town values were your neighbors; you're surround by them; they're everywhere. Imagine if your daughter wanted to marry one of them.
