12-04-2018, 06:17 AM
A quibble first, and one thing missing.
The Boy Scouts gave a supplementary education when there was a risk of rural colonial skills being lost. They were, but they were obsolete. Youth these days are offered a lot of organized sports, with girl children offered dance and cheerleading as well. This my or may not be ideal, but it does provide a common experience.
I find the difference to be a lack of what is sometimes being called 'feral children'. There is lots of being driven to organized events, organized by adults, and less chance or time and to wander unsupervised.
What you seemed to have missed was the deplorables. The old Republican Party in Bush 43's time may have been an alliance between NeoCon Military, Big Oil and the Evangelists. The NeoCons belief in high tech giving the us superiority was discredited by the need to keep low tech boots on the ground in a modern proxy war. Big Oil no longer dominates as it did in the 43 administration, but only as the other elements of the elite have stepped up. What is left is that the elites and the rural alliance is becoming strained. The rural people are justly unwilling to trust their Washington elites, but will instead give their allegiance to people like Palin or Trump. So far, they have found only people who remain loyal to the elites, who do not drain the swamp but are the swamp.
Two element today are the difference between believing in Reaganomic short term policy and voting deplorably, supporting the Republican Southern Stratagy. Reaganomics just puts an emphasis on the short term and invites the sort of economic disaster that flips the see saw. Deplorable voting maintains white male protestant superiority, and gives those anchored in so called America a chance to be superior to certain minorities. That leads to small government and the lack of services to Those People and perceived independence. Both sets of beliefs as you say are centered in the middle of the country.
I can't say the modern problems didn't lurk in Bush 43's administration, but in some ways the small government and the lack of solving problems that do show more clearly in urban environments drives the difference.
(12-03-2018, 12:42 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: 4. The sorts of shared experiences that youth get are not what they used to be. Being a Boy Scout used to mean something, and it was a common experience among boys of a certain age. It is now a rarity; Scouting takes up too much time, has no dazzle, and demands too much suppression of individuality and indulgence.
The Boy Scouts gave a supplementary education when there was a risk of rural colonial skills being lost. They were, but they were obsolete. Youth these days are offered a lot of organized sports, with girl children offered dance and cheerleading as well. This my or may not be ideal, but it does provide a common experience.
I find the difference to be a lack of what is sometimes being called 'feral children'. There is lots of being driven to organized events, organized by adults, and less chance or time and to wander unsupervised.
***
What you seemed to have missed was the deplorables. The old Republican Party in Bush 43's time may have been an alliance between NeoCon Military, Big Oil and the Evangelists. The NeoCons belief in high tech giving the us superiority was discredited by the need to keep low tech boots on the ground in a modern proxy war. Big Oil no longer dominates as it did in the 43 administration, but only as the other elements of the elite have stepped up. What is left is that the elites and the rural alliance is becoming strained. The rural people are justly unwilling to trust their Washington elites, but will instead give their allegiance to people like Palin or Trump. So far, they have found only people who remain loyal to the elites, who do not drain the swamp but are the swamp.
Two element today are the difference between believing in Reaganomic short term policy and voting deplorably, supporting the Republican Southern Stratagy. Reaganomics just puts an emphasis on the short term and invites the sort of economic disaster that flips the see saw. Deplorable voting maintains white male protestant superiority, and gives those anchored in so called America a chance to be superior to certain minorities. That leads to small government and the lack of services to Those People and perceived independence. Both sets of beliefs as you say are centered in the middle of the country.
I can't say the modern problems didn't lurk in Bush 43's administration, but in some ways the small government and the lack of solving problems that do show more clearly in urban environments drives the difference.
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.