Anti-Republican

 

Ultimately, I am opposed to the Republican agendas regarding social progress, education, religion, health and the environment. So I would not vote Republican even if Trump was not among the most incompetent presidents.

Scared and hopeful at the same time

  

Most of my childhood was spent in rural Missouri. Some of the reasons why I did not return to Missouri involved differences in opinions of those who I was around as a child and those which I had after experiencing more diverse situations and peoples. I had been in the Midwest during a few visits with my brother. I did see some progressive changes but was not in a situation to look at things. Having bicycled through the area and met people in various environments, I now have an expanded view. 

There are still regressive attitudes. This is to be expected since it usually takes decades and generations for socially and environmentally progressive attitudes to be common. The types of signs and flags which were common and some of the things which I heard people say were sometimes scary to me, being a progressive cyclist. But there are important factors to take into account. As I note these, I am not minimizing the bad. There are racism, homophobia and anti-secular perspectives in a lot of America. But there is a default position which is common, at least toward me as a white "normal looking" cyclist. People tended to be respectful toward me and even interested in what I was doing, even those who showed outward signs of views which were contrary to mine. Would they have treated me differently if they knew that I was a pansexual, progressive atheist? Some most assuredly would have. Would I have had difficulties in some areas if I were a black cyclist? I suspect so. But most kept things pleasant and did not inquire beyond the surface. People tend to behave by default based on more factors than belief. A lot of this involve a broader discussion of psychology and biology than this article can go into. But there are also legal and social factors involving modernity which are at play. This leads to a factor which I really want to note. That of generational progressiveness.

Views, including regressive ones, can be generational. I saw that in some of the attitudes of some younger people. But there is also generationally progressive change as well as generational maintenance of regressivity. Generationally progressive change is more commonly present in urban areas. But I saw signs of progressive views in smaller towns as well, most commonly in 10,000 plus towns. There is more access to information. Obvious, not all of this is good and can reinforce regressive patterns. But those with adequate mentalities are looking beyond tradition and common views and seeing more of reality.

Ultimately, the take away is that the Midwest and rural areas in general are more complex that may be apparent and is reported. Progressive change is occurring in even small towns. It's not at the pace which many of us want to see. And some area regress. But I came away with the perspective that social progress and maybe even environment progress is inevitable as long as governments avoid the promotion of regressive patterns, as has recently been the case.