Sarah Smarsh

And what I would say is, well, there are people who could make it there, but they just don't want to. And that's like being completely, completely left out of the conversation about what sorts of aspirations or goals someone would have for a good and fulfilling life.

And what I would say is, well, there are people who could make it there, but they just don't want to. And that's like being completely, completely left out of the conversation about what sorts of aspirations or goals someone would have for a good and fulfilling life.

Yeah, I think it's an important one. And I want to point out, by the way, that that choice that someone might make or that kind of rearrangement of traditional capitalist value sets in deciding where to hang their hat and how to live their lives.

Yeah, I think it's an important one. And I want to point out, by the way, that that choice that someone might make or that kind of rearrangement of traditional capitalist value sets in deciding where to hang their hat and how to live their lives.

It's important for all of us, including urban and formerly educated folks that people are, you know, something I would like to point out, having grown up in a rural space and living in one again now. Yes, we are a majority urban population now, but 98% of the land of the United States is rural space.

It's important for all of us, including urban and formerly educated folks that people are, you know, something I would like to point out, having grown up in a rural space and living in one again now. Yes, we are a majority urban population now, but 98% of the land of the United States is rural space.

And as someone who sees firsthand what's going on out there in terms of corporations and who's buying that land and what they're doing to it and extracting to it, It's good for all of us if we've got a little bit more of a sprinkle going on, somebody reasonable and sane who has that pride of place that you mentioned, who wants to protect that place. That actually affects all of us.

And as someone who sees firsthand what's going on out there in terms of corporations and who's buying that land and what they're doing to it and extracting to it, It's good for all of us if we've got a little bit more of a sprinkle going on, somebody reasonable and sane who has that pride of place that you mentioned, who wants to protect that place. That actually affects all of us.

If you eat, if you put gas in your car, if you care about the earth and the land that we share. People who are, you know, trying to keep the kind of agrarian lifestyle that is days gone by for a lot of families, but it's still alive and well in some. It's the fabric of our country. And I'm glad that some people are prioritizing being in those places.

If you eat, if you put gas in your car, if you care about the earth and the land that we share. People who are, you know, trying to keep the kind of agrarian lifestyle that is days gone by for a lot of families, but it's still alive and well in some. It's the fabric of our country. And I'm glad that some people are prioritizing being in those places.

Yeah, well, what's wild is for all the electoral college privileging those rural states, as you point out, most folks I know in those parts of the country don't feel represented by their governments either. Part of that is due to just not really resonating with either side in this two-party system. And again, the largely rich people that run both of those parties.

Yeah, well, what's wild is for all the electoral college privileging those rural states, as you point out, most folks I know in those parts of the country don't feel represented by their governments either. Part of that is due to just not really resonating with either side in this two-party system. And again, the largely rich people that run both of those parties.

Also, if you look at when you strip an issue away from those labels R and D and have a ballot measure for progressive ideas like legal weed or reproductive rights, defending those, Medicaid expansion, all down the list, they often pass in so-called red states. So there's something going on there about the identity has now become we're the red state and that's our majority politics here.

Also, if you look at when you strip an issue away from those labels R and D and have a ballot measure for progressive ideas like legal weed or reproductive rights, defending those, Medicaid expansion, all down the list, they often pass in so-called red states. So there's something going on there about the identity has now become we're the red state and that's our majority politics here.

And sometimes that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In terms of now a heightened sense of desire to belong to your place. But that's not necessarily the same thing as reflecting precisely what you believe and want in the world. And that dissonance between political behavior and what people actually believe, you know, that's for sociologists and psychologists to parse. But I know it firsthand.

And sometimes that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In terms of now a heightened sense of desire to belong to your place. But that's not necessarily the same thing as reflecting precisely what you believe and want in the world. And that dissonance between political behavior and what people actually believe, you know, that's for sociologists and psychologists to parse. But I know it firsthand.

I've seen it. Another thing about that kind of wobbly way that we get representation and how the rural folks have more, that red and blue map and that winner-take-all politics that it reflects is so toxic, I think, to our understanding of ourselves, whether you're rural or urban or somewhere in between.

I've seen it. Another thing about that kind of wobbly way that we get representation and how the rural folks have more, that red and blue map and that winner-take-all politics that it reflects is so toxic, I think, to our understanding of ourselves, whether you're rural or urban or somewhere in between.

You know, in most you've probably seen before when someone takes the 50 states and instead gives them a gradient of purple rather than just showing who actually won the state in the way that we run our elections, but rather to actually reflect the sizable political minorities that exist in every state. And they're there in red states, too.

You know, in most you've probably seen before when someone takes the 50 states and instead gives them a gradient of purple rather than just showing who actually won the state in the way that we run our elections, but rather to actually reflect the sizable political minorities that exist in every state. And they're there in red states, too.