Americans are tired of being told they are bad. So tired of the divisive labels, put in place to weaken us, and to make us mirror the incessant bratty behavior of many in the Media. Little wonder why there’s no cross over between the media personality who makes us feel great about America, versus one who thinks the “flyover states” are full of bitter envy.
Have you ever seen kids fight? The escalation just ratchets up to the point that the fight becomes the reason FOR the fight. They don’t even remember what they’re fighting about, they just want to win. That’s the direction our nation is headed. The media encourages this because it feeds their bottom line, encourages viewership, and they can spin it to support their agendas.
They fill the space with noise and chaos, but the room is empty of substance. We NEED substance.
Is there any wonder that almost 2/3 of the people polled after the SOTU had positive feelings about what the POTUS said? It’s not surprising that the positive affirmation of what our country is (more importantly WHO our country is) had resounding success. We long to feel unified with our neighbors. Americans don’t care that their neighbor doesn’t look like them. Only that they share the interwoven values supporting the fabric of our communities. Fairness, honesty, loyalty, mixed in with respect for a good day’s work. Be the work is under a car or overlooking the skyline.
One of the most popular TV shows was “Dirty Jobs“, with Mike Rowe. I didn’t tune in to watch how to clean bat poop (though interesting), but to feel connected. I have never cleaned bat poop, but as a nurse, I wiped plenty of booties. I can commiserate about dropping off my clothes in the garage because the overwhelming stench was too much for the house. Watching the show left me happy and enlightened. There was nothing to be offended about, and no offense to give. Only shared pride in doing an essential, yet decidedly, unappreciated job.
I am not remotely surprised that his new show “Returning the Favor” is a success. Rewarding people who better their communities is a good thing. He doesn’t limit the reward to only one type of group or political affiliation, but rewards the acts and outcomes that help everyone in the community.
This is appealing, and I think most Americans can relate because they care about their neighbors. Our empathy isn’t based upon a political affiliation. The politicians and media would have us do it. They want us to label ourselves and others as a means of dividing us. My neighbor ceases to be Juan, but becomes the Mexican-American next door. The ladies on the corner are no longer Samantha and Brenda, but the same-sex couple who must only be identified by their sexual preference. Giving them labels removes individuality, and places them in a group. On “Returning the Favor” people are just good humans. Period.
“Become like us to be happy!” is the view of those who swallow the divisive swill. On the surface this idea is contradictory, because the media and politicians love diversity. The first thing they note is that others are different from them, and theirs is the only path to group cohesion. You must become like them, or chaos will reign. No meeting in the middle, no change on their part. You are welcome only after you shed your individuality and join them with a pre-assigned label. “You can be an individual, but first check this pre-sorted box and get your designation….”
Bill Maher is a great example of this ethos. He states it very plainly that Americans living anywhere but Blue Bubbles are miserable and filled with envy. I beg to differ, Mr. Oblivious. I will happily trade my DC lifestyle for a place where I can take someone at their word, over a 20 page contract. A place where my neighbors watch my house for safety instead of casing it when I leave. A school system where my kids aren’t imbibed with the idea that success is found only at the end of a 4-year degree.
I’ve lived in some really small towns (Thanks USMC!), in really Red dots. The experiences I took away are that people pull together. They know their neighbors, and help strangers. Need proof? Compare the outcome of Hurricane Katrina in solidly Blue New Orleans, to Hurricane Florence in very Red Eastern North Carolina. In Eastern North Carolina … Looting…. Not really. Gangs causing mayhem…ah, nope. Some parts were without power for a month or longer. There was no Hollywood concert to raise money for rebuilding. People helped their neighbors. Strangers became friends, and friends became family. The places you call flyover country, filled with bumpkins who lack for not living in your Blue Bubble …. They pulled it together and made it through as a group.
This is what you don’t understand Mr. Oblivious. You imply that the way to happiness is through access to art made possible by public grants (funded via the taxes forced on those undesirable envious little people). Your cosmic Blue Bubble head can’t understand that “educated doesn’t mean smart.” Presuming that the people who live in Blue Bubbles all enjoy the perks of your rarified air is ignorant of the reality.
Those Blue Bubbles you claim as the best places ever …. Well, they are pretty much not that way for the lower income people who live there. Income inequality is greatest in the Blue Bubbles. “Oh, but there are more wealthy people in Blue Bubbles….” Yeah, and how’s their influence working out for those below them? It’s not. The only way most people ever see “Public funded Art” is by working your cocktail party. If there was no feeling of envy within your own Blue Bubble, AOC would still be slinging drinks in a dive bar. The reason a Socialist was elected in a Blue Bubble is because your system fails to care about anyone outside of your tiny group.
There’s a reason that the people living in those flyover states don’t elect Socialists! It’s because they take care of their friends and neighbors. A community filled with bumpkins understands the value of the individual, and supports it. Understands that the entire community shares a fabric and keeping it strong is essential. They don’t visit a public art show with ” The Starry Night” on display. They sit around a backyard cookout and see the real thing. When is the last time you saw anything real?
It’s obvious that you are enjoying life in a Blue Bubble. Being carted around like some prized goat. You don’t walk those busy streets or ride a crammed car on the subway. You ride in a Limo. Or a private jet. You have staff who are paid to endure the drudgery of daily life in the Blue Bubble you claim is so great.
Maybe you ought to get out, and see what reality is like in the Blue Bubble. You can trudge your grocery bags three blocks through the rain, and then up a flight of stairs. You can wait 45 minutes in the freezing snow for the public transportation, hoping to get a seat. How about you wait in an endless line to access the public museum you claim as an indication of culture. Maybe then you will appreciate the “envious” rancher who made your $50 steak possible. The farmer who grew the organic cotton where you rest your inflated head on 1500 thread count sheets. All those tiny minded flyover people who make life possible for the rest of us. If you can’t do this much, then just download some of Mike Rowe’s programs. Then maybe you will understand why people in flyover states are content, far away from your Blue Bubble.
Like you said, Mr. Oblivious, it’s your party and we’re just bitter that we aren’t invited. No worries, I won’t put a turd in the punchbowl because you won’t eat your own kind.
I’ll stick with my kind. The ones who don’t see a label, but a real person. Regardless of any identifying difference.
~Welcome INSTAPUNDIT Readers!
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Slickwilly says: Well stated. Socialism is where the producers are serfs, and the elite live in luxury. This is why Red Diaper Babies like Maher want that system: they get a free ride.
Paul Izzo says: PJM should make the author’s name more prominent. Why does one have to squint to see who the author is?
GWB says: You mean Victory Girls? (Though frequently linked now on Instapundit, they don’t belong to PJM.)
I concur that the theme doesn’t work as well as it might on some screens. But, the author box is always at the bottom of the post, too.
Denver says: socialism: where the needs of the elderly and infirm are taken care of and paid for and people don’t go hungry.
RUKidding says: Yes, for a perfect example, take a good look at Venezuela! Modern socialism in action.
Joe in PNG says: Or Soviet Russia, China, Cambodia, Vietnam, Cuba, Romania, Yugoslavia, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Angola, Nicaragua…
In fact, is there a state where Socialism has actually met “the needs of the elderly and infirm are taken care of and paid for and people don’t go hungry.”?
Note that Scandinavia doesn’t count, because that’s one of the cases where once can truly say “that’s not real socialism”.
You’re absolutely right. Those groups usually die first. Leaving plenty of food for everyone else to fight over. Don’t you dare use a Nordic country with the population of Rhode Island as an example of effective Socialism. If a state like CA can’t make it work, then there is no possible way that the entire population of the United States will have an effective path to Socialism.
*edit: You forgot to mention Socialism’s positive influence on animal control. The system so perfect that it reduces the population of stray dogs.
AnneG says: Denver,you must never have been to a socialist country. Socialism protects the elite, keeps everyone else where they are, and makes all decisions based on how much you deserve of the money. Rare kind of cancer? You die. Cataracts? Do one eye, that’s all you need. Expensive medicine? You die. Ted hose after surgery? Just use ace wraps. You aren’t that important.
I have seen each of these in a Superior socialist country.
Doug Loss says: Wrong on all counts. Want to try again?
SDN says: Yeah, where the healthcare is the Liverpool path.
steveH says: Denver, you need to remember to append the /sarc tag.
Hate_me says: Re: Disaster response; I have to wonder if the difference is an urban/rural one, as opposed to a blue/red one.
I’ve witnessed a few ice storms in dairy country, with a largely politically-diverse community (though, admittedly, it leans right). No one cares what position they hold on taxes or big/small government; I remember lugging a chainsaw to remove the tree that fell in the driveway of the two middle-aged women who lived a half-mile away – it doesn’t matter who they are or what I thought of their lifestyle (I never understood the point of unattractive lesbians), they needed help so I gave what help I could; or the politically-charged, very blue, high school overachiever who still took a minute to knock on my family’s door to ask if we needed anything while he takes his snowmobile to the store – even though we’re not really friends and I have vocally disagreed with almost all of his arguments…
I never liked the “blue/red” or “left/right” dichotomy, as it categorizes and dehumanizes people, fueling that same division you rail against in the article. It also forces people into already-entrenched camps, furthering the “fighting to win” issue over the principle behind the fight.
Doug Loss says: Well, “urban/rural” and “blue/red” are pretty generally the same thing.
Good Question re: Urban or Rural. There was a study done a while ago about charity and whom gave more, Dems or Republicans. Republicans donated more to charity. The best analysis they could offer was not that Republicans were better than Democrats, but that Republicans adhered more to a “boots on the ground” approach, while Democrats viewed a government response as the best solution. Tracking that down to the micro level, it supports the assertion that red dots will have people who pull out a chainsaw to clear a road, and blue bubbles will have someone offering to call the city for tree removal.
Blue/Red was for purposes of comprehension, as well as tying into the video. I think most Americans are solidly purple, with some differential shading on specific topics. I do know a few who are so entranced in their encampment that they will never acquiesce to any other possibility. But the majority…. They want to do their jobs, and live their lives as they see fit.
Scott says: I’d suggest that outside of the mentioned differences, you could also look at the number of people that are already dependent on the govt in those areas, even before the disaster. On top of this, rural folks are probably much more likely to have knowledge / skills that would actually be useful in a disaster situation, vs. urban folks, especially those that have lived in cities for generations.
You can compare Biloxi, MS to NO, LA. Both had similar storm impact, but very different outcomes.
It would certainly make an interesting sociology study.
I’ve lived in cities almost my entire life. I grew up in Orange County, CA and lived there for over 25 years. We had a chainsaw. My dad grew up in LA County. His father was from NYC. We all have chainsaws. Why? Because we had trees in our yard. It’s a mental thing to be prepared for “what if.” It’s also about knowing your neighbors, just in case they don’t have a chainsaw. Neighborhood relationships that should be far more common.
Doug Loss says: It’s also that the non-urban areas tend to still have the concept of the “social compact,” where individuals band together both voluntarily and through limited government to which they “surrender some of their freedoms and submit to the authority (of the ruler, or to the decision of a majority) in exchange for protection of their remaining rights (or maintenance of social organization/social order or as cooperation.”
That probably overstated the concept, but the idea is that in rural areas it’s still generally understood what acceptable and desirable public behavior is, and what it isn’t. In urban/blue areas this general understanding is atrophied or even non-existent.
Joe in PNG says: Is there anything more a sign of being an ignorant, provincial rube than loudly signaling one’s dislike of one’s home nation & culture?
Rose says: Amen
GWB says: “Become like us to be happy!”
You know who else does this? Drug pushers/users. “C’mon, man, join us. You’ll feel so cool/free/enlightened. Set your mind free, man!”
(imbibed with the idea
I think you mean ‘imbued’.)
Eastern North Carolina
Not just those folks. Us Virginians sent aid and comfort, too, and helped them clean up and are helping them rebuild.
Then the Cajun Navy in LA, TX, and other spots. Good America.
They don’t visit a public art show with ” The Starry Night” on display.
I’m gonna disagree. I’ve been to some art museums in small towns – publicly funded ones. The difference is they have Remington and Rembrandt, not Serrano or Pavlensky or whomever. And loads of hicks went into Fort Worth to the Amon Carter museum when they could.
we’re just bitter that we aren’t invited
Nah. Those sorts of parties are always full of pr*cks like Bill. And it’s considered uncouth to give ’em what they deserve. So, it’s no fun at all. You go ahead, Bill, we’ll just hang here with the fun kids.
I truly enjoy your replies. Well thought out and constructed. I look forward to reading them.
PS~
😉
absorb or assimilate (ideas or knowledge).
“she had imbibed the gospel of modernism from Kandinsky”
GWB says: but “imbibed with” would mean “drank in, along with something else”.
Imbibe is a verb where the subject acts on an object:
— Vladimir imbibed Russian Imperialism with his mother’s milk. (Subj Verb Object Prep)
Imbue is a passive verb (I think the term is reflexive) with an object, acting on the subject:
— Vladimir was imbued with Russian Imperialism. (Subj Verb* Obj that is Prep)
(* “was imbued”)
And I like reading your posts.
czrpb says: and certainly not anything about being an asset!
https://www.amazon.com/View-Flyover-Country-Dispatches-Forgotten/dp/1250189993/
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