Post-Partisan Forum: Rural Rage and America's Turn Toward Violence

Political scientists increasingly view our nation's drift towards civil war as the result of rural frustration over economic opportunity and structural exclusion. Rural populations view those of us living in the metropole as culprits who have undermined their way of life and stolen their futures. They feel that democracy no longer grants people outside the urban core a voice or dignity and thus decided that nihilism and violence are the only languages that will be heard.

Such analysis poses a host of pressing questions:

• Is the urban elite truly responsible for rural decline?
• Why does that decline continue?
• How should we address the causal conditions in order to avoid a crisis?
• Is there time for reconciliation before our country falls over the brink?

We’ll look for answers to these questions in two interviews with experts in this domain:

• Barbara Walter, professor of International Affairs at UC San Diego, is recognized as one of the world's leading experts on civil wars, violent extremism, and domestic terrorism. (https://youtu.be/SCT3e0WsrLI)
• Suzanne Mettler is a Cornell University professor of American political development whose research focuses on inequality, democracy, and public policy. (https://youtu.be/M9bjypc1rS4)

Their analysis reveals that our country’s volatile political mood reflects more than ideology. It stems instead from rural communities’ alienation as they suffered economic decline, cultural dislocation, and invisibility, eventually succumbing to narratives of betrayal amplified in partisan echo chambers.

To reverse the polarization and avoid violence, we must first understand the angst. We’ll use AI to combine the interviews with these two authorities into an even-handed summary of their thoughts, which should give us enough material to glimpse a means of lowering the temperature of our polarized conflict and avoiding calamity.

---

Sound interesting? New participants welcomed! Please note that many "Hub regulars" attend the Forum without making a Meetup RSVP. We usually have 30 or so people there with opportunities for discussion in both small and large groups. See you soon.