Rage Against the Farm Machine
Authors claim the threat to democracy comes from angry rural white Americans
I lived most of my life in rural areas of Indiana and never once realized that I was filled with rage. But apparently I was, according to Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman, a couple of white dudes who wrote a book called White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy.
According to this book, the reason white-skinned folks with our roots in rural America are such a threat is fourfold – we hate anyone who doesn’t look like us, we believe conspiracy theories, we’re Christians who oppose democracy and we would rather fight than peacefully talk things out. Mostly, though, is the unspoken fifth reason – we might vote for the wrong political candidate!
Yes, these two middle-aged white men fear that rural America could put Donald Trump back in office!
Now, in the decades I lived as a rural American I do remember some upsetting issues – frustration when it rained on the day I needed to mow the lawn, a few invectives uttered when driving behind a slow-moving tractor for a mile, grumbling that it was going to take 30 minutes to reach the nearest Staples.
But the only thing I remember that caused real white rural rage was when white liberal elites, whose closest interaction with a rural resident was a trip to a suburban farmers market, started accusing us of things we’re not.
In reality, rural Americans rarely hate anyone, are some of the most patriotic people on earth, are far more likely to know and uphold the Constitution than urban dwellers and are far more peaceful than any inner city in the country. I mean, when’s the last time you heard about a riot and looting taking place in the farm field at the corner of State Road 13 and County Road 36?
If you need assistance when your car breaks down, or you need help of any kind, where are you more likely to find it, in inner city Baltimore or rural Iowa? You don’t even have to think about that answer because rural Americans willingly step up to help anyone. It doesn’t matter if you’re black, Hispanic, gay, straight, a tatted Zoomer or a graying Boomer – you could even be two middle-aged liberal white dudes – if you need help we’ll give it to you. Rural conservatives are far more likely to see a person as an individual, not some blob in a group.
In rural America, helping someone in need is the right thing to do, even if you disagree with their politics and their lifestyle.
There’s a reason, of course, that these guys chose to write about rural whites rather than some other group. What could they expect if they’d picked on another group?
Black Inner City Rage – riots, death threats, being labeled racists
White Liberal Rage – censure, lawsuits, no more invitations to swanky parties
American Muslim Rage – protests, a fatwa issued for their assassination
But if they write about White Rural Rage, they can expect a scolding of “You shouldn’t say such things about us,” while being offered a cup of coffee and a piece of pie.
It turns out that the only group you can accuse of rage without the threat of having rage directed back at you is white rural Americans. We’re just too nice for that.