Excellent article. The urban rural divide in politics I believe is more potent than conservative - liberal. Having lived in both worlds, I can attest that the policies of the Democrat Party(aided and abetted by Republicans) have gutted rural economies and insulted their moral codes.
Thanks for another thought-provoking post. It's got me thinking about two things: high school, and the 'moral supremacy' of rural folk that is still (infuriatingly) everywhere in dominant-culture ideology and myth. You can hear that sentiment from Jefferson in the smugness of country music — one example of many I could give — which takes it as obvious that rural people are 'the heartland,' the 'real America'.
About high school: Tomorrow I head to NYC for the 55th anniversary reunion of Xavier High School's class of 1970. Xavier, when I attended, was an all-male Jesuit institution (it still is, of course) and also a military one, as ROTC was compulsory (students were called 'cadets). Participation in ROTC at Xavier became optional many years ago. When I was a student in the late 1960's -- peak years of the War in Vietnam -- I rode the subway every morning wearing a military uniform. I didn't like going to school at Xavier, although I was close to many of my classmates. Neither the military stuff nor Catholicism were for me. Many, perhaps most of my classmates are still Catholic. I remember a conversation with my father when I was a senior at Xavier. I told him how much I hated it, and he said "Some day you'll thank me." I said "Don't count on it." But when I was 40 or so years old, I thanked him. I now consider myself very lucky to have had the high school experience that I did. And there is a surprisingly strong connection among Xavier alumni. I feel close to my classmates, most of whom I haven't seen in person for 55 years. I expect that I'll be writing about all of this next week.
The connection of the idea of 'real America' to white supremacy is usually "politely" ignored. But Thomas Jefferson was a slaver, and Beyoncé's Superbowl performance featuring 'country' song and dance performed by a largely Black cast triggered outrage in Trump country. These things are not unrelated.
I went to my 20th. Haven’t been since. What struck me most is the different rates at which we had aged. Some, if you squinted just a bit, were entirely recognizable as their teen selves. Others, they looked like they had led a hard life in the time since. It helped me adjust my view of my place in the world. In high school, you are acutely aware of your “place” among a large number of people. After that, you are not so sure.
I went to my 20th and got freaked out. The program said we would start with a 'service' in the chapel (i.e. not the giant church adjacent to the school). Silly me, somehow I never figured it would be a whole damn *mass*. I didn't recognize a single classmate, and more disconcertingly, a lot of them not only had stayed in touch with each other, but they were actual *Catholics*. (The only time I had been to a mass in those 20 years was for either for a wedding or a funeral. I hadn't considered myself a Catholic since sometime around my 16th birthday.) Finally my wife went up to a bunch of guys and pointed to me & said, "That's John. He's one of you."
But somehow in recent years I've reconnected with a bunch of these guys --several subscribe to my substack & have supported my writing -- so I'm hoping that I won't get freaked out like I did 35 years ago.
What's that old line that starts off, "A country divided…" 🤔
Excellent article. The urban rural divide in politics I believe is more potent than conservative - liberal. Having lived in both worlds, I can attest that the policies of the Democrat Party(aided and abetted by Republicans) have gutted rural economies and insulted their moral codes.
Thanks for another thought-provoking post. It's got me thinking about two things: high school, and the 'moral supremacy' of rural folk that is still (infuriatingly) everywhere in dominant-culture ideology and myth. You can hear that sentiment from Jefferson in the smugness of country music — one example of many I could give — which takes it as obvious that rural people are 'the heartland,' the 'real America'.
About high school: Tomorrow I head to NYC for the 55th anniversary reunion of Xavier High School's class of 1970. Xavier, when I attended, was an all-male Jesuit institution (it still is, of course) and also a military one, as ROTC was compulsory (students were called 'cadets). Participation in ROTC at Xavier became optional many years ago. When I was a student in the late 1960's -- peak years of the War in Vietnam -- I rode the subway every morning wearing a military uniform. I didn't like going to school at Xavier, although I was close to many of my classmates. Neither the military stuff nor Catholicism were for me. Many, perhaps most of my classmates are still Catholic. I remember a conversation with my father when I was a senior at Xavier. I told him how much I hated it, and he said "Some day you'll thank me." I said "Don't count on it." But when I was 40 or so years old, I thanked him. I now consider myself very lucky to have had the high school experience that I did. And there is a surprisingly strong connection among Xavier alumni. I feel close to my classmates, most of whom I haven't seen in person for 55 years. I expect that I'll be writing about all of this next week.
The connection of the idea of 'real America' to white supremacy is usually "politely" ignored. But Thomas Jefferson was a slaver, and Beyoncé's Superbowl performance featuring 'country' song and dance performed by a largely Black cast triggered outrage in Trump country. These things are not unrelated.
I went to my 20th. Haven’t been since. What struck me most is the different rates at which we had aged. Some, if you squinted just a bit, were entirely recognizable as their teen selves. Others, they looked like they had led a hard life in the time since. It helped me adjust my view of my place in the world. In high school, you are acutely aware of your “place” among a large number of people. After that, you are not so sure.
I went to my 20th and got freaked out. The program said we would start with a 'service' in the chapel (i.e. not the giant church adjacent to the school). Silly me, somehow I never figured it would be a whole damn *mass*. I didn't recognize a single classmate, and more disconcertingly, a lot of them not only had stayed in touch with each other, but they were actual *Catholics*. (The only time I had been to a mass in those 20 years was for either for a wedding or a funeral. I hadn't considered myself a Catholic since sometime around my 16th birthday.) Finally my wife went up to a bunch of guys and pointed to me & said, "That's John. He's one of you."
But somehow in recent years I've reconnected with a bunch of these guys --several subscribe to my substack & have supported my writing -- so I'm hoping that I won't get freaked out like I did 35 years ago.