[clairity]

the circumspection over democracy is as much a consequence of elitism as it is political wrangling.

as a member of the (extra-)educated class, the failure to convince the ignorant masses of our superior ideas and policies lies squarely at our feet. we fail to realize that education and intelligence are differences we magnify in our egos and thrust upon others, without regard to circumstance nor environment. we know better, so why don't they listen to us, their betters?

wedging happens all around. it's most insidious when blinded by (self-)righteousness. clumsy terms like cancel culture and wokeness try to describe/mock this sort of tribalism, but the underlying impetuses those terms describe is a significant contributor to division as well.

[pfraze]

Well, look at the economic reality of rural America. They've been on the losing end of policy for the last 30-50 years. They don't want handouts that lead them to subsist as an underclass; they want a thriving economic base which they can pride themselves on. In the absence of that, the country has self-sorted into an urban/rural divide where almost all the economic activity occurs in cities. "Elites" have failed to appeal to other classes because their only message has been "leave your way of life and join the elites." That's not a bad impulse, but I think we've explored that option as much as we can by now.

I can't say I can prescribe any great solution here, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to bring manufacturing back.

[dkn775]

As a country boy who had to come to the “big city” and leave my hometown behind, I really miss the way of life in the country. Additionally, I come back home occasionally and get this feeling that I’m superior to the lowly bumpkins, even though they know more about engines and tools than I know about statistics. It’s crazy that the wealth gained in the city (which often feels digital, service based, non-physical in nature) imposes this viewpoint. It is what is real and yours that is truly valuable in my opinion.

[clairity]

an interesting economic parallel is that the intellectualization of vast swaths of the economy led to the creation and exploitation of immaterial wealth (to the benefit of urbanites), things like culture and derivatives, rather than material wealth, like food and housing. we even went as far as to vilify the material over the immaterial.

in this way, the rural/urban shift can be understood as an extraction of esteem as much as wealth.