There is no way to ask this question here without it devolving deep into politics, but here we go.

Republicans don't have policy to run on. They pander to their base, while also laughing behind their back [1]. Their base votes for them because these representatives appeal to their feelings, even though the people they vote for are actively harming them (red states are finally, begrudgingly, adopting Federal Medcaid expansion funding because they have workforce shortages [2]).

Because of the electoral college, there is no way to fix this for presidential elections [3] and rural America is heavily overrepresented congressionally. States with resources can provide for their own citizens (California is the world's fifth largest economy, for example), rural America will continue to slowly die a slow death as young people leave for opportunity [4], leaving behind those with oversized voting power.

Your options are leave the parts of the country in decline, leave the country, or stay in decline. It's not great [5].

[1] https://www.salon.com/2024/03/05/-the-media-should-stop-trea...

[2] https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/issue-brief/status-o...

[3] https://demcastusa.com/2019/11/11/land-doesnt-vote-people-do...

[4] https://stateline.org/2021/08/10/shrinking-rural-america-fac...

[5] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00027162211070061

A few corrections:

1 - Congress makes laws, not the President (although he signs them).

2 - Congressional members are elected directly, not by the electoral college.

3 - The electoral college is not impacted by whether people are rural or urban. [0]

States can always choose to apply subsidies themselves. They all have different tax rates already [1], so subsidies are easy if they want [1].

[0] - https://www.270towin.com/content/split-electoral-votes-maine...

[1] - https://taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/wireless-taxes-cell...

Thank you! I have made edits to correct and refine the idea I was attempting to communicate.

>Their base votes for them because these Reps appeal to their feelings, even though the people they vote for are actively harming them.

You need to continue the logic here: So the democrats in shining white armor are here to help them out because they know better. This further antagonizes the republican base because worse than being destitute is to be dependent on government handouts.

On the united states being united: We've had a civil war. The big mistake a lot of folks make when looking at the united states is looking at them in a cohesive way. We aren't, we don't share common values, and only share laws that permit a common and efficient market (which includes defense and foreign policy.) Folks mostly choose to live in Missisippi/Texas vs Massachusetts/California. The social benefits and zeitgeist are very different and America is big enough to offer both styles of living.

I appreciate the assist, these are complex issues, and there are always a lot of points to unpack.

When Hillary Clinton ran for office, and said they were going to kill coal, lets see the entire quote:

> Clinton did tell a town hall audience in Columbus, Ohio in March that "we're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." But that was part of a longer answer about the need to help blue-collar workers adjust. "We're going to make it clear that we don't want to forget those people," Clinton said. "Those people labored in those mines for generations, losing their health, often losing their lives to turn on our lights and power our factories. Now we've got to move away from coal and all the other fossil fuels, but I don't want to move away from the people who did the best they could to produce the energy that we relied on."

These people didn't want to hear that, because of the point you mentioned. They are angry and sad at their position, and they don't want help; they want a history that no longer exists. "We're going to bring coal back!" You cannot fix deeply held identity and beliefs with policy [1]. Also, it is a long slog to convince people it is okay to ask for and receive help, even government help. Like, take the help, government is all of us helping you.

[1] To be frank, I don't think you can fix identity and deeply held beliefs except through generational turnover and firewalls through boundaries, but I am open to citations if anyone can provide them.

I've only read one of your links so far but I thought I'd better jump in and add this point. What the US does both at home and with its foreign policy has a profound effect on many of us—its allies—yet we have no vote to help change things (sometimes I think we ought to become an extra state to rectify this).

Many supporters of the US, myself included, cringe at news like this. We watch in horror in an era when we need a strong and cohesive US more than ever.

This is remarkably clear thinking and serious analysis. Thank you for the insightful scholarly contribution!

Thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it.

I can speak as someone who lives in the US and in a state that has a republican super majority in our government. Without making this an issue specific to republicans, the US two-party government often creates an citizenry who views elections as a zero-sum game. One where one side wins and therefore the other must lose. Increasingly, republicans are attempting to foster an environment where the larger, democratic cities are "the problem" and therefore legislate to "punish" them by removing things like broadband for the poor.

Part of this is because the new GOP is mostly rural voters and they generally don't benefit from city investments. But part of it is to make a political point. Again, they only "win" when the other side "loses." Democrat politicians will do this too, but often not as much (in my experience) and often with less punitive motives. For example, killing coal plants wasn't punitive, but it ended up hurting a large section of rural economy that depended on the mining of coal for a living.

Coal mining represents a very small part of the American and rural economy. It was simply used as a wedge by wealthy Republicans to divide Americans.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/215790/coal-mining-emplo...

Arby’s employees more people than the coal industry.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/03/31/8-sur...

Republicans are just ideologues, or for the current crop of MAGA Republicans, nutjobs with no discernable ideology.

You get the same in Europe with the far right parties, it's just that they don't share power.

It costs more money to service these customers, not profitable and that is all that matters to the indignant domestic terrorists. It fuels their anger, and all they want to do is be angry and not solve problems, and also to break systems that fix problems. A lot of the problem is that we have too many people that were denied opportunity or services that could have made them not pieces of shit. And now they fight tooth and nail to make sure that the system makes more people that are fucked over just like them. Stockholm syndrome kinda. Also makes sense when you look at whether they can read or not:

Nationwide, on average, 79% of U.S. adults are literate in 2022.

21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2022.

54% of adults have a literacy below sixth-grade level.

21% of Americans 18 and older are illiterate in 2022.

Low literacy rates end up costing Americans up to $2.2 trillion every year.

https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/research/literacy-statisti....

It's not just the republicans doing it it's our entire government.

In this case, it's literally Republicans.

> If you want to alienate one section of the community then this is surefire way to do it.

Republicans continue to vote republican no matter what laws or policies are passed that directly or indirectly harm them. Voting republican has become a cultural identity.

> Why is it that Republicans so despise and revile the poorer sections of their community?

Greed, narcissism and bigotry. The republicans I know personally consider themselves "different" then the people being hurt by these decisions. They either think "it won't happen to me" or "I'm not like those people" even when the evidence is right in front of them. There's also a heavy dose of "one day I might be rich" which allows them to vote for policies that help the rich, but directly hurt the middle class and poor.

> Don't they realize the actual damage they're doing to their country by fracturing its cohesiveness?

Of course they do! They aren't dumb, they're bad people.

I'm tired of pretending Republicans aren't terrible people. Hillary was right about deplorables. What she got wrong was how many Americans fit this definition.

I didn't intend to be controversial when I posted my comment. To not risk inflaming matters further I'll refrain from commenting on your points.

(I cannot recall having so many down-votes in such quick succession on HN previously. Although unintended, I've clearly struck a nerve or two.)

Agreed. While you were downvoted, the quality of replies (not mine) is exceptional and clearly generated a lot discussion. I'd call that a win for HN even though your post currently has negative votes.

I hesitated before publishing my reply as it isn't my normal sort of HN post. I guess this just touched a nerve personally.

You asked essential questions and triggered a helpful discussion. Think of breaking eggs to make an omelet situation.

Your downvotes show you irritated the right people. :-)

+1 from me.

They don't consider themselves to be in community with poor people.

Ha, someone upvoted my comment and then it disappeared in a second. To the outsider this says a lot. :-)

class war is nothing new. elites generally alienate and isolate the poor, as their interests seldom converge and are often opposed.

Part of the reason is also a cope. That the nature of wealth under late-stage neoliberal capitalism exacerbates to such a prolific extent poverty, strife, homelessness and other maladies of the impoverished is a very distressing concern. For quite some time wealthy elites have coddled themselves with the tutelage that "poor people are poor because they are lazy." Television, radio, and internet all have elite points of presence to reinforce this propaganda in various consumable forms. Recognizing and reacting to wealth disparity in the west with anything more than a casual nod could lead to the wholesale downfall of the neoliberal castle that so many elites have build over the past forty years.

"kill all the poors" policy in the words of the venerable Mitchell and Webb show is largely a regression to feudalism from whence capitalism came. its the manifestation of an acute overdose of capitalist elites "copium." a cut on the nose to spite the face if you will.

The United States of America is more of a corporation than a country. Would you offer support for people who aren’t your customers?

People who don’t donate to the party, who can’t organize worth a dang to vote you out, well, they are unimportant and programs for them should be dismantled.