It's not so much stupid as insular.
I grew up in Midwest farming country. My mom still lives there. Highspeed internet ends 15 miles from her house. Rush Limbaugh is on every radio channel and Jesus is on every TV and there ain't nothing else but the farm report.
1/
I grew up in Midwest farming country. My mom still lives there. Highspeed internet ends 15 miles from her house. Rush Limbaugh is on every radio channel and Jesus is on every TV and there ain't nothing else but the farm report.
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The population is largely homogenous, older, white, Christian, and Republican. Conservative by culture and inclination. Every dinky cow town has a veteran memorial and patriotism is simple. God, guns, and cows.
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2/
They're not stupid, but they're not curious either. They eat at the same diner with the same people every morning and have for 40 years. Everybody knows everybody and they don't much like outsiders. They're proud of who they are and they're not interested in change.
3/3
3/3
Again: they're not stupid. Far from it, most of them. Many have advanced degrees -- modern farming isn't for idiots.
And most of them are not bad people. They're decent folks, but the bandwidth into their world is narrow and dominated by dire warnings.
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And most of them are not bad people. They're decent folks, but the bandwidth into their world is narrow and dominated by dire warnings.
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There's a damned hard stubborn streak of individualism runs through this culture. And so when you use words like "multiculturalism" and "socialism," you scare the hell out of them because they see your fancy city ass coming to destroy their entire existence.
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5/
These people LIKE rodeos and country fairs and eating breakfast in the same small diner every morning with the same people for 40 years. They don't want it to change.
The very message of the left is the very thing they fear most.
Change.
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The very message of the left is the very thing they fear most.
Change.
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The more advanced the world gets, the more their way of life will change. For you, that's exciting. For them, it's terrifying. That's why they voted for Trump, because he promised them he'd give them their way of life back.
He lied. They know it. But what else is there?
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He lied. They know it. But what else is there?
7/
You want to reach them? Then you'd better stop thinking that they're stupid and start wondering WHY they cling desperately to Trump -- KNOWING he's screwing them over.
The democrat who figures that out, will win.
8/8
The democrat who figures that out, will win.
8/8
