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White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy
A searing portrait and damning takedown of America’s proudest citizens — who are also the least likely to defend its core principles
White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they’re right. In White Rural Rage, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why rural Whites have failed to reap the benefits from their outsize political power and why, as a result, they are the most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions. Their rage—stoked daily by Republican politicians and the conservative media—now poses an existential threat to the United States.
Schaller and Waldman show how vulnerable U.S. democracy has become to rural Whites who, despite legitimate grievances, are increasingly inclined to hold racist and xenophobic beliefs, to believe in conspiracy theories, to accept violence as a legitimate course of political action, and to exhibit antidemocratic tendencies. Rural White Americans’ attitude might best be described as “I love my country, but not our country,” Schaller and Waldman argue. This phenomenon is the patriot paradox of rural The citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are also the least likely to defend core American principles. And by stoking rural Whites’ anger rather than addressing the hard problems they face, conservative politicians and talking heads create a feedback loop of resentments that are undermining American democracy.
Schaller and Waldman provocatively critique both the structures that permit rural Whites’ disproportionate influence over American governance and the prospects for creating a pluralist, inclusive democracy that delivers policy solutions that benefit rural communities. They conclude with a political reimagining that offers a better future for both rural people and the rest of America.
White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they’re right. In White Rural Rage, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why rural Whites have failed to reap the benefits from their outsize political power and why, as a result, they are the most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions. Their rage—stoked daily by Republican politicians and the conservative media—now poses an existential threat to the United States.
Schaller and Waldman show how vulnerable U.S. democracy has become to rural Whites who, despite legitimate grievances, are increasingly inclined to hold racist and xenophobic beliefs, to believe in conspiracy theories, to accept violence as a legitimate course of political action, and to exhibit antidemocratic tendencies. Rural White Americans’ attitude might best be described as “I love my country, but not our country,” Schaller and Waldman argue. This phenomenon is the patriot paradox of rural The citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are also the least likely to defend core American principles. And by stoking rural Whites’ anger rather than addressing the hard problems they face, conservative politicians and talking heads create a feedback loop of resentments that are undermining American democracy.
Schaller and Waldman provocatively critique both the structures that permit rural Whites’ disproportionate influence over American governance and the prospects for creating a pluralist, inclusive democracy that delivers policy solutions that benefit rural communities. They conclude with a political reimagining that offers a better future for both rural people and the rest of America.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 27, 2024
856 people are currently reading
5972 people want to read
About the author
Tom Schaller
3 books17 followersI am professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. I started at UMBC in 1998, shortly after completing my PhD at the University of North Carolina in 1997. I am the author of The Stronghold: How Republicans Captured Congress but Surrendered the White House, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South, and co-author (with fellow UMBC political scientist Tyson King-Meadows) of Devolution and Black State Legislators: Challenges and Choices in the Twenty-First Century. Along with Paul Waldman, I am author of White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy (Random House, 2024). A former political columnist for the Baltimore Sun, I have published commentaries in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The American Prospect, Politico, and The New Republic, and have appeared on ABC News, MSNBC, The Colbert Report, National Public Radio and C-SPAN. Since 2004, I have given lectures on American elections in 19 countries on behalf of the U.S. State Department.
Tom Schaller is the penname of Thomas F. Schaller.
Tom Schaller is the penname of Thomas F. Schaller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 471 reviews
March 28, 2024
Want to know what white rural rage is? Read the one star reviews.
April 18, 2024
"Republicans in particular know that when they really need those votes, the best way to get them is to amp up the culture war, telling voters that the next election—indeed, the fate of the country—is all about us and them."
This is an eye-opening book about why rural white Americans support the republican party in general and the t-fool in particular -indeed, how.
On the surface it doesn't make any sense. This is a party whose actions continually harm rural white Americans, doing nothing for them but giving them other people to be angry about.
Living in Appalachia, these people are more than familiar to me. They are family and neighbors. Much of the psychology I understood already.
What was news to me is just how much political power rural white Americans have - and thus how dangerous their anti-democratic values are.
This book is packed with stats and polls and plenty of sources. I love all the numbers and appreciate it much more than reading personal stories about a lot of specific people, which seems to be the trend in nonfiction laterly. That bores me and makes books seem anecdotal rather than reliable. I prefer numbers.
If you are curious why people who say they value their god and family above all support a man who doesn't value either of those and who did absolutely nothing for them, you might be interested in this book.
Or if, like me, you don't realize the danger they pose because of their votes counting so much more than (mostly) liberal votes of urban dwellers, this book will be an eye-opener.
I have 2 issues, however:
1. It focuses too often on men alone, as though they are the only ones who support trumpty-dumpty, when rural white women do just as fervently.
The authors offer a different plan for those Americans who feel left out and who support Republicans simply because they give them an emotional benefit by telling them their anger is justified - as long as it's focused on minorities.
2. The authors write, "For many, the positions of the Democratic Party on issues such as abortion and LGBQT+ rights will always be unacceptable. What these rural White voters need to do is not to vote Democratic but to get themselves better Republicans."
This puts me off because they make it sound like it's ok for them to be homophobic.
What about their hatred of other minorities, Black Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Jews, etc etc etc? I notice the authors -rightly- did not include any of these groups of people in whom rural whites can vote against equal rights for. So why is it ok for them to vote against equality for LGBQTIA+ Americans?
This drops the book down to 4 stars. It is well worth reading, though I wish the authors hadn't felt the need to allow prejudice against any minority, as though they have to appease them or give them at least one group to focus their hatred on.
That's not alright. They need to focus their anger on the politicians and corporations who are making their lives miserable, not minorities who do nothing to them.
This is an eye-opening book about why rural white Americans support the republican party in general and the t-fool in particular -indeed, how.
On the surface it doesn't make any sense. This is a party whose actions continually harm rural white Americans, doing nothing for them but giving them other people to be angry about.
Living in Appalachia, these people are more than familiar to me. They are family and neighbors. Much of the psychology I understood already.
What was news to me is just how much political power rural white Americans have - and thus how dangerous their anti-democratic values are.
This book is packed with stats and polls and plenty of sources. I love all the numbers and appreciate it much more than reading personal stories about a lot of specific people, which seems to be the trend in nonfiction laterly. That bores me and makes books seem anecdotal rather than reliable. I prefer numbers.
If you are curious why people who say they value their god and family above all support a man who doesn't value either of those and who did absolutely nothing for them, you might be interested in this book.
Or if, like me, you don't realize the danger they pose because of their votes counting so much more than (mostly) liberal votes of urban dwellers, this book will be an eye-opener.
I have 2 issues, however:
1. It focuses too often on men alone, as though they are the only ones who support trumpty-dumpty, when rural white women do just as fervently.
The authors offer a different plan for those Americans who feel left out and who support Republicans simply because they give them an emotional benefit by telling them their anger is justified - as long as it's focused on minorities.
2. The authors write, "For many, the positions of the Democratic Party on issues such as abortion and LGBQT+ rights will always be unacceptable. What these rural White voters need to do is not to vote Democratic but to get themselves better Republicans."
This puts me off because they make it sound like it's ok for them to be homophobic.
What about their hatred of other minorities, Black Americans, Native Americans, Latinos, Muslims, Jews, etc etc etc? I notice the authors -rightly- did not include any of these groups of people in whom rural whites can vote against equal rights for. So why is it ok for them to vote against equality for LGBQTIA+ Americans?
This drops the book down to 4 stars. It is well worth reading, though I wish the authors hadn't felt the need to allow prejudice against any minority, as though they have to appease them or give them at least one group to focus their hatred on.
That's not alright. They need to focus their anger on the politicians and corporations who are making their lives miserable, not minorities who do nothing to them.
January 25, 2024
Where do I begin? I really wanted to read this book for a number of reasons.
The main being if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat errors and failures over and over again.
I am not white nor do a live in a rural region, quite the opposite actually. I'm African-American, female, and I live in the city. I desperately want to understand the struggles faced by others. I truly believe that we will not move forward until we understand we have more in common. Once we acknowledge the commonalities we can meet in the middle on the differences.
Think of that SNL skit with Tom Hanks on 'Black Jeopardy' it was meant to be funny but there's truth to it.
Trump's success and the subsequent lookalike campaigns are a symptom of dissatisfaction.
I had no idea of the poor maternal care and health care, wages, education in rural American. I'm aware of the issues that plague my community less so of others. This book did an amazing job pinpointing the statistics and opening my eyes.
We all have to do better.
Thank you Tom Schaller, Paul Waldman and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to better educate myself.
The main being if we don't learn from history we are doomed to repeat errors and failures over and over again.
I am not white nor do a live in a rural region, quite the opposite actually. I'm African-American, female, and I live in the city. I desperately want to understand the struggles faced by others. I truly believe that we will not move forward until we understand we have more in common. Once we acknowledge the commonalities we can meet in the middle on the differences.
Think of that SNL skit with Tom Hanks on 'Black Jeopardy' it was meant to be funny but there's truth to it.
Trump's success and the subsequent lookalike campaigns are a symptom of dissatisfaction.
I had no idea of the poor maternal care and health care, wages, education in rural American. I'm aware of the issues that plague my community less so of others. This book did an amazing job pinpointing the statistics and opening my eyes.
We all have to do better.
Thank you Tom Schaller, Paul Waldman and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to better educate myself.
October 18, 2024
What a piece of garbage
March 1, 2024
It would be a shame if white people just started stealing copies of this book from corporate chains and held mass book burnings. Without white ruralites, none of you urbanites eat. Your power doesn't stay on. There is no oil for your cars. White ruralites overwhelmingly have served and died in our wars. There is no fighting your neocon wars against China or Russia without white conservative men. Your trans-Latinx army will fold before a single shot it fired. This book can't hold back the clear ethnic resentment it's authors have for actual white people.
January 21, 2024
Two urban intellectuals, one a professor and one a journalist, give their views on what they believe is happening in rural America and why it votes so overwhelmingly Republican. While undoubtedly holding many valid arguments, the authors can't hide their anger at people in rural areas who don't think as they do. This book is full of generalizations that lump all people in rural communities and on farms into one homogenous mindset, and that is its greatest drawback. The reader would do well to read more widely about this subject.
March 2, 2024
A hate filled rant that would make Rwandan propagandists blush. The authors generalize an entire demographic of people by indulging in racial tropes. The motive? It’s simple. To advance their partisan political interests. The book is a deluded collection of bile and vitriol that seeks to divide the people of America. The ideas here represent everything wrong with modern society. Do not be lied to by race-baiters. Be an independent thinker and pass on this book.
March 3, 2024
Updated 3/3/24 .. lol, just like I thought, "hurt feelings" have review-bombed this book because they do want to be challenged to think differently.
Well researched book looking at the politics of the rural white voter. Will any white rural people actually read this book? Probably not and they make end up here on GR calling it fake news. White people need to stop voting against their own best interests to "stick it" to the others.
I just reviewed White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller; Paul Waldman. #WhiteRuralRage #NetGalley
Well researched book looking at the politics of the rural white voter. Will any white rural people actually read this book? Probably not and they make end up here on GR calling it fake news. White people need to stop voting against their own best interests to "stick it" to the others.
I just reviewed White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller; Paul Waldman. #WhiteRuralRage #NetGalley
March 3, 2024
This is an absolute "must read" book prior to the November Election. Well researched and presented the importance of understanding rural white issues and their reverence towards former POTUS #45.
March 5, 2024
I read this book with an open mind. I’ll have to say though after finishing the book, I got the impression the authors are both educated derelicts. I guess the authors are upset because “white”people that live in the country and live a pretty much self sufficient lifestyle, don’t vote the way the authors think they should, or think the way the authors believe they should. Anyone with a cellphone can look up videos during the BLM riots and easily gauge who was burning down cities, tearing down statues, looting and rioting, and easily tell it wasn’t “white rural” Americans. Additionally, go to any major city (Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, etc) and look who is turning those places into utter cess pools, it sure isn’t “white rural” Americans. This book is nothing more than propaganda to blame someone for the failed left policies of our time. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY on this book!
February 20, 2024
We're a long way from "What's the Matter with Kansas," Toto. Schaller and Waldman do a fantastic job pulling together a huge a amount of information--some previously reported, much new--to show that the greatest threat to America is rural white Christians.
Despite the citizens of rural areas being treated as the only "real Americans," despite the government and society putting the thumb on the scale for them in every way since the founding, their parts of America haven't really been American culturally, economically and socially for more than a century. Rural areas are instead decaying, impoverished, drug-addled, violent, and dependent on government charity--everything the Rural White likes to project on "cities," that is, in his mind, Black ghettos--and full of workers like himself who aren't educated, who can't compete for what good jobs are left locally, and won't compete for the lousy jobs immigrants are willing to do because these are beneath him. In other words, rural areas are the Old Country, the place anyone with a brain, a will or a chance flees to find opportunity, become who they want to be, escape bigotry and oppression, and achieve the American Dream. And all this grinds the Rural White, who thinks he should be treated as a pillar of society, a proper Babbitt, because he's a rural, white and Christian (and certainly because he's male), when in fact he's just rubble in an antique land.
The trouble is, the electoral college and gerrymandering have given the Rural White tremendous power, power that's been cynically cultivated by the Republican Party in exchange for nothing that will improve his life except a way to vent his rage at being irrelevant. This is why he loves Trump. As the authors point out, Trump knows he's just a schnook from Queens who'll never be accepted by the swells in the city. Similarly, the Rural White is a schnook from the sticks and who, despite raging that the city looks down him, can't accept the fact that the city would rather not look at him at all. Thus, he is happy to follow Trump's lead in wanting to burn it all down if he can't be the only "real American" anymore. Remember: the Rural White is the same person who, when courts ordered his public pools to be integrated, closed the pools instead. He is a child who, if a game goes against him, takes the ball and leaves--and it's not even his ball.
I have just two complaints about the book.
One, the authors' solution to the problems of the Rural White, helping the Rural White, won't work because any help he gets he thinks of, in my opinion, as his due. Of course help should flow to him. It always has. It's what America does, help him. It's why he pays what taxes he's grudgingly willing to pay. What he hates is help flowing to non-rural non-white people too, as the authors point out when citing DYING OF WHITENESS. This is why direct Democratic appeals and actual programs don't change his mind. It remains to be seen, for instance, whether Biden walking with striking auto workers will actually help him even with those auto workers, let alone other unionized workers or lower class workers in general. They expect that. They are happy to take the help (just as Republicans happily take credit for Democratic programs they voted against), but, of course, getting any help only reminds the Rural White of his desperation, reminds him that he's a minority in every way now, and, because no REAL American needs or takes help from the government, that makes him bite the hand that feeds, especially if it's a Democratic hand.
The better solution is to abolish the Electoral College (or outwit it through popular vote compacts), redraw district lines so they aren't gerrymandered (as just happened in Wisconsin) and, thus, strip the Rural White of his undeserved, unearned power. Let his one vote count the same as the vote of everyone else.
Two, the authors go right up to the line of saying what's happened to our country, but don't actually do so (much like their subtitle naming the rage, not the rageful, as the threat), so let me:
American is now an apartheid state run by the Rural White. Despite his being a minority, we are subject to his small-mindedness, his lawlessness, his obsolete and anti-democratic attitudes, his grievances, his need for revenge, his violence and bigotry, his perverted and cruel version of Christianity--that is, as I see it, his collapsing narcissism, another thing he has in common with Trump. Fortunately, his is also a rapidly shrinking minority, in part because his "values" are repellent to a majority of actual Americans, especially anyone under 35; in part because his approach to the world furthers the destruction of his own world like an arsonist in a house of straw, and in part because he's largely elderly and eschews pandemic precautions and what medical care is left to him. It's possible his own nature as well as Nature itself will solve the problem of the Rural White before he destroys the rest of the country.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early look.
Despite the citizens of rural areas being treated as the only "real Americans," despite the government and society putting the thumb on the scale for them in every way since the founding, their parts of America haven't really been American culturally, economically and socially for more than a century. Rural areas are instead decaying, impoverished, drug-addled, violent, and dependent on government charity--everything the Rural White likes to project on "cities," that is, in his mind, Black ghettos--and full of workers like himself who aren't educated, who can't compete for what good jobs are left locally, and won't compete for the lousy jobs immigrants are willing to do because these are beneath him. In other words, rural areas are the Old Country, the place anyone with a brain, a will or a chance flees to find opportunity, become who they want to be, escape bigotry and oppression, and achieve the American Dream. And all this grinds the Rural White, who thinks he should be treated as a pillar of society, a proper Babbitt, because he's a rural, white and Christian (and certainly because he's male), when in fact he's just rubble in an antique land.
The trouble is, the electoral college and gerrymandering have given the Rural White tremendous power, power that's been cynically cultivated by the Republican Party in exchange for nothing that will improve his life except a way to vent his rage at being irrelevant. This is why he loves Trump. As the authors point out, Trump knows he's just a schnook from Queens who'll never be accepted by the swells in the city. Similarly, the Rural White is a schnook from the sticks and who, despite raging that the city looks down him, can't accept the fact that the city would rather not look at him at all. Thus, he is happy to follow Trump's lead in wanting to burn it all down if he can't be the only "real American" anymore. Remember: the Rural White is the same person who, when courts ordered his public pools to be integrated, closed the pools instead. He is a child who, if a game goes against him, takes the ball and leaves--and it's not even his ball.
I have just two complaints about the book.
One, the authors' solution to the problems of the Rural White, helping the Rural White, won't work because any help he gets he thinks of, in my opinion, as his due. Of course help should flow to him. It always has. It's what America does, help him. It's why he pays what taxes he's grudgingly willing to pay. What he hates is help flowing to non-rural non-white people too, as the authors point out when citing DYING OF WHITENESS. This is why direct Democratic appeals and actual programs don't change his mind. It remains to be seen, for instance, whether Biden walking with striking auto workers will actually help him even with those auto workers, let alone other unionized workers or lower class workers in general. They expect that. They are happy to take the help (just as Republicans happily take credit for Democratic programs they voted against), but, of course, getting any help only reminds the Rural White of his desperation, reminds him that he's a minority in every way now, and, because no REAL American needs or takes help from the government, that makes him bite the hand that feeds, especially if it's a Democratic hand.
The better solution is to abolish the Electoral College (or outwit it through popular vote compacts), redraw district lines so they aren't gerrymandered (as just happened in Wisconsin) and, thus, strip the Rural White of his undeserved, unearned power. Let his one vote count the same as the vote of everyone else.
Two, the authors go right up to the line of saying what's happened to our country, but don't actually do so (much like their subtitle naming the rage, not the rageful, as the threat), so let me:
American is now an apartheid state run by the Rural White. Despite his being a minority, we are subject to his small-mindedness, his lawlessness, his obsolete and anti-democratic attitudes, his grievances, his need for revenge, his violence and bigotry, his perverted and cruel version of Christianity--that is, as I see it, his collapsing narcissism, another thing he has in common with Trump. Fortunately, his is also a rapidly shrinking minority, in part because his "values" are repellent to a majority of actual Americans, especially anyone under 35; in part because his approach to the world furthers the destruction of his own world like an arsonist in a house of straw, and in part because he's largely elderly and eschews pandemic precautions and what medical care is left to him. It's possible his own nature as well as Nature itself will solve the problem of the Rural White before he destroys the rest of the country.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early look.
February 18, 2024
Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Random House, for this advanced reader’s copy. This book was phenomenal and well researched. Easy to read, but maybe not so easy to hear information about citizens of white rural America. Authors did their research and backed up their findings with statistics and said if they didn’t find any evidence to support information. Best part of the book that will resonate will is that everyone does not need to vote Democrat, but if you vote Republican, vote for someone who will actually act on your behalf and work FOR YOUR INTERESTS. Oh, and actually just vote, cause your vote counts, everyone deserves the right to have their voice heard and has the right to vote, and voter fraud is NOT as common as you are lead to believe. Amazing book!
March 16, 2024
The authors spend the vast majority of the book citing a litany of statistics and facts about rural people in the US, and somehow manage to avoid anything like a comprehensive or critical analysis of systemic issues. All the while, the tone of sneering disdain makes clear what the authors think of their subjects.
Brief flashes of actual material analysis speak to what this book could have been, of the authors didn't so clearly hate the people they're writing about.
A hollow book that is meant to relieve and excite neo-liberals by dunking on their favorite punching bag.
Brief flashes of actual material analysis speak to what this book could have been, of the authors didn't so clearly hate the people they're writing about.
A hollow book that is meant to relieve and excite neo-liberals by dunking on their favorite punching bag.
March 8, 2025
Why do the rural white voters mindlessly vote for the Republican candidates who actively undermine the very government programs designed to assist the rural population?
Faced with the gnawing despair arising from shuttered main street retail shops, no upward economic mobility, opioid epidemic deaths all around, and the past industrial base now mothballed, the folks of the rust belt and rural way of life are dying (literally and figuratively).
The once favored, white men and women of middle America, are being replaced by the changing demographics -- seen in the faces of the younger, diverse, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and mostly brown -- people coming to town . . . And these new comers are seen as a threat to a dying way of life. The rural folks in the rust belt cannot adapt, cannot get skills re-training, and Republicans do nothing except stoke resentment, primarily through dog whistle politics feeding on the tribalism and racism seething below the veneer of "rural and rustbelt dispair." Everyone needs a scapegoat.
How in the hell did a NYC sleazy "billionaire," short-fingered vulgarian, become the "savior" of the downtrodden rural population (a rural population that this very same vulgarian holds in low regard, with an extra helping of contempt for good measure)? Is it his perpetual use of racism as a campaign platform? Is it his constant reminder of the "American Carnage" he yammers on about incessantly? Yes and yes. He knows the "carnage" as the symptom, but he seeks not a diagnosis of the disease, nor a cure. Rather, he seeks out helpless scapegoats to blame to secure his access to power and make wealth he does not need.
And in WHAT UNIVERSE do weak-minded "christians" see a short-fingered, fragile ego sociopath, weak, bully, sexual predator and grotesque vulgarian (AND convicted felon), who has broken almost all of the 10 commandments, as the Saviour of Christ's Kingdom on Earth? "He's an imperfect messenger here, on Earth, doing the work of our Lord."
The hell he is. No. More. Excuses. For. This. Pig.
Answer: The Universe in which this nightmare is happening is founded in the white American rage felt in the hopelessness of the steep decline in the "once great" rural and also rust belt America. This white rage has been channeled by cagey Republicans who have fueled a universe of meaningless, racist, and divisive "culture wars," started by Goldwater, stoked and perfected by Nixon, and modernized with a smile by Reagan.
The rural rage has been channeled by Republicans into meaningless, endless fights about abortion rights, LGBTQA+ rights, immigration (those brown people again!), and good old-fashioned racism ("Black Lives Matter? Pfffft -- ALL LIVES MATTER"). The culture war fighting distracts from the real problems of the rural decline that Republicans have no intention of solving.
These increasingly dangerous, violent culture warriors have morphed into a full blown vigilante force for fascist nationalism, and a tidal wave of commotion for the establishment of an American Evangelical Christian Theocracy. You think the Muslim Theocracy in Iran is bad? You think the Jewish Theocracy in Israel is bad? You ain't seen nothin yet -- read the Project 2025 manifesto. And be afraid. Be very afraid. VOTE!
Faced with the gnawing despair arising from shuttered main street retail shops, no upward economic mobility, opioid epidemic deaths all around, and the past industrial base now mothballed, the folks of the rust belt and rural way of life are dying (literally and figuratively).
The once favored, white men and women of middle America, are being replaced by the changing demographics -- seen in the faces of the younger, diverse, Hispanic, East Asian, South Asian, and mostly brown -- people coming to town . . . And these new comers are seen as a threat to a dying way of life. The rural folks in the rust belt cannot adapt, cannot get skills re-training, and Republicans do nothing except stoke resentment, primarily through dog whistle politics feeding on the tribalism and racism seething below the veneer of "rural and rustbelt dispair." Everyone needs a scapegoat.
How in the hell did a NYC sleazy "billionaire," short-fingered vulgarian, become the "savior" of the downtrodden rural population (a rural population that this very same vulgarian holds in low regard, with an extra helping of contempt for good measure)? Is it his perpetual use of racism as a campaign platform? Is it his constant reminder of the "American Carnage" he yammers on about incessantly? Yes and yes. He knows the "carnage" as the symptom, but he seeks not a diagnosis of the disease, nor a cure. Rather, he seeks out helpless scapegoats to blame to secure his access to power and make wealth he does not need.
And in WHAT UNIVERSE do weak-minded "christians" see a short-fingered, fragile ego sociopath, weak, bully, sexual predator and grotesque vulgarian (AND convicted felon), who has broken almost all of the 10 commandments, as the Saviour of Christ's Kingdom on Earth? "He's an imperfect messenger here, on Earth, doing the work of our Lord."
The hell he is. No. More. Excuses. For. This. Pig.
Answer: The Universe in which this nightmare is happening is founded in the white American rage felt in the hopelessness of the steep decline in the "once great" rural and also rust belt America. This white rage has been channeled by cagey Republicans who have fueled a universe of meaningless, racist, and divisive "culture wars," started by Goldwater, stoked and perfected by Nixon, and modernized with a smile by Reagan.
The rural rage has been channeled by Republicans into meaningless, endless fights about abortion rights, LGBTQA+ rights, immigration (those brown people again!), and good old-fashioned racism ("Black Lives Matter? Pfffft -- ALL LIVES MATTER"). The culture war fighting distracts from the real problems of the rural decline that Republicans have no intention of solving.
These increasingly dangerous, violent culture warriors have morphed into a full blown vigilante force for fascist nationalism, and a tidal wave of commotion for the establishment of an American Evangelical Christian Theocracy. You think the Muslim Theocracy in Iran is bad? You think the Jewish Theocracy in Israel is bad? You ain't seen nothin yet -- read the Project 2025 manifesto. And be afraid. Be very afraid. VOTE!
February 18, 2024
Even though it didn't start with Trump, Trump seems to have exacerbated the problems that already existed. White rural voters go against their own interests because they've been convinced that their hatred and rage are more important than their own country, health, their very lives.
It's depressing and the book hits you with fact after fact after fact. I've been trying to understand for years why people are so willing to pay MORE out of their own pockets because it makes them feel like they're keeping something good from someone else, someone they don't even know. Politics is such an important part of their identity.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
It's depressing and the book hits you with fact after fact after fact. I've been trying to understand for years why people are so willing to pay MORE out of their own pockets because it makes them feel like they're keeping something good from someone else, someone they don't even know. Politics is such an important part of their identity.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
April 19, 2024
I’ll be honest - I did not finish. I can get on board with the fact that certain populations hold outsized electoral influence. And that many people vote conservative despite the fact that conservatives make most all inequalities, including class inequality, tremendously worse.
I am incredibly progressive, and I would love to have a nuanced conversation about how politicians weaponize white identity politics to gain votes and power from the working class whom they f*ck over any chance they get. I would love a nuanced conversation about how rural people have been left behind SO OFTEN that why would they (we) believe that democrats are any better? Why would rural people believe that they should listen to those, like the authors of this book, who have such clear disdain and disrespect for rural people?
This book is not the nuanced conversation we need to have. This book is a GRATINGLY CONDESCENDING and EXTRAORDINARILY PROBLEMATIC opinion piece that talks about rural people like they are animals in a zoo being observed by these “scholars”.
Rural areas are home to some of the most important resistance movements in our country - and not just the mine wars, I’m talking about contemporary movements for social justice, health justice, racial justice, economic justice.
This book basically just feels like white liberal wealthy elites looking down their nose at all the “poor uneducated rednecks”. Honestly these people feel like the kind of people who would be surprised I wear shoes when they find out I’m from Kentucky. Thumbs down. Do better.
I recommend Dying of Whiteness - a MUCH better read that addresses some of these issues
I am incredibly progressive, and I would love to have a nuanced conversation about how politicians weaponize white identity politics to gain votes and power from the working class whom they f*ck over any chance they get. I would love a nuanced conversation about how rural people have been left behind SO OFTEN that why would they (we) believe that democrats are any better? Why would rural people believe that they should listen to those, like the authors of this book, who have such clear disdain and disrespect for rural people?
This book is not the nuanced conversation we need to have. This book is a GRATINGLY CONDESCENDING and EXTRAORDINARILY PROBLEMATIC opinion piece that talks about rural people like they are animals in a zoo being observed by these “scholars”.
Rural areas are home to some of the most important resistance movements in our country - and not just the mine wars, I’m talking about contemporary movements for social justice, health justice, racial justice, economic justice.
This book basically just feels like white liberal wealthy elites looking down their nose at all the “poor uneducated rednecks”. Honestly these people feel like the kind of people who would be surprised I wear shoes when they find out I’m from Kentucky. Thumbs down. Do better.
I recommend Dying of Whiteness - a MUCH better read that addresses some of these issues
March 14, 2024
An attempt to find blame in the shortcomings of the Democratic Party. Blaming white people has reached a new low in this tragic excuse of a book. White rural Americans want to be left along and don’t care about the statistics they present in this book about them being “uneducated and poor”. That’s what Leftists refuse to understand. They don’t want a hand out. They don’t want the government in their life. They’d rather be left alone. That’s why they love Trump. He doesn’t propose new laws. He wants to enforce the ones that are already on the books.
March 24, 2024
I like reading controversial stuff because it keeps my mind engaged. This book makes some solid points, but the overall tone comes across condescending in its frequent repetitive sections. I’ve lived in rural areas and suburban places, visited lots of big cities, and it seems like we’re all just trying to make it the best way we know how with whatever hand we’ve been dealt. Be kind, everyone. Political divisiveness isn’t worth all the hate being stirred up nowadays.
January 15, 2024
ARC for review. To be published February 27, 2024.
The authors here have a very definite point of view but they back it up with statistics and data and come to the conclusion that rural white Americans are attacking the very system of democracy, a scary thought, as they “are told daily by the people they trust that what they really need is more rage and resentment,” and this is true despite the fact that they win elections. They are told their enemy is China when actually it is big business and consolidation, and conservatives are the key to that entrenched corporate power, especially in the media where we have fewer options than ever, a real threat to democracy.
I took so many notes on this book I could have a review that is pages long, but I’ll try to limit to the high points. Namely, once Republicans are elected, which they are, without even a token opposition in many rural areas, do they actually deliver for rural whites? They do not, catering to cultural conservatives and business interests instead. When is the last time you heard a Republican talk about health care (rural whites are uninsured far more often than urban whites), education (rural school lag behind urban schools) or economic concerns? And how in the world did Donald Trump, of all people, become what authors call “the king of rural America?” He doesn’t align with rural Americans in any way, but strokes their darkest impulses - you’re right to feel downtrodden and the correct response is anger.
The authors posit four basic facts: rural whites are more xenophobic, more apt to believe in conspiracy theories, less supportive of democratic principles like free speech and separation of church and state and more inclined to justify use of force to resolve political disputes than urban counterparts. The authors back this with data and examples and it’s all really depressing, especially when one considers how much political power rural voters have. Sobering and recommended.
The authors here have a very definite point of view but they back it up with statistics and data and come to the conclusion that rural white Americans are attacking the very system of democracy, a scary thought, as they “are told daily by the people they trust that what they really need is more rage and resentment,” and this is true despite the fact that they win elections. They are told their enemy is China when actually it is big business and consolidation, and conservatives are the key to that entrenched corporate power, especially in the media where we have fewer options than ever, a real threat to democracy.
I took so many notes on this book I could have a review that is pages long, but I’ll try to limit to the high points. Namely, once Republicans are elected, which they are, without even a token opposition in many rural areas, do they actually deliver for rural whites? They do not, catering to cultural conservatives and business interests instead. When is the last time you heard a Republican talk about health care (rural whites are uninsured far more often than urban whites), education (rural school lag behind urban schools) or economic concerns? And how in the world did Donald Trump, of all people, become what authors call “the king of rural America?” He doesn’t align with rural Americans in any way, but strokes their darkest impulses - you’re right to feel downtrodden and the correct response is anger.
The authors posit four basic facts: rural whites are more xenophobic, more apt to believe in conspiracy theories, less supportive of democratic principles like free speech and separation of church and state and more inclined to justify use of force to resolve political disputes than urban counterparts. The authors back this with data and examples and it’s all really depressing, especially when one considers how much political power rural voters have. Sobering and recommended.
January 10, 2024
Diving into "White Rural Rage" feels like a journey into the heart of a nation I thought I knew but clearly needed to understand better. Schaller and Waldman skillfully pull back the curtain on the complexities of rural America, a place often oversimplified or misunderstood in mainstream narratives.
What resonated deeply with me was their genuine effort to humanize rural White Americans, a group often reduced to divisive stereotypes in our polarized times. They delve into the paradox of immense pride in country while feeling left behind by its promises—a sentiment that, while challenging, demands our attention and empathy.
While I wholeheartedly appreciate the book's insights, I couldn't help but wish for a deeper dive into actionable solutions. Still, their vision for an inclusive future, where all Americans feel seen and heard, is a much-needed antidote to the divisive politics that have plagued recent years.
In essence, "White Rural Rage" is essential reading for progressives like me. It challenges our assumptions, beckoning us to engage with the complexities of American democracy head-on. Schaller and Waldman's nuanced approach offers both a critique and a path forward, reminding us that understanding is the first step toward unity.
What resonated deeply with me was their genuine effort to humanize rural White Americans, a group often reduced to divisive stereotypes in our polarized times. They delve into the paradox of immense pride in country while feeling left behind by its promises—a sentiment that, while challenging, demands our attention and empathy.
While I wholeheartedly appreciate the book's insights, I couldn't help but wish for a deeper dive into actionable solutions. Still, their vision for an inclusive future, where all Americans feel seen and heard, is a much-needed antidote to the divisive politics that have plagued recent years.
In essence, "White Rural Rage" is essential reading for progressives like me. It challenges our assumptions, beckoning us to engage with the complexities of American democracy head-on. Schaller and Waldman's nuanced approach offers both a critique and a path forward, reminding us that understanding is the first step toward unity.
March 29, 2024
It's really hard to rate this book.
On the one hand, I'm so glad that people are finally taking off the blinders and seeing the truth - if I see one more book or news article trying to sympathetically explain Trump supporters I'm going to puke. This book at least lays it out bare with no attempts at dressing it up, and they back it up with facts, data and evidence.
On the other hand, this is just another book that's preaching to the choir. The people who truly could get something new and valuable out of this will NEVER read it - they prefer their self-imposed ignorance. So while I found myself nodding along and agreeing with much of the book, I also found myself thinking "what's the point?" Which is the thought that seems to crowd my mind these days anytime another book or article or news story comes out about Trump, since if people haven't seen the light by now, they are truly lost and nothing anyone says or writes will change it. What a sad state of affairs in this country.
On the one hand, I'm so glad that people are finally taking off the blinders and seeing the truth - if I see one more book or news article trying to sympathetically explain Trump supporters I'm going to puke. This book at least lays it out bare with no attempts at dressing it up, and they back it up with facts, data and evidence.
On the other hand, this is just another book that's preaching to the choir. The people who truly could get something new and valuable out of this will NEVER read it - they prefer their self-imposed ignorance. So while I found myself nodding along and agreeing with much of the book, I also found myself thinking "what's the point?" Which is the thought that seems to crowd my mind these days anytime another book or article or news story comes out about Trump, since if people haven't seen the light by now, they are truly lost and nothing anyone says or writes will change it. What a sad state of affairs in this country.
March 26, 2025
Why do I do this to myself? I already know what the content is going to be. I grew up in white rural America and managed to escape 20 years ago. But I keep getting drawn to books like White Rural Rage—maybe because I want to see how the rest of the country (and the world) is coming to terms with what I already know firsthand.
Reading through the comments and reviews, it’s painfully obvious who this book is talking about. I know because I used to be one of them. I was a white rural Christian, always voting conservative, and I wholeheartedly believed in a lot of the views outlined in the book—the idea that freeloading liberals in the cities were trying to control how I thought, wasting my tax dollars so they could sit around doing nothing and buy purple hair dye, or that foreigners were coming to steal my job. That mindset is real, and it’s pervasive.
But there was something in me that wasn’t in a lot of people I grew up with—curiosity. A drive to see more, to be exposed to different cultures, different perspectives, different ways of thinking. That’s what allowed me to escape. The people who stay, who never leave, who dig in their roots deeper and deeper—those are the ones who cultivate the "rage" the book describes. It doesn't happen overnight; it festers, growing stronger with every perceived slight and every conspiracy theory passed around on Facebook.
One aspect of the book that stood out to me was its take on the 2024 election. At the time of publication (February 2024), the author still seemed to have some hope that things might turn out differently. He discusses the very real risk of a coup overthrowing American democracy as we know it but also expresses faith in the foundational respect for America’s core democratic institutions—something that, even in the wake of January 6th, had kept the country from fully sliding into authoritarianism.
And yet, here we are. Just three months into Trump’s second term, I can’t help but wonder what the author would have to say now. I’d love to see an addendum chapter reflecting on the past few months—what’s changed, what’s remained the same, and whether that faith in our institutions still holds up. Because from where I’m sitting, the warnings in White Rural Rage don’t feel theoretical anymore. They feel like a roadmap we’re watching unfold in real time.
Reading through the comments and reviews, it’s painfully obvious who this book is talking about. I know because I used to be one of them. I was a white rural Christian, always voting conservative, and I wholeheartedly believed in a lot of the views outlined in the book—the idea that freeloading liberals in the cities were trying to control how I thought, wasting my tax dollars so they could sit around doing nothing and buy purple hair dye, or that foreigners were coming to steal my job. That mindset is real, and it’s pervasive.
But there was something in me that wasn’t in a lot of people I grew up with—curiosity. A drive to see more, to be exposed to different cultures, different perspectives, different ways of thinking. That’s what allowed me to escape. The people who stay, who never leave, who dig in their roots deeper and deeper—those are the ones who cultivate the "rage" the book describes. It doesn't happen overnight; it festers, growing stronger with every perceived slight and every conspiracy theory passed around on Facebook.
One aspect of the book that stood out to me was its take on the 2024 election. At the time of publication (February 2024), the author still seemed to have some hope that things might turn out differently. He discusses the very real risk of a coup overthrowing American democracy as we know it but also expresses faith in the foundational respect for America’s core democratic institutions—something that, even in the wake of January 6th, had kept the country from fully sliding into authoritarianism.
And yet, here we are. Just three months into Trump’s second term, I can’t help but wonder what the author would have to say now. I’d love to see an addendum chapter reflecting on the past few months—what’s changed, what’s remained the same, and whether that faith in our institutions still holds up. Because from where I’m sitting, the warnings in White Rural Rage don’t feel theoretical anymore. They feel like a roadmap we’re watching unfold in real time.
February 29, 2024
excellent and terrifying
A deep dive into the hard truth of American politics and what drives the small towns and rural areas to follow people like Donald Trump.
A deep dive into the hard truth of American politics and what drives the small towns and rural areas to follow people like Donald Trump.
March 6, 2024
Small town rural America has been going downhill for many years. But this book is about how Republicans exploit that, rather than trying to fix it.
books-to-avoid
March 4, 2024The authors of this book should be arrested for a racial hate crime.
March 3, 2024
There’s a growing library of explaining the MAGA phenomenon with varying levels of success. Though not the definitive tome on this population, this does seem to hit a lot of the defining characteristics. As with many of these works, it does feel a bit unfair to use such a broad brush, but the results of voting against one’s personal interests for so long does speak to an established trend. As with any modern work in this area it has to overplay its hand on all of the virtue signaling points which is always tedious. However, though I really enjoyed the rant about pickup trucks as it brought a bit of levity to the discussion, it hits home as I dread trying to buy my next vehicle given how ridiculous the prices and specs have become.
(Also, I see that the book was likely brigaded with negative reviews by a mob (from Truth Social, LoL), so I'll likely up my own rating to try to even things out.)
(Also, I see that the book was likely brigaded with negative reviews by a mob (from Truth Social, LoL), so I'll likely up my own rating to try to even things out.)
March 29, 2024
I don’t generally write reviews, however I will make an exception for this book. I read the entire book and entered with an open mind. I live in a small rural town. The authors who don’t live in a rural area have a lot of opinions about people they have never spent much time with. They made so many generalizations, and assumptions. According to the authors rural people are uneducated, racist, and have no concept of the outside world. Apparently we are unable to make informed decisions and need the media to make it for us. They blame the losses of democrats in elections on the ignorance and the unfair voting powers of the rural populace. They don’t take into account that democrats have put up truly horrible candidates. The authors apparently feel we need the educated and cultured city dwellers to have more voting powers.
April 7, 2024
White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman
Posted on February 25, 2024 by Jack
The book is “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy” by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman brings together a huge amount of information to discuss rural areas, their problems, and potential solutions as well as the current political situation which contributes to these problems and presents a threat to American democracy. I think that may be the longest and most complicated sentence I’ve written lately, so let me explain.
First. why just talk about Rural Whites. About 25% of rural residents are non-white. So in rural areas the whites pretty much control the majority of votes. And white voters are the one expressing rage at the government because they feel disempowered.
However they have more power than any minority group. They are a large minority but still a minority. The authors call them the “essential minority” since they are often in control. This is because of the original design of our government which was never changed. The Constitution gives each state 2 Senators.
In my review of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point I put it like this:
"This leads to situation where California with 39 million residents and Wyoming with less than 600 thousand residents are equally represented in the Senate. To make matters worse the Senate has a filibuster rule where a minority of 41 of 100 Senators can block a bill. So the minority of Senators, often representing a very small percentage of the population can defeat a bill favored by a majority of Senators and a much larger majority of citizens.
The Electoral College is another problematic institution. In recent years, it has often resulted in the candidate with fewer votes of the citizens winning the Presidency by winning the most electors."
Rural regions have many problems and these are discussed at length in White Rural Rage. However failure to address them seem to be the fault of Republicans who keep getting re-elected by stoking rage rather that attempting to fix the problems. In many cases Republicans chose the act to benefit big-money benefactors at the expanse of rural residents.
The authors have several suggestions to improve the response of politicians to rural needs. My favorite is to elect better Republicans. Or make Republican and Democrat compete for votes. Rural residents deserve much better.
I thank NetGalley and Random House or allowing me read this before publication. The book is scheduled to go on sale February 27
Posted on February 25, 2024 by Jack
The book is “White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy” by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman brings together a huge amount of information to discuss rural areas, their problems, and potential solutions as well as the current political situation which contributes to these problems and presents a threat to American democracy. I think that may be the longest and most complicated sentence I’ve written lately, so let me explain.
First. why just talk about Rural Whites. About 25% of rural residents are non-white. So in rural areas the whites pretty much control the majority of votes. And white voters are the one expressing rage at the government because they feel disempowered.
However they have more power than any minority group. They are a large minority but still a minority. The authors call them the “essential minority” since they are often in control. This is because of the original design of our government which was never changed. The Constitution gives each state 2 Senators.
In my review of Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point I put it like this:
"This leads to situation where California with 39 million residents and Wyoming with less than 600 thousand residents are equally represented in the Senate. To make matters worse the Senate has a filibuster rule where a minority of 41 of 100 Senators can block a bill. So the minority of Senators, often representing a very small percentage of the population can defeat a bill favored by a majority of Senators and a much larger majority of citizens.
The Electoral College is another problematic institution. In recent years, it has often resulted in the candidate with fewer votes of the citizens winning the Presidency by winning the most electors."
Rural regions have many problems and these are discussed at length in White Rural Rage. However failure to address them seem to be the fault of Republicans who keep getting re-elected by stoking rage rather that attempting to fix the problems. In many cases Republicans chose the act to benefit big-money benefactors at the expanse of rural residents.
The authors have several suggestions to improve the response of politicians to rural needs. My favorite is to elect better Republicans. Or make Republican and Democrat compete for votes. Rural residents deserve much better.
I thank NetGalley and Random House or allowing me read this before publication. The book is scheduled to go on sale February 27
March 6, 2024
This book will clearly touch on some nerves, but the message holds true and is a must read as we prepare for the ‘24 presidential election.
I see many reviews saying that these authors view this topic with an urban elitist skew. I disagree. I grew up in a small rural town, went to college in a rural area, worked in rural areas after graduating, moved to a major urban city to live and work for years, moved out to the suburbs to live and work and I now own a home in a rural town with a population of 7,600 people. As a born and bred rural person, I’ve watched my whole life as my neighbors, family members and other rural voters consistently, loudly and proudly vote against their own best interests to stick it to any out-group they demonize as being the source of their woes. Instead of taking a look on the policy level to see which party and which politicians stand for them and their community’s needs, they repeatedly, gullibly vote for the loudest voice stoking their rage…to their own detriment.
This book is not only about how Republicans exacerbate and exploit the downturn of rural communities but about how rural communities can break their blind ties to a group of politicians that doesn’t serve them and achieve better for themselves and their communities.
“If they want to change this miserable state of affairs, rural people need to start by realizing they are the foundation of conservative Republican power in America. Without them, the conservative project and the GOP would be lost. Then they have to ask: What are we getting for the support we give to the Republican Party? Are we getting revitalized main streets, more economic opportunity, better infrastructure, better schools, a more promising future for our children? Right now, the answer is clearly no.” P. 240
“There is no demographic group in America as loyal to one political party as rural Whites are the GOP that gets less out of the deal.” P. 243
“The first step to creating a potent political movement must be rural Whites’ acknowledgement that they’ve been blaming the wrong people for their problems.” “Hollywood didn’t kill the family farm and send manufacturing jobs overseas. College professors didn’t pour mountains of opioids into rural communities. Immigrants didn’t shutter rural hospitals and let rural infrastructure decay. The outsiders and liberals at whom so many rural Whites point their anger are not the ones who have held them back— and so long as they keep believing they are, rural people wont develop an effective form of politics.” P. 244-45
I see many reviews saying that these authors view this topic with an urban elitist skew. I disagree. I grew up in a small rural town, went to college in a rural area, worked in rural areas after graduating, moved to a major urban city to live and work for years, moved out to the suburbs to live and work and I now own a home in a rural town with a population of 7,600 people. As a born and bred rural person, I’ve watched my whole life as my neighbors, family members and other rural voters consistently, loudly and proudly vote against their own best interests to stick it to any out-group they demonize as being the source of their woes. Instead of taking a look on the policy level to see which party and which politicians stand for them and their community’s needs, they repeatedly, gullibly vote for the loudest voice stoking their rage…to their own detriment.
This book is not only about how Republicans exacerbate and exploit the downturn of rural communities but about how rural communities can break their blind ties to a group of politicians that doesn’t serve them and achieve better for themselves and their communities.
“If they want to change this miserable state of affairs, rural people need to start by realizing they are the foundation of conservative Republican power in America. Without them, the conservative project and the GOP would be lost. Then they have to ask: What are we getting for the support we give to the Republican Party? Are we getting revitalized main streets, more economic opportunity, better infrastructure, better schools, a more promising future for our children? Right now, the answer is clearly no.” P. 240
“There is no demographic group in America as loyal to one political party as rural Whites are the GOP that gets less out of the deal.” P. 243
“The first step to creating a potent political movement must be rural Whites’ acknowledgement that they’ve been blaming the wrong people for their problems.” “Hollywood didn’t kill the family farm and send manufacturing jobs overseas. College professors didn’t pour mountains of opioids into rural communities. Immigrants didn’t shutter rural hospitals and let rural infrastructure decay. The outsiders and liberals at whom so many rural Whites point their anger are not the ones who have held them back— and so long as they keep believing they are, rural people wont develop an effective form of politics.” P. 244-45
2024
October 8, 2025Non-fiction November TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Random House
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Random House
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