I’ve lived in cities most of my life. I’m now in a very rural area.
Yeah, it’s economically dead. I have to drive 45 minutes to get to work. I’m not super enthusiastic about that. Rents aren’t really that much lower than in the cities, because there really isn’t much available to rent, other than a trailer that might or might not have utility hookups. I understand a lot of the points that the guy makes.
On the other hand, yeah, there’s overt racism here, and overt homo- and transphobia. Yes, local lose their goddamn minds over the thought that a trans person might need to pee, or play sports. My state is passing laws to prevent libraries from having any books–other than the bible–that even mention sexuality, or the possibility that LGBTQ+ people exist. One county south of me was a sundown county up until the 80s (!!!); in the 20s. Nearly every goddamn public official in my county ends their term of office by going to prison for some kind of corruption on embezzlement; people see that as just the way shit goes.
I do agree that many city people have lost the ability to be self-reliant in any meaningful way, or even reliant on small, self-defined communities. Most people I know in cities can’t do basic auto maintenance (maybe because they have no place to work or tools, but often no interest as well), certainly don’t do home maintenance (which, yeah, if you rent, that’s risking eviction), they certainly don’t hunt (I don’t either yet, to my chagrin), and many of them don’t do any significant cooking. They’re usually more reliant on systems rather than other people; there’s a breakdown of community in cities, with people feeling less connected to each other. And as a former city person, I’m certainly guilty of that now, since I share so fer of the values with people that live near me.
I’ve lived in cities most of my life. I’m now in a very rural area.
Yeah, it’s economically dead. I have to drive 45 minutes to get to work. I’m not super enthusiastic about that. Rents aren’t really that much lower than in the cities, because there really isn’t much available to rent, other than a trailer that might or might not have utility hookups. I understand a lot of the points that the guy makes.
On the other hand, yeah, there’s overt racism here, and overt homo- and transphobia. Yes, local lose their goddamn minds over the thought that a trans person might need to pee, or play sports. My state is passing laws to prevent libraries from having any books–other than the bible–that even mention sexuality, or the possibility that LGBTQ+ people exist. One county south of me was a sundown county up until the 80s (!!!); in the 20s. Nearly every goddamn public official in my county ends their term of office by going to prison for some kind of corruption on embezzlement; people see that as just the way shit goes.
I do agree that many city people have lost the ability to be self-reliant in any meaningful way, or even reliant on small, self-defined communities. Most people I know in cities can’t do basic auto maintenance (maybe because they have no place to work or tools, but often no interest as well), certainly don’t do home maintenance (which, yeah, if you rent, that’s risking eviction), they certainly don’t hunt (I don’t either yet, to my chagrin), and many of them don’t do any significant cooking. They’re usually more reliant on systems rather than other people; there’s a breakdown of community in cities, with people feeling less connected to each other. And as a former city person, I’m certainly guilty of that now, since I share so fer of the values with people that live near me.