Agreed. We all need each other. The common ground of small, every day mundane events, simple conversations wherever we can find them, and #1, listen, really listen...no agenda, if anything, start with the weather, it's always there.
None of us fit in the media’s extreme description of D or R. I was a liberal Republican and was elected twice to public office as one. Democrats who knew me found this a shock. I described myself as a “thinking, feeling Republican.” Why that party? I was born into that party. Everyone in my family was a Republican. When I switched, I became the most fiscally conservative Democrat you have ever met. Out here in the sticks, with a majority Republican constituency, I got elected at the local level because my message of farmland preservation resonated with the locals. If we keep our gaze focused on the local issues, I have found that there is very little upon which we disagree.
I have a happy hour group we meet on Friday's and socialize occasionally. They are all republicans. I've known them for 50 years and they are great people. I hate to say that maturity and education seems to separate us also but that can't be true. Perhaps it's a lack of empathy. Many are stuck on things like guns and immigrants. Some don't vote. But mostly it seems lies are imbedded for years and never change. They seem scared of the government, but Jan 6 is not a problem. Strange.
I wish it were thus. My experience is different because my experience of rurality is informed by living elsewhere. My experience of Appalachia is that rural folks have a major chip on their shoulder, and a big complex rooted in class. I don't see that as much in PA where the unions still have the power to help workers make a good living, and the communities around me are incredibly prosperous. I really enjoy talking to international immigrants, and look forward to your piece on the Romanian guy. P.S. Agree about Greg Gutfield. He just was not nice, at a minimum.
Agreed. We all need each other. The common ground of small, every day mundane events, simple conversations wherever we can find them, and #1, listen, really listen...no agenda, if anything, start with the weather, it's always there.
None of us fit in the media’s extreme description of D or R. I was a liberal Republican and was elected twice to public office as one. Democrats who knew me found this a shock. I described myself as a “thinking, feeling Republican.” Why that party? I was born into that party. Everyone in my family was a Republican. When I switched, I became the most fiscally conservative Democrat you have ever met. Out here in the sticks, with a majority Republican constituency, I got elected at the local level because my message of farmland preservation resonated with the locals. If we keep our gaze focused on the local issues, I have found that there is very little upon which we disagree.
I have a happy hour group we meet on Friday's and socialize occasionally. They are all republicans. I've known them for 50 years and they are great people. I hate to say that maturity and education seems to separate us also but that can't be true. Perhaps it's a lack of empathy. Many are stuck on things like guns and immigrants. Some don't vote. But mostly it seems lies are imbedded for years and never change. They seem scared of the government, but Jan 6 is not a problem. Strange.
I do agree about the chip on the shoulder! Even here I see it. Where does that chip come from?
I wish it were thus. My experience is different because my experience of rurality is informed by living elsewhere. My experience of Appalachia is that rural folks have a major chip on their shoulder, and a big complex rooted in class. I don't see that as much in PA where the unions still have the power to help workers make a good living, and the communities around me are incredibly prosperous. I really enjoy talking to international immigrants, and look forward to your piece on the Romanian guy. P.S. Agree about Greg Gutfield. He just was not nice, at a minimum.