very good read on why trump won. not liberal not conservative

[JSt0rm]

Its worth a few minutes...

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/

 

[blankslate]

thanks for the heads up. I actually find their site videos and articles interesting when I watch/read them.

e2a

finished reading it. there are things to think about in there.


___________

 

[Sunburn74]

The map was very telling and sad at the same time. The reality is 62% of Americans live in cities and it's growing but huge swaths of land are essentially the wild west out there. A big city like Boston or Chicago is as strange to them as the jungles of South America.

If you go to college, what does rural life really have to offer you? There is a real brain drain as well in these Midwest states. Their best and brightest go to college and relocate to the coasts and other big cities. Entrepreneurship suffers as a consequence and as populations dwindle everything suffers (you need a critical mass of people to be able to sustain a town).

Rural folk may be upset about being left behind but who's really to blame? I'm a bleeding heart about a lot of things but man, I put the blame purely on the government's of these rural counties and states and the people who continue to elect them. They are desperate and hungry for better lives but to think it has come to this... Trump may very well be the last president we ever elect. We have elected a complete neophyte to a position that requires the most skill utmost skill out of anger, fear and disgust at each other. God help us if we go to war.

 

[SP33Demon]

Solid article.

 

[repoman0]

Solid article.

Agreed.

 

[Sunburn74]

He writes a second article called don't panic which is excellent and a must read for progressives.

http://www.cracked.com/blog/dont-panic/#

He writes "I personally believe it will, that this will be remembered as the dying last gasp of the worst part of America, one final stand against the bigotry and ignorance that has plagued us since the day we decided to build this nation on the backs of slaves." Powerful words I think.

I agree with him that the GOP is probably still dead as all signs and evidence pointed to even months ago. In terms of stages of truth, this is the violent opposition and uprising. This is the angry mob threatening Galileo with execution.

 

[UNCjigga]

Here are a few other good reads my nephew shared with me that may strike your fancy:

By the Numbers:
How Hillary Clinton Lost

From the Right:
"Obama: The Democratic Disaster"
"Identity Politics in America: A Moratorium"

From the Left:
"It’s now on America’s institutions — and the Republican Party — to check Donald Trump"
"Homeless in America"

 

[Ken g6]

Hm. I'm seeing the main problem as "there are no big industries in small towns anymore". But, these days, what big industries - meaning big in terms of employment - can there be anywhere? Robots are taking over instead. Farming is done by robots (meaning robotic tractors). Assembly line work is done by robots. Mining - well, it depends on the mine. Strip mining is now done by robots - they even have dump trucks that drive themselves.

Is there any kind of industry left that can employ hundreds to thousands of workers in one place? Call centers, maybe? (The robots are coming for them too, and they're named Siri and Alexa.)

 

[MrSquished]

Sounds like something written by a guy deep down tied to his rural roots.

 

[SearchMaster]

If you go to college, what does rural life really have to offer you? There is a real brain drain as well in these Midwest states. Their best and brightest go to college and relocate to the coasts and other big cities.

Isn't this attitude pretty much exactly what the article says was the problem for the left last night?

I grew up in the suburbs of a decent sized (college) town of ~200K people. After college, I got a job in Atlanta and lived in the city for a few years. I hated it. I didn't like apartment living and could not afford a house with any land. I moved a little further out into the 'burbs, and still hated the traffic, congestion, etc. It's just not for me.

I now live in a small town. I have a lot of land, a lake in my back yard, and it's a relaxing way of life. Getting my kids to school or running to get some shopping done may take a little longer than it does for you, but I don't sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic the whole way either. Our small town is ~15 miles of another small (but larger) city. Is it a redneck, hick area? Maybe in your opinion, but the county is one of the highest per capital income in the state - not exactly poverty-stricken.

To me, that map is disturbing in the opposite way.

 

[IronWing]

I visited my sister in rural Wisconsin last month. I hadn't been back in years. One stark change I noticed was that the pace of farm consolidation had exploded. Parts of Wisconsin that had been dominated by small to middling sized family farms were rolled into California style mega-farms. The children of independent farmers are either working for the mega-farms as hirelings or are out of farming. It creates an identity crisis and resentment. Traditionally most farm kids have been pushed off the farm as only one kid could inherit the farm but that is a reason that could be understood. The market forces pushing entire families out of farming are global and seem conspiratorial from the ground level.

 

[sxr7171]

Great article and I can agree from experience (travel to rural areas for work reasons). These people are not racist nor are they anything that city bubble living kids like to think. They are just upset about their jobs being gone. He came and got them riled up and now he's president elect. Racism has nothing to do with this.

It's just city people acting like electing him makes a difference to race relations. He's a New Yorker. Get real here. The stupid arguments I've read here with doom and gloom as if his task is to execute a million gays or something. This is purely about economics and for the first time ever somebody understood them. They are good people maybe a bit misguided about basic economics but they are not racist.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

That attitude might be the problem for Dems, but it doesn't make them wrong. Shielding people from reality because their too attached to their ideal little bubbles isn't healthy. A good parent doesn't let their 40 year old son stay in the basement, play video games, and drink Koolaid as if the child was still 10, even if that was the best time of his life. The real lesson is that pandering has its limits beyond which you're only creating more of a problem.

 

[OverVolt]

The world constantly fluctuates between nationalism + protectionism and globalism and trade.

How many times have you read in a history book "And then trading started between X and Y and it was the dawn of a golden age for XXX - XXX years."

Why doesn't the silk road still exist? (The real one, with China) for example.

Have you ever thought... why weren't they trading before? Well... relations break down. Things change. Finance systems change. The logistics change. Demands and consumer needs change. Lifestyles change. Its as good as done that we are entering a global trade depression of some sort. Honestly the smart move is to pull back on global trade and start being more self sufficient. At least we have 3.8million square miles of resources. This would happen regardless of wether or not the democrats won. The democrats could just keep it going a bit longer, but is it worth it if everyone else starts taking advantage of us and starts going nationalistic themselves? Everything is intertwined from the tenous relationship between the US and China to the Brexit and rising tensions within the EU as it pulls at its own seams. Its all tied together.

When tensions were high all it took was one bullet to start WWII. That was about 70 years ago. Really not that long ago. The world is not all cupcakes and sunshine and just the fact that people are arguing about... in the grand scheme of the world... very petty things... should tell you the cultural climate we enjoyed the last 20 or so years is not long for this world.

This would happen regardless of who was elected. Trump just makes it so we aren't fools getting ripped off in global trade. The democrats would have bled us dry. It really makes no difference. Prepare for a depression and self-sufficiency. If we buck up and are prepared it could be the best thing to happen to us really. We're a resource rich, large, industrious and educated nation. We'll be fine. Global trade is circling the drain no matter what we do. Global wages have basically equalized out as much as possible considering the standing disparity between values, education, etc. between developed and developing nations

If Hillary were elected instead of taking the bull by the horns as Trump is likely to do, she would probably suffer from a lack of confidence in global dealings. Nobody would want to work with her and nobody would trust her. Confidence in globalism is honestly eroding anyway. Either president has been handed a flaming bag of shit.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

What is an example of a current nation that is doing well because of self-sufficiency? If it naturally works, why do governments have to impose tariffs and other trade barriers (i.e. disincentives) in order to maintain it?

And global wages are far from having already equaling out. China and other productive parts of the developing world have exploding middle classes, yuuuuge success. And now China is in turn developing Africa and providing them with jobs and work in ways that annual aid packages have never done. Free trade is the shiggity.

 

[skull]

Sounds like something written by a guy deep down tied to his rural roots.

Really? I could only stand half of it he sounded like a bitch. This article has nothing on me, born and raised in the city. All country, everyone around me thinks I'm a hillbilly but I'm stuck here in they city getting her done. Fuck hillary, fuck trump and all you dumb fucks.

 

[Sunburn74]

Isn't this attitude pretty much exactly what the article says was the problem for the left last night?
I grew up in the suburbs of a decent sized (college) town of ~200K people. After college, I got a job in Atlanta and lived in the city for a few years. I hated it. I didn't like apartment living and could not afford a house with any land. I moved a little further out into the 'burbs, and still hated the traffic, congestion, etc. It's just not for me.
I now live in a small town. I have a lot of land, a lake in my back yard, and it's a relaxing way of life. Getting my kids to school or running to get some shopping done may take a little longer than it does for you, but I don't sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic the whole way either. Our small town is ~15 miles of another small (but larger) city. Is it a redneck, hick area? Maybe in your opinion, but the county is one of the highest per capital income in the state - not exactly poverty-stricken.
To me, that map is disturbing in the opposite way.

I'm not saying that from a point of attitude or judgement but from a point of fact. Urbanization is continuing to happen not because of attitude but because of plain market forces. Most college people with degrees in hands are looking for a variety of jobs and opportunities and for a variety of jobs to be present there needs to be a critical mass of people (if you're interested in being a somelier in example that job only is viable after a ton of other jobs are filled. If a town is small enough, even basic jobs like teaching or running a restaurant can be non-viable). Most of the growth in this country is happening around the coasts. This is not just population but also in terms of economics and job development. The middle of the country is wilting and also experiencing a brain drain.

As for your example, I would say you moved back to an area with a high per capita income , but those aren't the types of places I am talking about. I'm talking about deeply rural counties. Places where if you call the police you have to actually tell them how to find you because the maps aren't that detailed. You have a college degree. If the income is as you described, your county probably voted blue. Such places are not uncommon just 1 or 2 hours outside of major cities. People with money and degrees go to these areas basically avoid the rat race and ride it out but can still enjoy the big city from time to time. I'm talking about people who haven't been to a big city in 2-5 years, maybe more.

 

[Imp]

The article makes sense. I've been reading celebrity Twitter comments and a lot of talk about racists, misogynists, whatever. They said the same thing after the Brexit vote. No, it's not that simple. There are racists and women haters who voted for Brexit/Trump but not every one was and being so dismissive is how your side lost.

P.S. I'm a dirty libtard -- except liberals are usually the only ones who give me shit here when they infer the wrong thing from shit I say.

 

[JSt0rm]

The article makes sense. I've been reading celebrity Twitter comments and a lot of talk about racists, misogynists, whatever. They said the same thing after the Brexit vote. No, it's not that simple. There are racists and women haters who voted for Brexit/Trump but not every one was and being so dismissive is how your side lost.

P.S. I'm a dirty libtard -- except liberals are usually the only ones who give me shit here when they infer the wrong thing from shit I say.

Quiet you fucking imp.

 

[Jaskalas]

Its worth a few minutes...

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/

Well that was amazing.

People ask, what economic devastation? Right there in plain sight!
The past ~40 years has reshaped America and outright killed rural jobs. No one can change that.
Inequality and offshoring skyrocketed together. Costs rise, wages stagnate. It's a recipe for revolution.

Even if the battle for jobs could be won. It would only be in time to build that new factory... for a robot, not a worker.
The revolution we need is not a look back at America's economic golden age of the 50s and 60s.
What we need is to move forward, and that will not be done on some middling center ground.
We need a revolution the likes of which goes beyond even Bernie Sander's wildest dreams.

 

[JSt0rm]

i feel bad for them because trump can't fix this.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I'm one of those country people. From what I've seen is that we are sick of the lack of morality as much as anything. I won't get into it as it's not politically correct anymore to live your life with any morals. And yeah watching jobs being shipped out to China doesn't help either. I keep hearing well robots. Sorry to inform but I go to factories around the Dallas Fort Worth area on a regular basis as I'm a truck driver. I've yet to see this fully automated factory full of cheap robot labor.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

i feel bad for them because trump can't fix this.

At least Trump will try. We've already seen your candidate fail to make any changes in 30 years. So I'll take the guy at least willing to give it a go.

 

[soundforbjt]

i feel bad for them because trump can't fix this.

Didn't you hear him...he's the only one who can. He alone has the answers to all our problems.

 

[Jaskalas]

Sorry to inform but I go to factories around the Dallas Fort Worth area on a regular basis as I'm a truck driver. I've yet to see this fully automated factory full of cheap robot labor.

It's called the immediate future. It's not some far off dream. It's reality in progress, that is currently being developed, tested, and produced. Within 10 years there will be automated trucks on the road, as they are already being tested. In 20 years there will not be a single truck driver. LA Times thinks it'll be sooner.

You think factory workers are safe?
I am sorry you cannot see tomorrow, but I'm willing to give you basic income. Are you willing to vote for it? No? You will be.