(no subject)

[mangosteen]

First Approximation: If you had to divide the USA into two political halves, "the urban coastal areas (plus Chicago)" and "everyone else" is a good start.

Second Approximation: The two major groups are actually "those that are forced to acknowledge the existence of the rest of the world", and "those that do not."

I believe that the vast majority of the people in the world just want to get on with their lives.

I do not believe that you get to be a citizen of the only superpower in the world, and think that you can live in splendid ignorance of the greater world around you, using the excuse of "I just want to get on with my life."

I have a feeling that the residents of the urban coastal areas have a better concept of a larger world, because this is what inevitably happens when there's a constant high proabability of meeting someone who does not share have same political perspective or priorities as you.

Oil, Sprawl, and Empire all have externalities. It's the fact that the more unpleasant externalities lie outside of the national borders that insulates much of the USA from the outside world.

This reads horribly. I'll stop now.

Comments

[scromp.livejournal.com]

I think you underestimate a lot of us who don't live in urban coastal areas. It just isn't that black and white.

[mangosteen]

Of course not. That's why it's an approximation, of which you'd probably need at least another 10 or so with much finer divisions (qv. The Nine Nations Of North America) to come even close to something that you and I could agree on as accurate.

The question is, if there's a "middle america", what is it, and where is it located?

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, those in urban(ish) coastal areas are not immune from daily displays of insular stupidity either...

[mangosteen]

Indeed. There are exceptions everywhere. It's not a "smart" and "stupid" thing, though. It's about the definition of "this" in "this is my world".

[tisiphone.livejournal.com]

True, it's simply an "insular stupidity" thing. Which is different from normal stupidity, in that it depends more on a narrowness of world view and exclusion of POV rather than actual stupidity (which is easier to forgive, since it can't be helped). Plus, I'm a bit warped from living in NH so long.