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.

  • Son_of_dad@lemmy.world
    77·
    10 months ago

    I’m always amazed that a bunch of redneck, Southern, city haters decided that a rich, Manhattan developer was one of them

        • Railing5132@lemmy.world
          19·
          10 months ago

          Hard to give them a decent education when they defund the school systems because ‘muh taxes’ and denigrate their teachers and everything else public Ed ('ceptin the “pride of the town”, the HS football team, because that one QB is gonna git scouted ‘cuz he’ s got a helluva arm)

        • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
          4·
          10 months ago

          Rural America is a wasteland filled with scared, angry, bitter people because WE, as a country, made it that way.

          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.

        • Clent@lemmy.world
          3·
          10 months ago

          They are the cause of their own downfall and reject any ideas that might help them. They deserve no pity. They’ve earned their place in the intellectual hierarchy. The smart ones all leave for cities with no plans to return.

            • Clent@lemmy.world
              1·
              10 months ago

              I’m not sure what your point is. Being a farmer doesn’t make one worthy of worship. It also has no bearing on what I said. Most rural people are not farmers.

              At least you know you’re among the most stupid, so you’ve got that going for you.

              • Jaysyn@kbin.social
                1·
                10 months ago

                The farmers I know, the ones that were able to actually keep their farms, generally aren’t voting for the dumbass who caused crops to rot in their fields.

                • Clent@lemmy.world
                  1·
                  10 months ago

                  You have no idea what I do and do not know.

                  By your own reasoning as you’ve outlined it, you are the one looking in the mirror here.

                  You are presuming a whole lot about me here based on very little, which is hilarious and yet sad.

                  I stand by what I said. Your attempt to disparage me is about you. If you had any interest in proving me wrong, you would be able to do so with facts instead of lashing out at me like a wounded animal.

        • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
          2·
          10 months ago

          Social welfare programs, student loan forgiveness, higher education/tuition reform, minimum wage increases, UBI, single payer healthcare and on and on and on benefit EVERYONE, not just people who vote D or live in blue states. (Barring potential interference from R governors)

          That doesn’t mean there may not be some valid criticism about some of those programs, or that we might not have to experiment over time to get them right.

          But it’s VERY hard to have sympathy for folks who constantly vote against the party who proposes those (imperfect) solutions and participate in the vilification of those programs and that party, especially when they INSTEAD vote for the party who plainly has the interest of only one demographic in mind, and is actively trying to fuck over everyone not in that demographic.

          We can’t even try those things which may help them (and others), because they will never let us.

          Edit: Final para of the article offers a similar summary:

          In short, rural America has made one of the worst deals in American politics—they slavishly support a Republican Party that not only does little to stop their inexorable decline but actually makes it worse.

          The GOP’s anti-abortion agenda means rural maternity wards got shut down. Opposition to public broadband most directly harms rural America, where there is little incentive for private companies to set up service. Republican attacks on higher education have a disproportionate influence on underserved rural universities. And anti-vax attitudes have led to COVID death rates that rival or surpass far denser population areas—an outcome that makes little public health sense but is easily explained by partisan politics.

          Yet, none of this has stopped rural Americans from casting votes for Republican politicians. If anything, their support for the GOP has intensified as Trump has taken control of the party. In 2016, 62 percent of rural America voted for Trump. In 2020, it jumped to 71 percent.

          Paradoxically, the worse things get, the more it increases despondency, disillusionment, and resentment—the three attributes Republican politicians most effectively mine to maintain their support in rural America.

          Rather than offering an agenda for rural development, Republican politicians simply ladle out more steaming hot bowls of resentment and targets for rural anger, be they urban-dwelling liberals, undocumented immigrants, trans kids, beer companies, or the “fake news” media.

          And rural MAGA laps it up.

      • elbucho@lemmy.world
        23·
        10 months ago

        You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.

      • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 months ago

        Are you referencing when Trump said he liked dumb voters? He knew he could get them to vote against their interests, their family interests and anything that would improve their lives. But yeah. “Screw that group of people I think I am better than”

        • Eldritch@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          10 months ago

          Accurately pointing out what they are. In no way implies they have a monopoly. Despite democrats being measurably better by nearly every metric. They are still largely problematic and often do little to actually serve their constituents.

    • BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world
      8·
      10 months ago

      To be fair he went out among them and convinced them of that.

      Maggie Haberman the journalist says that one of the things about Trump that is undeniably genius is his way of charming the people he wants to support him. That’s how he won, by connecting with these people. It is his one singular talent.

    • TengoDosVacas@lemmy.world
      8·
      10 months ago

      They simply deny everything you present to them. Facts do not matter. They are literally living in their own imagination and refuse to accept reality. It is time to reopen the mental institutions and throw them back in, along with the ACLU clowns who let them out to begin with.

            • TengoDosVacas@lemmy.world
              3·
              10 months ago

              By the way, wtf does “less than a month old” mean? How is that relevant? Exactly what gate are you keeping, and by whose authority? How old are you? Were you born in the 90s or after? Do you have any concept of a world before cable news was able to spew nonstop propaganda and the airwaves weren’t saturated with constant radical fascist garbage? I can assure you that there is no possible way that I could be their equal in any way whatsoever. You would probably have nothing to compare to to know that.

            • TengoDosVacas@lemmy.world
              3·
              10 months ago

              I cant help but notice that your path of pacifism and “incremental change” has led to the rapid and accelerating rise of fascism…so until you can come up with a solution that has actually worked historically as well as mine has, you have no business trying to ivory tower your "superiority complex.

      • Clent@lemmy.world
        5·
        10 months ago

        Reagan shutdown the mental institutions.

        Whatever hatred you have for the ACLU is based on your ignorance.

      • octopus_ink@lemmy.mlEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Deleted - you weren’t making the point I thought you were. Still though - yikes.