Reddit reviews The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker (Chicago Studies in American Politics)

i'm no Republican and not any kind of Trump supporter.

but there is so much fucking truth in this post that it hurts. the people dealing with post-traumatic cognitive dissonance this week are perhaps not ready to hear this, but MAN do we all need to.

Democrats need to do what Trump just got done doing in order to eat their lunch:

Listen to the people in middle America. They are trying to tell you they need help.

do it or you will never carry a Midwestern or Rust Belt state outside of Illinois again in my lifetime.

I would call myself a liberal, but grew up in small town, relatively conservative county. A great start would be understanding where people are coming from, and for that, I would recommend this book : https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Resentment-Consciousness-Wisconsin-American/dp/022634911X

It was written recently by a Madison professor as a series of interviews with rural Wisconsinites after the extreme polarization of the last few years. I learned a lot in my time as a rural journalist, working with town and country officials and getting in invited into people's homes regularly. Even if I didn't agree with what they were saying, I got to know their point of view, and that's what counts.

This is actually some truth to it. Gun Control became an issue when blacks in the 1960s started to get them such as the Black Panthers.

This women interviewed rural communities and discovered a similar trend "I only want welfare benefits for hard-working people who really deserve them" Code for "welfare benefits for my tribe and fuck black people"

https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Resentment-Consciousness-Wisconsin-American/dp/022634911X

This book sums it up well: https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Resentment-Consciousness-Wisconsin-American/dp/022634911X. What people have said is spot-on, but this goes in-depth about the Walker recall and why people in the state can hate Milwaukee (and Madison).

What I get out of this is that Rush:Conservatism as Jon Stewart:Liberalism--considering, analyzing, and mocking both the other side's attitudes--and particularly the other side's preferred media.

But no one serious on the left yields the discussion to the talk-radio or television. Ten years ago, the left was reading Robert Putnam and Thomas Franks; now, in an increasing show of empathy, they're reading even more serious authors.

Where are the Arlie Russell Hochschild, the Katherine Cramer, or the JD Vance of the right? Where are the calm, serious, extended analyses--the book-length treatments, and the informed, sober book reviews?

I'll slip him this book

https://www.amazon.com/Politics-Resentment-Consciousness-Wisconsin-American/dp/022634911X

You bring up a really good point and it's pretty cool that you came to that conclusion based on your own observations. There is actually a lot of research on this at my University, as well as other places, about the rural divide in politics. Most recently, a political science professor at my university traveled to the rural areas of Wisconsin and asked the Trump voters why they voted for him. They gave reasons such as feeling excluded, but they also gave reasons that affected their deep intuitive nature that concerns being self-sufficient and not relying on others for outside help. Another huge part is group morality as a binding factor for families to get through harsh conditions of rural life. The more people in a similar area, the more diversity henceforth, and the lack of common morality spreads across.

I'm not well researched in this area so don't take my ramblings as truth, I would look into the book and other studies/musing about the topic. I'm pretty sure there is plenty out there.

Very interesting topic and I'm really glad you brought up.