Enough bullshit that we ignore rural areas and small towns

[2naSalit]

36. So "we" are "punishing" and persecuting you, though most of what you describe is, again,

in no way unique to rural areas.

We are "shunning you," "letting you starve" and "excluding you from the benefits of democratic society," though the OP shows rural areas get a disproportionately large share of the common wealth.

The OP, which I think is absurd, for review (underlines for emphasis added):

Enough bullshit that we ignore rural areas and small towns
Fact is they get more Federal dollars and send in less tax revenue than Urban areas.

https://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/city-dwellers-bear-disproportionate-federal-tax.html#:~:text=The%20extra%20burden%20wouldn%27t%20be%20so%20excessive%20if,that%20cities%20send%20far%20more%20cash%20to%20Washington.


According to David Albouy, a University of Michigan economist, workers in expensive cities in the Northeast, Great Lakes and Pacific regions bear a disproportionate share of the federal tax burden, effectively paying 27 percent more in federal income taxes than workers with similar skills in a small city or rural area....

The extra burden wouldn't be so excessive if more federal tax dollars were returned to urban areas in the form of higher federal spending. But according to Albouy's research, that's not the case. His data show that more federal dollars are actually spent in rural areas, despite the fact that cities send far more cash to Washington. The net effect of all this is a transfer of $269 million from workers in high-cost areas to workers in lower cost rural areas in 2008 alone.



The constant bitching that we are forgetting rural America is so much tripe.

And let's not forget, in many States, the GOP has made sure their vote counts more than those in cities through gerrymandering.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218111299#top

So it's really only about the money, am I right?

"We" are "rampaging" through YOUR forests and parks - though as many rural people use national parks as urban people, so it is not your monolithic urban "you" that is guilty.

I beg to differ. Far more people come to the rural areas to visit than live here, exponentially so, but how would you know that, you don't live in an area where that's a problem.

Next?

"We" are "extracting your minerals and trees" though I am sure you understand that has nothing to do with urban vs. rural, that has to do with corporations.

I mean "our" to mean what it implies, ours as in a collective of local residents, but oops, we aren't stacked on top of each other which means there aren't as many of us so we obviously don't count. Best to deflect and try to imply that I mean that I, personally, own and control these properties and resources. Honestly.

The majority of extraction that happens in urban settings is petroleum, those areas are already lost as biospheric brown fields. When's the last time you heard of someone taking a vacation to a brown field?

We have many more oil rigs out here but they are mostly out away from residential locations, out of sight, out of mind. You won't see most of the damage up close from the highway... yet.

And are you really growing my food? You farm? Because if not, you and I are in exactly the same boat with respect to our dependence on corporate farming. You don't grow my food. Corporations do. That's a problem we have in common.

I didn't say that I personally grow your food, but my neighbors do and when I worked I was in a support industry for a time, bringing the food from the farms and processors to a grocery chain near you... but why should I have to qualify my experience to you?

Not all food is grown by corporations, you know this, right? I mean, meat comes from animals, this is before their parts were wrapped in plastic. And vegetables come from the ground, a lot goes into putting the food into the plastic before it ends up on the shelf in the store. Most of the people who make that happen don't earn high wages. And the processing happens in rural places at least as much as it does in urban places.... oops, that might mean they can't contribute as much money in taxes.

And it is a personal insult to you that people litter? Newsflash: people litter. It sucks. But it happens everywhere.

People litter, I get that... the shit's everywhere after waves of them pass through, most of the trashiest are Americans. I'm not ignorant of the fact that people in general are trashy but when people choose to come to the wild places in our country to see its beauty, why do they trash it?

Not just the litter, they shoot at live trees, they come here to shoot guns in the woods not recognizing what they are shooting. They carve stupid shit into trees, throw trash in the lakes and rivers, like a dog pisses on a bush to claim it...? WTF is up with that? But do go on and take a rafting trip down a pristine river and because one of the rapids was a bit much for you, blow it up so that it works for you; don't like to fly fish, hell, bring your own bass/walleye and stock a different ecosystem with those in the middle of the night instead; the walmart was too far away, like you passed it on your way, so start a campaign to bring one to right outside the gate of the national park because planning ahead is for suckers; so what if you don't have bear spray while you're camping in a tent with your food where there's bears.

I mean... You'd think some instinctual sense of self preservation would kick in at some elevation. Maybe it's lack of oxygen..? Do people not care to look at where they are going and recognize that it's not like going just around the corner or a web page on their communicator screen. They rely on GPS that doesn't work in the mountains, they get lost and complain that the road wasn't paved, it's endless. But we, the locals who will have to rescue them, will have to be super nice while risking our lives for theirs and not be judgy about how stupid they were for getting into a stupid and dangerous situation. But do carry on, it's not like educating the public is a thing anymore.

And I have spent a couple decades trying to educate the public and advocating for wildlife and OUR public lands when not many were paying much attention yet reap the benefits of the gains we made in our quest to slow the destruction of the biosphere, thank you very much. What did I get in return? A lot of back-handing and death threats from the rumpist-like crowd of locals and from politicians and people both rural and urban, telling me I was wrong and alarmist... we are seeing the fruits of failure to accept the message because they wasted so much time trying to kill the messengers so here we are, watching it all burn. When key ecosystems crash, like the one I've lived in and fought for over decades, it will be noticed everywhere. But c'mon down and bring your trash and fling it all around as you whizz by on your way to whatever you came to do and see, that is, if you can bother to look up from your phone... somebody who works for minimum wage will clean it up... not.

I am currently witnessing everything that I care about and fought so hard for being destroyed by careless humans, few of which are from around here, trashing it to oblivion... most of which belong to us, we the people. Kind of pisses me off.

And were you under the impression that what you think of urban people is NOT coloring the tone with which you are addressing people in this thread?

Ummm, what? My comment was based on an opinion I have fomented after decades of experience living, working and voting in cities, suburbs, towns and villages, big and small all over this country. I've worked in multiple realms from housekeeping to heavy equipment operation to policy analyst to employee at three different federal agencies and a restaurant cook among other work. I choose to live in a rural place because cities are more than I care to deal with, I prefer nature so I fight to protect it. Seems my fellow Americans aren't so keen on that part seeing how they treat it... first hand from all angles.

Also, Americans are notorious, worldwide, as trashy tourists.

In the past decade +, I have watched tourists go from inquisitive, if not naive, but mostly nice people from all over the globe to swarms of jerks looking to see how far they can push the limits of the interface of their understanding and the harsh reality of the natural world and the disconnect between that and fucking Bambi. I don't feel sorry for humans who get beat up by wildlife or get cooked in a hot spring with keep out signs.



The OP has a very negative tone toward rural Americans and I, being a long time rural, taxpaying American, am offended. Why? Because the author is only partially informed and making sweeping accusations which include me yet do not describe me. I object to their premise and suggested remedies because they are pejorative and incorrect.

Sadly, my original point has been proved.

Perhaps, if you believe in pretzelogic.