2. In most rural communities, resentment of “elites” and distrust of government is now more deep and widespread than ever.
There is no question that resentment of people perceived as elites has been stoked and cultivated by right-wing media, pundits and politicians for decades. President Trump’s enduring appeal to a substantial part of the electorate, particularly in rural areas, comes in no small part from his constant bashing of “elites”, melded into a larger narrative of defending whites and working folks as ‘real Americans’. Racism is woven throughout this appeal. Yet as Katherine Cramer put it, “racism is a part of this resentment, but we are failing to fully understand these perspectives when we assume that racism is more fundamental than calculations of injustice. The two elements are intertwined. The way these folks described the world to me, their basic concern was that people like them, in places like theirs, were overlooked and disrespected. They were doing what they perceived good Americans ought to do to have the good life. And the good life seemed to be passing them by”.
Across the nation, trust in the federal government has declined inexorably, from a high of 77% of people in 1964 to an all-time low of 17% in 2019. While this mistrust spans both cities and the countryside, it seems clear that a large proportion of rural people distrust (or worse) the government and ‘elites’ more broadly. To rural people, especially farmers, miners, loggers, drillers, factory workers and small business people, those elites are Democrats, academics, ‘experts’, politicians and government employees in general. As Katherine Cramer demonstrates in The Politics of Resentment, these elites are understood to be out-of-touch with the concerns of everyday people, lacking in common sense, self-serving and intrusive.
An important component of the anti-government, anti-elite perspective is what I have called “regulatory aversion”, especially strong among farmers and others who work the land, as well as small business owners. Regulations and those who promote them are seen as either unnecessary, intrusive or counterproductive. Arlie Hochschild quotes the Louisiana man who believes that regulators will punish him for spilling a gallon of oil, but do nothing to the companies that spill hundreds of thousands of gallons.
For the last decade plus, Dems and liberals have been trying to tell rural and working folks that they have the best government policies, the ones that will most help those groups. But if you utterly distrust the government and think it is the problem, not the solution, and believe that elites despise you, why would that be a persuasive message?
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
Katherine Cramer, “For Years, I’ve Been Watching Anti-elite Fury Build in Wisconsin. Them Came Trump”
Peter Kruger, “What Most Liberals Don’t Realize”
Bryant Simon, “Terminal Whiteness”
Anthony Flaccavento, “Regulatory Aversion”
Erica Etelson, “The Big Question: How Should We Treat Trump Voters?”
FOR A DEEPER LOOK:
Katherine Cramer: The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker, 2016, University of Chicago Press