I live in maybe the most progressive town in Nebraska, and I see this attitude prevails here as well. The deal is, I see it mostly among the older generations. Ask anybody under 40 and your reaponses are going to be much more of a mixed bag.

Long read but something I have heard over and over for years. This movement is happening in other places as well. Education is a resource, pure and simple. The Yankees had industry and the south had agriculture (cotton). This was the cause of the Civil war. Agriculture, because it is tied to the land and local always lags in knowing what is going on in the world and being somewhat self-sufficient they do not understand the idea of societies needing to bond. Rural is always more conservative than urban.

When people are poor and have to struggle they tend to look to another life past this one. I can understand that. What I have a problem with is that the rich use that need as a way to gain power and control. Overpopulation has a big role in this as it reduces the available resources (we live on a finite planet). I see a common thread among all the country's that are having this problem is excessive (that word is important) immigration. People see outsiders competing with resources in their own backyards and get angry. I experienced this in Germany when the Soviet Union was crumbling and afterward when the wall came down and the E. Germans fled to the West only to see low skilled being taken by non-Germans.

I know I am going to take a lot of hits on this, I always do but I strongly feel immigration should not be emotion based about individuals and but reason based on policies that affect societies.

"The real problem is that rural Americans don’t understand the causes of their own situations and fears and they have shown no interest in finding out. They don’t want to know why they feel the way they do or why they are struggling because they don’t want to admit it is in large part because of the choices they’ve made and the horrible things they’ve allowed themselves to believe."

Shout it from the mountaintops. Great link, ty for the share.

I heartily concur. Deliberate ignorance is just as deadly as poison.

I found no specific fault with the article, though I think it stresses some points unnecessarily. All in all, it appears to be spot on. I am concerned for my country because of the directions it seems to be going. Very disturbing.

By the way, @Freespirit64 if you love motorcycles and horsies and bunrabs, you're okay in my book.

I agree with your observations!