A new book shows how many supposed “elitist stereotypes” of rural MAGA voters are true—and backed by hard data.

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.

  • circuscritic@lemmy.ca
    23·
    10 months ago

    Get fucked. These people are products of poverty and the system that is designed to fail them.

    This is just Democrat/Liberal PMC propaganda to help them feel better about their abandonment of the working class people of America for the benefit of their donor class.

    Then they have a shocked Pikachu face when the people they left to stagnate and rot, turn out to be the shitty products of their environment aka the neoliberal hellscape of modern day America.

    And now that they are shitty people, we can just forget all about how we got here, and put all the blame on them.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
      40·
      10 months ago

      the people they left to stagnate and rot,

      Part of the problem is that they continue to vote against their own interests, making it impossible for the left to help them, as they continue to vote Republican.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
      16·
      10 months ago

      I fully agree with you here that we’re not having a conversation about what produces these people. I have parents that are quite terrible people, but I can see what made them that way. They’ve watched their savings and pensions evaporate and their job opportunities dwindle. They feel strongly that the government doesn’t support their interests and share the feeling that most Americans have that the system isn’t working. They don’t feel represented.

      Supporting Trump and other ridiculous conservative positions is their way of lashing out. It’s not a productive response, but I feel that this disenfranchisement is a major driver that creates these people. They are Americans too, and we should be asking what we can do to build unity and improve America for everyone.

      Yes, they are still responsible for their actions. However, I think that it’s equally bad to ignore the factors that are producing these people in mass. I prefer to view these people as misinformed children who rather hurt others than fix problems.

      • snooggums@midwest.socialEnglish
        31·
        10 months ago

        Supporting Trump and other ridiculous conservative positions is their way of lashing out.

        Worshipping the personification of the system that fucked them over is the stupidest reaction possible.

        • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
          15·
          10 months ago

          I agree with you. It’s really stupid. But remember, half of people are below average. We’re not going to get away from having lots of stupid and gullible people in our country. We have to build a system where they aren’t so easily manipulated.

          • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
            5·
            10 months ago

            Unfortunately, the right wing also wants to gut education. Education could help people avoid some of the idiocy of the right wing.

      • krashmo@lemmy.world
        13·
        10 months ago

        Except that they’re not misbehaving children, they’re fully grown adults with agency to make their own decisions. An asshole with shitty parents is still an asshole.

    • zettajon@lemdro.idEnglish
      6·
      10 months ago

      What I can do for rural Americans is vote for Democrats that will raise my taxes and use them to fund these poor states. Then they pull shit like this. Their local GOP parties and the voters that agree with them are evil to do that to kids. Rince and repeat for expanding Medicaid, etc

    • shikitohno@kbin.social
      2·
      10 months ago

      Then they have a shocked Pikachu face when the people they left to stagnate and rot, turn out to be the shitty products of their environment aka the neoliberal hellscape of modern day America.

      I mean, the Democrats didn’t really leave these people to rot, they’ve largely been prevented from doing anything to help them since rural areas vote so overwhelmingly Republican. What do you really expect the Democrats to have done when it’s the other party these folks keep electing to represent them? They effectively say they want the policies that have left them so exposed and disadvantage, then they have a shocked Pikachu face that “those darn liberals haven’t done anything to help us.” Heck, even in broad terms, their voting habits have screwed all of us by preventing broadly popular things like universal health care or drug reform from going forward because of the disproportionate power the self-destructive votes they cast wield at the national level. My sympathy for them is extremely limited, and my patience at their insistence in making everyone else suffer for their god-awful politics has long since run out.