"Convince the lowest white man that he is better than the highest black man, and he'll never know his pockets are being fleeced."

That rage should be directed 100% towards billionaires!

Their rage is warranted; the problem is it’s focused incorrectly due to decades of propaganda.

Why do the Maga’s not view trump as an elite. “I’m Really Rich”, and they think Good Choice. It’s bizarre imo.

Some rage is justified. The billionaires have been rigging things for 40 years.

He gave them permission to voice their racism.

Fox news tells them to be outraged and those blonde ladies in short skirts would never lie to them, right?😂

I'd be angry too if I was brainwashed into wearing some of the tackiest, ugliest American flag clothing I haven't seen since the 80s

ive lived in michigan , ive lived in alabama and delved in all states around. yeah they are angry, and its by republican design.

Trump has nothing in common with 99.9% of his supporters other than the color of his skin, which he doesn't have that in common anymore because he's orange now😂

On J6, the world got to see the kinds of people behind the Tulsa and Rosewood riots and thousands of lynchings throughout US history.

Alot of problems in this country is the larger division of people with big money wanting more and don't care who they hurt to get it

I grew up in rural Iowa & lived here most of my life, these folks have been so ate up with hate ever since a Black man became President...

Citizen Kane's lies and Fox's brand of yellow journalism have wounded our nation.

They’re scared of change and too lazy to learn new things.

As a Native Indigenous person, seeing the demographic shifts changing back to what the lands of North America were for centuries before the white European open border invasion took place, it’s interesting how time becomes the ultimate variable that controls all things.

I'm a rural white liberal with a MS in Geology (age 65) and what I see from my neighbors who didn't get a higher education is they don't know how to evaluate the source of information they are consuming or how to research topics. That's why they accept what they are being fed (from FOX).

Most of the red I encounter in rural Wisconsin , don't know about a single piece of legislation, it's all fear and years of the team mentally.

Conservative talk radio & lack of a rounded education is the reason rural Americans think the way they do .

Behind the smiles, yes there is a great deal of rage and trump tapped into it years ago along with the evangelical cult of the false Christ.

Unless we start to tell each other the truth out loud, we’re screwed.

“Rage, Rage, against the dying of the light.” Quote Dylan Thomas Rural folks are getting exploited. Working like slaves for a pittance and being convinced to vote against their own interests.

They should be outraged by their representatives, not the rest of the country. Those states keep electing lousy politicians to govern them.

Why education is so important.

Ignorance and rage travel the same road .

So, Republican's Southern Strategy has worked and it is still working.

As a black woman but also a social worker. Almost got scared before I listened to the video. These are systemic issues that most underrepresented underserved and marginalized groups experience. Race and class are a thing. However, when we think about poverty, that has nothing to do with race. The problem is rural white impoverished communities are being told to blame. DEI critical race theory, immigration and all of these other marginalized groups when the blame should be placed on structural and institutional problems.

As a resident of rural Alabama (not by choice) I can confirm that white rage is most definitely a thing. I'm an old white guy with a conservative appearance, so most here assume I share their backward attitudes. As such, I am frequently treated to their unguarded opinions. I find that most are oblivious to factual information and rely almost completely on Fox "News", soundbites from Trump rallies, and hateful propaganda from pulpits all across the state. Christian Nationalism is stoking the fires of political unrest in this state, as much or more than any other in the country. Despite the city of Huntsville, my home state will never "come back" from this sorry state of affairs, because it never left. It was just under the radar until Trump was elected and the curtain was pulled back. If this fake "Christian" movement is not exposed for what it really is, more damage to our democracy will continue and the divide between the ignorant and the informed will continue to grow.

Yeah but they have no clue who to aim it at,.Certainly not those for whom they worship,their wealthy lords.

So sad. I'm a rural white and decades ago, rural folk were among the best at knowing when a scam was being attempted. Now they seem among the most gullible. Rural culture has changed. The changes have mostly been imposed upon them and like you say, they're being directed to blame the wrong folks.

They blame everyone else for their abject failure

It's all about that good old sadomasochistic, racially separate culture. Guns, macho men, Marlboros, boots and beer guts.

Regardless of why they're angry, do they think making the Mango Mussolini their Dear Leader will help them in any way? I mean, obviously they do, so.. yeah. In a large part, they do it to themselves.

Maybe they should stop voting against their own best interests?

Of course, there's White Rural Rage... but they're not the only ones who are justified in their anger. We've all been played. Unfortunately, we don't vent our collective rage at the self-entitled few who are responsible for creating that rage.

They're always angry. They always think they deserve more than others. They always think they're the only ones who have worked hard. They arrogantly think that hard work is only hard if it is manual. In short, they are entitled.

I knew when I was growing up I needed to GTFO of my rural area, so I went to college, joined the guard, and never looked back. There was literally nothing there for me, or really anyone.

What are they enraged about? they’re the entitled ones, poor or not. The opportunities are there for them.

I worked for a company owned by Christian Nationalists. I recently applied for my Social Security and learned there is no record of the contributions that are required by law, I recently called to inquire . Perhaps a mistake that could be fixed by producing the record of paying . He swore at me and hung up and blocked my phone number. I’m desperate because my retirement is now gonna be a time of poverty. Dean Wickstrom and Kurt Marquardt of Edina , Minn are the owners.

Rural American communities have suffered over the past 30 years. The Republicans have done a better job of harnessing and directing the angst of rural white America than the Democrats have done in pointing to the real causes, much less in alleviating them.

They are living in the past and are very ignorant . Same old issues throughout history .

Affordable healthcare? Try THAT in a small town.

It's also the uneducated. The amount of people in rural areas that can't read is astonishing.

If rural people don't want to be stereotyped, then they shouldn't be constantly enraged about garbage they are fed by Fox News, who prey on their ignorance.

Rural (red area) folks are right to be angry at how they're being served by their incompetent Republican representatives and governing officials.

They have been voting against their interests for 40 yrs!!!

They keep voting for a Party that doesn't care about them. I don't care if they're angry. Look in the mirror, that's your problem.

My gripe is with the electoral system that overweights the rural votes. A single Wyoming vote counts for more than several California votes.

While visting my mom in a small town in Utah during covid; she told me not to wear a mask lest I want to upset the locals at the surplus store. FFS

Maybe they need to think about why they keep electing the politicians they elect.

Lol! I like that term "Kochhead Caucus"!

They dont even KNOW what CRT nor WOKE is nor actually 'means'. Its beyond sad, they are a lost cause.

Poor health care is one of the key underlying factors causing rural rage. A strong, stable democracy requires and equitable and efficient health care system.

It’s just a distraction ploy! I’ve been saying that for decades in my small rural town! But they (republicans) just go to the easier scapegoat’s!

Trump nationalized the Southern Strategy - into all of rural white America - to form a Second Confederacy.

I haven't read the book or the article and I'm 99% sure that at least some of the rage is entirely justified. I just think that the response to that rage is misdirected, and supporting Trump will not address the issues that cause it.

Just driving in texas is DANGEROUS!

Thank you so much for bringing this to the fore. I come from a family that rose from rural white folks. They refuse to look up and look beyond the usual suspects. It is exhausting.

It's the 3 "G's"......guns , gays , and god. In that order .

Americans and Canadians have been insulated for centuries! The world is a small place now. It’s not the time to be complacent.

Rural poverty is hidden out of the spotlight and is desparate. Their communities can't afford services.Small towns have lost the small businesses that served small farms and manufacturing and kept money in the community. Their children struggle at school. They are unconnected to the larger society.

Sadly, a lot of people in this country don't have good lives. It's down to the people in charge. When huge companies can pour money into politics, they're going to protect their interests at the expense of citizens. Then they sell conspiracies that blame their political opponents for the externalities of big business.

Their choice of media feeds them rage, and when you get down to it, a lot of people just like being mad at stupid things. People like manufactured drama. It's addictive.

How do those people think native Americans feel?

It’s not a political party it’s a cult of revenge

I am a retired 3rd generation American soldier who fought in 2 wars and 5 combat tours. I grew up in many places, including Europe, specifically France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, and the Netherlands. Our kids went to German and Luxembourg schools. I was in schools in France, Germany and Spain. In school we were taught critical thinking, how to separate facts from propaganda / lies. My 3rd grade teacher in France fought in the French Resistance and was awarded a medal for Valor against the Germans. My kids were taught that the Nazis were a disgrace to Germany. We can learn from them. The European remember WWII and remember the Bosina civil war and Russian involvement behind it. They are not stupid. MAGA is stupid.

As a non American looking in and following US politics, this is obvious, and was obvious from the start. It's what feeds Trumpism.

politics are local, they have themselves to blame is exactly right! they continue to vote in culture warriors instead of people who actually want to govern. Rural America is finding out that culture wars do not pay the bills, but yet they still NEED a scapegoat for their fragile egos.

White rural rage is baded on total ignorance.

wealthy political donors (buyers of political actions) don't have any interest in rural life, except in so far as it can be bent. and youths tend to leave for where social and economic action is hotter, cities. the feeling of abandonment is natural, as is the tendency to look for something to blame, which fits the urgings of authoritarians like trump.

Russia is a far bigger threat to Europe than they will ever be to the US, but all free people should want to stand with other free people. Either stand together or fall alone.

It's hard to describe how isolated America's rural areas are. You almost never see anyone you don't already know. Your radio is virtually all country music, Evangelical Christian, or conservative talk. Sinclair Broadcasting has particularly targeted TV in small markets. In much of the rural territory, non-white people are rare. Those that are are around have already been vetted into the community so "he's OK." As a result, rural folks are largely unaware that the neoliberalism which is destroying their access to a middle class life is also destroying the middle class everywhere else.

Im a rural white american. But my rage is at the billionaires and free trade policies endorsed by both political parties over the years. To me both parties stink. But at least dems are for things like affordable health care, social security etc. But i definitely have rage. And i understand why people like myself do. However its often misplaced.

So, the decision is to follow a NYC real estate developer born with a silver spoon in his mouth who has bankrupted countless businesses and has a very “compromised” private and public life and doesn’t give a shit about anybody but himself? WTF? He stands for everything these people hate! Yet, here we are…

Maybe if these people would stop believing the false belief of “rugged individualism” and listen more to a song titled “No Man Is An Island”, these people might start educating themselves about the real cause of their troubles. They’ve completely bought into the republican propaganda that they are justified in their rage but not to question the real causes of their problems.

When MTG talks and acts like a neighborhood gossip, that's what she is, and first and foremost.

I've been calling the "freedom caucas" in the House the 'Duma Caucus'. But now I'm thinkin' 'Vichy Caucus' kinda works better.🤔

Because everyone with any ability or ambition has left them behind and moved to the Blue cities. So all you have left are the people who can’t or won’t.

A mythologized Past tempts them, the Present confuses them, and the Future scares them. Adaptability is seriously lacking.

While driving on I44 North from Texas in SW Oklahoma missed button on radio and hit the AM. I was schocked the so called Christian radio vomiting fascist agenda. Ted Cruz, Jim Inhofe, some guy called Mike Savage and Laura what ever. It's no wonder these people angry.

Yes…read the book too. The scary part to me was these characters care more about going back to a 1950’s culture than democracy.

Stupid is as stupid does. Idaho where logic goes to die.

Electing Trump as their vessel for righting The oligarchy is like asking an illegal drug dealer to fight against drug addiction-NOT GONNA Happen 🤣 🤦‍♂️

It’s the hate in their bitter hearts that’s making them so angry, nothing good comes out of hate.

Living in a rural WI county with only one overpriced grocery store, no OB-GYNs, and it being declared a “2A Sanctuary,” I would say Thom’s on track.

When trump and his cronies begin to kick them off of ssi disability benifits maybe then they will figure it out. Maybe.

They are angry because of neo liberal policies. These people aren't all racist or homophonic, the exact opposite. You're dealing with people who have had jobs , good jobs taken out from under them. And honestly, we as democrats, have done nothing to address the systemic failures that has been breeding the anger

I agree with your American general amnesia toward the fascism of Russia throughout Europe.

'it is the metro areas that are “the state’s economic engine, generating tax dollars that flow outward to every corner of the state." Fascist politics feeds the insulting myth that hardworking rural residents pay to support lazy urban dwellers' "How Fascism Works the Politics of Us and Them", Stanley, p174

Thom, I lived in rural Illinois for 2 years, decades ago, and in rural Maine for a year, too. And I have paid a little attention to rural things since then. At this time I see rural towns as dying more and more every year. Young people are ALWAYS leaving for better opportunities. It is nothing new. I wrote an essay 5 years about them dying, and I don't see their dying ending soon. There is almost no opportunity for anyone. I used to drive 26 miles one way to the supermarket. And I visited in rural MO for years. Metro areas make up around 86% of our population these days, and that is always increasing. And that is similar in other countries, too. It's not just an American phenomenon. And immigrants came to America for opportunity, which is only field work for minimal pay in rural areas. So the great majority go to metro areas. The exposure to 'others' happens there, not in rural areas, so rural areas tend to be whiter and they get isolated from MUCH of American reality by that. Exposure to those 'others' helps both sides - a LOT. In metrovareas we are overall just much more tolerant and accepting of differences. I don't even want to get into the churchy end of it, but that isolates people, too. Between church, FOX, and Sinclair, they make rural existence different. It's a dying culture, Thom. And a stagnating one. And the blasting of FOX NEWS and Sinclair radio stations do as intended - they keep them isolated.

Thom, I’m enjoying watching you slightly struggle to say Rural Whites. I would be struggling too. I am a older Rural white male so I have seen what is going on to some degree. I am also ex military and ex Republican. I believe the military and rural people have been right leaning for a long time. There is a lot of hunting that happens in rural areas and their forever have been rumors and worries that democrats were going to take our guns. Also it’s been liberals that have introduced wolves back into the wilds that decimate deer and elk herds not to mention attack free grazing cattle. The rural pastors have openly supported Republicans. Rural customers often don’t have cable but are able to get Fox by antenna. Rural folks love NASCAR which is heavily Republican. AM talk radio is very popular and much of it heavily biased. The preachers tell their flock Trump was sent by god and not to listen to anyone that tells you different. Of course many of the gun owners are NRA members and of course the NRA supports the Republican Party. It’s a big interlocking web. I escaped because I was hearing a lot of lies that I knew were lies. Also I came to realize that Democrats were much better supporting the poor and workers as well. Republicans seemed to resent anyone getting anything they weren’t getting, like food stamps. Cable is working its way into rural areas so that may help a bit. Folks like you help Thom. Sorry I’m old so I tend to rant at times.

Sounds like a lack of education.

In Rome GA and the hate toward “others” has grown exponentially over the past decade. They are longing for CW2 but they still love/worship the rich. It’s the ppl that make them think and question everything that will be taken out first. Byei 👋

Excuse me, of the people outsourcing your jobs, grinding down your livelihood and quality of life/ opportunities along with manipulating you DO NOT LOOK LIKE THE 'OTHERS' YOU FEEL SUPERIOR TO AND DESPISE AND WHOSE DEGRADATION YOU REVEL IN. THEY ARE YOUR ILK AND BRETHREN THAT LOOK LIKE YOU!!!

Generations of interbreeding!

I understand their anger…problem is they direct it at the people that have EXCAT SAME STRUGGLES ASTHEM! their anger is misdirected and they refuse to see that

They scream tds but are literally crying over the guy that was president 12 years ago

They are being "farmed" too hard by the owners of pretty much all capital. They have no stake in the nation's economy, except as disposable cheap labor. What is not explained, is how their rage became directed at Democrats.

I don't mind them not wanting to help Ukraine defend itself... that's a given, they are extremely stingy with money. What I do mind is doing that...and then claiming to be good Christians.

You are such good value, Thom. Both topics of this excerpt are spot-on in their importance to decent and meaningful progress. 🍂🍃🌈