I think it’s less an issue with the thread and more an issue with people in general. The amount of people who view themselves or want to be viewed as a member of a dominant mainstream culture that is trying to force others to assimilate to the mainstream culture is incredibly small. Almost everyone prefers to view themselves as the plucky rebels fighting for survival and what’s right. There’s more than a few former hippie boomers who still view themselves as part of a counterculture sticking it to the man as they use the money they get from their cushy VP of marketing position at a major bank to sue any developers that try to build affordable housing near their gorgeous McMansion.

My aunt went from burning American flags and marching in support of interracial marriage and civil rights to clutching her pearls about Marilyn Manson ripping up bibles and gay marriage becoming legal, but even as she supports censorship and state mandated injustice, she will always view herself as the protestor that fought against censorship and state mandated injustice.

Even I find myself occasionally saying things about zoomers that sounds just like stuff my dad used to say about me and it’s a lot easier to rationalize it as “no, TikTok is actually hurting kid’s attention spans, it’s different this time” than admit that I might be acting just as silly as he was when he said exactly the same thing about my Game Boy.

I think you yourself are a little mixed up - these attitudes and opinions arent limited to small failing towns, its entire states when you get off the coasts.

There isnt really a default culture across america the way you are insisting. The place is fucking huge.