My particular little corner is, I would say, not divided. The 1st congressional district (comprising the counties roughly east of Knoxville) has not elected a Dem rep since 1880. When Tennessee seceded from the Union, East Tennessee tried to secede back out.

IMO Media is skewing/swaying news to what they think they see. The major cities, being the mess that they are, is all that the media types see. Calling these population centers, they ASSUME the rest of the country is a simple reflection of what they see in the city.

Politicians fall into the same thought process. The longer they serve the worse it gets. “Things are horrible here in WDC, they must be bad at home too”.

In addition they need drama to lead the news. More is always better. It doesn’t matter that their drama is a minuscule percentage of reality. Then they start believing themselves. “I know best because I am on top of all this, you just listen, I’ll tell you what to think” (Tom Brokaw ?)

So is the country polarized? Look at a national map of all the counties and which way the 2016 elections went. Big cities blue, everyone else red.

Media centers blue, everywhere else red.

Is this an idea that makes us “safe” for 2020? Don’t ever believe it. Pennsylvania, as an example, has been swayed by Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburg in so many elections that I can’t count them. 2016 was a hard won exception.

quote:

"racists redneck's"

IMO, there are far more racists that are not white.
At least there are more vocal about it.
That includes those with the Jesse Jackson exempt card that frees anyone not white of racism.

Everyone around here seems to get along - white, black, brown, yellow, purple, orange, pink.

But it's the South and everyone is generally more polite, holding doors for each other, stopping to see if they need help when their car is broken down, etc, etc.

Out here in the county no one cares who or what you are as long as you act like you’ve got some sense/don’t steal/etc. In the city with the college kids and the liberal loons that stayed after graduation, there’s a sense of entitlement and an almost palpable air of hostility towards anyone that would dare cozy up to us deplorables.

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
If you were on Facebook, you’d see the divide clear as day.

I stop myself from getting into arguments daily.

Yeah, I don't do the Faceplant thing. So I guess I don't see it.

But in real life, in rural America, I see black and white couples, Hispanic and white couples. Gay couples ( one live down the way from me ). I just don't see much animosity.

Where I live, most are best describe as redneck good ol'boys. I rarely hear racist or derogatory comments about anyone.

I guess that us county folk are just not the intolerant racist that the leftest city dwellers are.

I think that it's a narrative the leftist push to divide us, because devided we are weaker and easier to control.


ARman

You live in a homogenous area whether you think it or not. Most of you neighbors likely have the same moral compass and in general believe in the same things no matter their skin color, private parts, political affiliations, or choice in partners. It's quite likely your smaller community everyone respects each other despite whatever surface differences may be there.

Here in the Black Hills it is rural with a pronounced tourist season which increases the population, traffic, and crowding of facilities, but brings in a lot of money to help support the region. To the east of the Hills are Indian reservations which have their problems, but from the Hills about all I hear are what the news says about those issues. My interactions from going to rodeos and horse races in Indian country are almost non-existant, except viewing the poverty in the housing, etc. and sullen expressions on some of the kids with adults being polite and we'll adults. Rapid City is like a large town with some areas better than others, again the only problems I am aware of are what the ?news reports? Wyoming is 20 miles or so away, and it is open country! Problems around here are to me typical rural, small and isolated, that crop up and are handled. The LEO community is very aware of the drug corridor coming up from Colorado then branching out so maybe that problem will be increasing. All in all we live in a very nice area, with people minding there own business and helpful to neighbors and each other if needed. There is a local fringe compound of Morman radicals (only what I have heard, with the leader in Federal prison) but that appears to have declined in size. This isn't the first place they have been and are moving on slowly to another compound up by Grand Marais, MN.
All in all a good place, with western ranching lifestyle of to me 40 years ago, though more moving here as we did. We have only seen a small group wanting to change things to what they had back where they came from, but who knows down the road?

I think it is out there, and we seem to be partially at fault.

The left is more than willing to move to red states to try to make them blue, or at least purple.

We, on the other hand, insist on trying to "save" blue states, support downright local communism with tax dollars, support draconian gun control with state and local taxes, support illegal immigration through revenue and tax dollars, etc. All the while bitching about how it is the fault of the left.

If the right would simply move out of socialist paradises, stop indirectly supporting communist states with conservative money, we would have majorities in the state houses of red states. There would literally be nothing the left could do. And at that point, it really doesn't matter what the fed does either.

But, we have a lot of our own bankrolling communist regimes, instead of leaving them to crumble on their own. If good people would move out of these states, the divide would work itself out.

Around here any division is pretty subdued. Political agitation seems to be coming from the Left. I say agitation but it's really just irritation. People on the political Right mostly ignore the irritation caused by those on the political Left. However, I do see progress from progressives which is causing more and more intense division

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
Around here any division is pretty subdued. Political agitation seems to be coming from the Left. I say agitation but it's really just irritation. People on the political Right mostly ignore the irritation caused by those on the political Left. However, I do see progress from progressives which is causing more and more intense division

This is a pretty good description of the area we live in. The leftists are far and away more vocal and confrontational than the majority but I don't run into them very often. We see a lot more Obama and Hillary stickers on cars than the opposition which is the majority. I think a lot of that is because leftists want everyone to know where they stand whereas people on the right are more subdued regarding their political leanings.

In answer to the question at hand, yeah there is a divide in this country but it is understated in most regions other than large metropolitan cities on the east and west coasts. I believe that the majority of the total population is right leaning but not as passionate as leftists are regarding their beliefs and that is reflected in elections.

Jim

I live right outside Washington DC in northern Virginia


Yeah, it’s here

My America is divided, between the merely liberal and openly socialist.

Where I live, people are mainly conservative, a MAGA hat won't even raise an eyebrow.

Farm and feed stores are pet friendly, I always CC but it's not unusual to see OC folks in the store.

quote:

Originally posted by AZSigs:
I think it is more of an issue in major cities in Blue States. Cameras role and people scream. Out here protesters get hit in the nuts with police bean bags. Stops protests pretty quickly.

You saw that video, too. Hehehehehehe.

As others have said, cities are Liberals/Progressives, country folk are Conservatives and I'm in Ohio. The big cities always vote Democrat.

The division was intentional and Obama did it.... yet they blame President Trump.

quote:

Originally posted by jljones:
I think it is out there, and we seem to be partially at fault.

The left is more than willing to move to red states to try to make them blue, or at least purple.

We, on the other hand, insist on trying to "save" blue states, support downright local communism with tax dollars, support draconian gun control with state and local taxes, support illegal immigration through revenue and tax dollars, etc. All the while bitching about how it is the fault of the left.

If the right would simply move out of socialist paradises, stop indirectly supporting communist states with conservative money, we would have majorities in the state houses of red states. There would literally be nothing the left could do. And at that point, it really doesn't matter what the fed does either.

But, we have a lot of our own bankrolling communist regimes, instead of leaving them to crumble on their own. If good people would move out of these states, the divide would work itself out.

I moved. They followed me.

My new state is rural-Red with Blue cities that swing the ballot. My block is fairly conservative but I see cars driving around with bumper stickers proudly proclaiming "This car kills fascists!" with door placards supporting the local Democrat candidate.
I prefer to "be the grey man" so I don't rock any stickers but very few other people display anything on their cars that support conservative causes. I assume that is because they know their cars would likely get vandalized.
Silent majority, indeed.

Bruce

Around here taking offense at everything and anything no matter how small or unimportant is a serious sport and actually a job for some. The divide is real.

You can see the insanity pretty plainly in Marquette County. The rest of the UP all voted Trump.

Yes. In Seattle you'd have to carry a gun if you wanted to wear a MAGA hat. We have large and very active Antifa and John Brown Gun Club contingents.

Outside of Seattle it's not quite as bad, but since I work in the tech industry, I have to keep my opinion to myself or risk destroying my career.