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The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America
How a fraying social fabric is fueling the outrage of rural Americans
What is fueling rural America's outrage toward the federal government? Why did rural Americans vote overwhelmingly for Donald Trump? And, beyond economic and demographic decline, is there a more nuanced explanation for the growing rural-urban divide? Drawing on more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Robert Wuthnow brings us into America's small towns, farms, and rural communities to paint a rich portrait of the moral order--the interactions, loyalties, obligations, and identities--underpinning this critical segment of the nation. Wuthnow demonstrates that to truly understand rural Americans' anger, their culture must be explored more fully.
We hear from farmers who want government out of their business, factory workers who believe in working hard to support their families, town managers who find the federal government unresponsive to their communities' needs, and clergy who say the moral climate is being undermined. Wuthnow argues that rural America's fury stems less from specific economic concerns than from the perception that Washington is distant from and yet threatening to the social fabric of small towns. Rural dwellers are especially troubled by Washington's seeming lack of empathy for such small-town norms as personal responsibility, frugality, cooperation, and common sense. Wuthnow also shows that while these communities may not be as discriminatory as critics claim, racism and misogyny remain embedded in rural patterns of life.
Moving beyond simplistic depictions of the residents of America's heartland, The Left Behind offers a clearer picture of how this important population will influence the nation's political future.
What is fueling rural America's outrage toward the federal government? Why did rural Americans vote overwhelmingly for Donald Trump? And, beyond economic and demographic decline, is there a more nuanced explanation for the growing rural-urban divide? Drawing on more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, Robert Wuthnow brings us into America's small towns, farms, and rural communities to paint a rich portrait of the moral order--the interactions, loyalties, obligations, and identities--underpinning this critical segment of the nation. Wuthnow demonstrates that to truly understand rural Americans' anger, their culture must be explored more fully.
We hear from farmers who want government out of their business, factory workers who believe in working hard to support their families, town managers who find the federal government unresponsive to their communities' needs, and clergy who say the moral climate is being undermined. Wuthnow argues that rural America's fury stems less from specific economic concerns than from the perception that Washington is distant from and yet threatening to the social fabric of small towns. Rural dwellers are especially troubled by Washington's seeming lack of empathy for such small-town norms as personal responsibility, frugality, cooperation, and common sense. Wuthnow also shows that while these communities may not be as discriminatory as critics claim, racism and misogyny remain embedded in rural patterns of life.
Moving beyond simplistic depictions of the residents of America's heartland, The Left Behind offers a clearer picture of how this important population will influence the nation's political future.
200 pages, Hardcover
Published February 27, 2018
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March 5, 2018
Princeton sociologist Robert Wuthnow is an expert on the sociology of religion, the study of communities, and rural sociology. In "The Left Behind", he is trying to find the sources that prompt the anger that is brewing in rural America, and why rural communities have overwhelmingly voted for Trump. What makes his approach so appealing is that Wuthnow, who was himself born in a small community, is always empathic, but never apologetic. His research defies the stereotypical notion that small-town people are simpletons, but he is also very critical of the strategies rural communities are currently employing to protect their lifestyle.
Wuthnow and his research team conducted over a thousand in-depth qualitative interviews in rural areas. One of their main findings was that rural people are particularly community-oriented, and that they are trying to preserve their communities that have come under pressure due to factors like job loss, a shrinking population and the brain drain. It is highly interesting to learn what these rural communities attribute their decline to, what conclusions people are drawing and how they ultimately rationalise voting against their own interest.
Wuthnow tackles reactionary tendencies regarding topics like race and homosexuality, he talks about factors like religion, anti-government impulses, the highly valued "common sense", independence and abortion. While he clearly did not conduct his research to serve some ultimate purpose, it appears that this book could be a tool for people who are not familiar with rural America to better understand the concerns of rural communities, and for rural Americans themselves to critically reflect whether their current strategies to fight the rural decline are really effective - because in the end, the vitality of rural communities lies in the interest of every American, no matter where they live.
An excellent book, highly recommended.
Wuthnow and his research team conducted over a thousand in-depth qualitative interviews in rural areas. One of their main findings was that rural people are particularly community-oriented, and that they are trying to preserve their communities that have come under pressure due to factors like job loss, a shrinking population and the brain drain. It is highly interesting to learn what these rural communities attribute their decline to, what conclusions people are drawing and how they ultimately rationalise voting against their own interest.
Wuthnow tackles reactionary tendencies regarding topics like race and homosexuality, he talks about factors like religion, anti-government impulses, the highly valued "common sense", independence and abortion. While he clearly did not conduct his research to serve some ultimate purpose, it appears that this book could be a tool for people who are not familiar with rural America to better understand the concerns of rural communities, and for rural Americans themselves to critically reflect whether their current strategies to fight the rural decline are really effective - because in the end, the vitality of rural communities lies in the interest of every American, no matter where they live.
An excellent book, highly recommended.
July 1, 2018
Finished reading The Left Behind: Decline and Rage in Rural America by Robert Wuthnow. And now I’m angrier, and more convinced than ever that rural America is filled with idiots. Just plain idiots, mourning for a way of life they can’t even define, a childhood that died 50 years ago and they’re pining for, as the storefronts close, the factories leave, the companies fold, and children move far away, not wanting to return or run a farm. They live in a bubble of disbelief, can’t understand why no one wants to live 50 miles from a hospital, or 35 miles from a shopping center, or have a one-hour commute to a paying job, because that’s how everybody lives. They know this, but they can’t admit it, can’t adjust. They’ve cut off their hand, watched it bleed, and don’t understand why they feel sick. They have this dream that the companies will come back, the town will revive, and their lives will go on again, because their way is the only way, the right way, and they have absolutely no idea how things work anywhere but in their town of 1200. Because my town of 30,000 is SO monstrously large that there's no way I'd understand. Because I went to school in a village of 500, 7 miles to a gas station and 20 miles from the nearest "town." No, I'd have no idea.
Wuthnow tries. He tries to be neutral and present their information without comment, which can be downright dull after a while – this is not a book you will hate to put down. But I don’t think it’s the clearest book on the subject, and there were many times I wish he’d asked his questions another layer deeper – and he doesn’t even list the types of questions he asked. It’s like he wrote the book but is still trying to be politically correct, never says what he concludes, and it falls short. For instance, when individuals rant about Washington, or hating Obama, he never provokes them to name something specific that is wrong, it’s all generic, bland, open answers – because not one person can name something that is actually wrong. It’s all the open-ended hate they’ve been fed from TV. It’s the fact most of their “beliefs” come from who ever is in the pulpit, and the fact it doesn't matter what they ACTUALLY think and believe is right, it's how the rest of their community will judge them if they differ because they're all a bunch of super-judgemental jerks. They want the swap drained, but vote for the worst swamp monsters they can. There’s still no definition of what they’re looking for when they want Washington to respect them, to make things right for them, but they can never say what that is, beyond getting back that comforting memory of growing up safe. They blame television for destroying morality, but they never turn the channel to see what else is there.
Because they never leave their bubble of home, they’re confused by cities and larger towns, and they get scared of them and thus hate them, but if they actually stopped and looked around, they’d find that larger towns (and it’s not hard to get larger than 2,000, or 5,000 people), cluster down into smaller neighborhoods, even if it’s just your high-rise. The same morals are there, the same social clubs, the same potluck dinners and fundraisers and the deli owner knowing your name and the people helping people: they just never stop long enough to realize it. And because they never run into a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a gay person, they are terrified because of what they’ve been told by the TV or the preacher. Every gay man is an automatic child molester. Every brown person is a terrorist, because they can’t tell a Sikh from a Muslim from a Hindu from a Buddhist. You might have no problem with a Mexican hired man, but the community, who knows every burp your household makes, will look at you badly so you have to let him go before people talk. Spineless people who care more about what other people think of them than what they know - know from all those Bibles - is the right thing to do.
It comes down to people in rural areas and tiny towns and villages being narrow-minded, twofaced idiots. You lament your schools are terrible and closing, but resent larger communities with good schools who know how to get Gubbmint help. You lament that all the jobs are leaving, but refuse to modernize to attract new people. You lament your town is dying and everyone is leaving, but anyone who moves in is an opportunist and an outsider and can’t be trusted. A baby out of wedlock in your family happens, but if it’s someone else, it’s a terrible sin, but an abortion is worse. You want gubbmint out of your lives but you love those agricultural breaks. They aren’t republican, they’re church-thumping Libertarians. We should be able to do whatever we want, as long as the Pastor tells us. They make no sense at all, cut their own throats through sheer ignorance of how the rest of the country – and the government – actually works. They don’t even care about guns as much as the two holy of holy worries: gay marriage and abortion, even though not one of them may ever know either of it personally. Wuthnow does draw a line of difference between your average villager and Evangelical Christians, to be honest. Where many things won't bother the average small-town person, who rub elbows with the real world more often since their jobs are in larger towns, it's the Evangelical Christians who wall off their minds and truly cannot function in the real world. He does make that distinction.
And it all boils down to ignorance, ignorance, ignorance. And after reading this book – which I thought would give me a better picture, like Deer Hunting with Jesus or What’s Wrong with Kansas or Hillbilly Elegy – it has made me more angry and more incensed at people living in isolated fantasy bubbles who want to control everyone outside their bubble without even knowing what’s out there. It’s like growing up inside a prison, and then sadly reminiscing how comforting and secure those four walls were and how everyone should have that security.
Idiots, one and all, and they get no sympathy from me.
Wuthnow tries. He tries to be neutral and present their information without comment, which can be downright dull after a while – this is not a book you will hate to put down. But I don’t think it’s the clearest book on the subject, and there were many times I wish he’d asked his questions another layer deeper – and he doesn’t even list the types of questions he asked. It’s like he wrote the book but is still trying to be politically correct, never says what he concludes, and it falls short. For instance, when individuals rant about Washington, or hating Obama, he never provokes them to name something specific that is wrong, it’s all generic, bland, open answers – because not one person can name something that is actually wrong. It’s all the open-ended hate they’ve been fed from TV. It’s the fact most of their “beliefs” come from who ever is in the pulpit, and the fact it doesn't matter what they ACTUALLY think and believe is right, it's how the rest of their community will judge them if they differ because they're all a bunch of super-judgemental jerks. They want the swap drained, but vote for the worst swamp monsters they can. There’s still no definition of what they’re looking for when they want Washington to respect them, to make things right for them, but they can never say what that is, beyond getting back that comforting memory of growing up safe. They blame television for destroying morality, but they never turn the channel to see what else is there.
Because they never leave their bubble of home, they’re confused by cities and larger towns, and they get scared of them and thus hate them, but if they actually stopped and looked around, they’d find that larger towns (and it’s not hard to get larger than 2,000, or 5,000 people), cluster down into smaller neighborhoods, even if it’s just your high-rise. The same morals are there, the same social clubs, the same potluck dinners and fundraisers and the deli owner knowing your name and the people helping people: they just never stop long enough to realize it. And because they never run into a Hindu, or a Muslim, or a gay person, they are terrified because of what they’ve been told by the TV or the preacher. Every gay man is an automatic child molester. Every brown person is a terrorist, because they can’t tell a Sikh from a Muslim from a Hindu from a Buddhist. You might have no problem with a Mexican hired man, but the community, who knows every burp your household makes, will look at you badly so you have to let him go before people talk. Spineless people who care more about what other people think of them than what they know - know from all those Bibles - is the right thing to do.
It comes down to people in rural areas and tiny towns and villages being narrow-minded, twofaced idiots. You lament your schools are terrible and closing, but resent larger communities with good schools who know how to get Gubbmint help. You lament that all the jobs are leaving, but refuse to modernize to attract new people. You lament your town is dying and everyone is leaving, but anyone who moves in is an opportunist and an outsider and can’t be trusted. A baby out of wedlock in your family happens, but if it’s someone else, it’s a terrible sin, but an abortion is worse. You want gubbmint out of your lives but you love those agricultural breaks. They aren’t republican, they’re church-thumping Libertarians. We should be able to do whatever we want, as long as the Pastor tells us. They make no sense at all, cut their own throats through sheer ignorance of how the rest of the country – and the government – actually works. They don’t even care about guns as much as the two holy of holy worries: gay marriage and abortion, even though not one of them may ever know either of it personally. Wuthnow does draw a line of difference between your average villager and Evangelical Christians, to be honest. Where many things won't bother the average small-town person, who rub elbows with the real world more often since their jobs are in larger towns, it's the Evangelical Christians who wall off their minds and truly cannot function in the real world. He does make that distinction.
And it all boils down to ignorance, ignorance, ignorance. And after reading this book – which I thought would give me a better picture, like Deer Hunting with Jesus or What’s Wrong with Kansas or Hillbilly Elegy – it has made me more angry and more incensed at people living in isolated fantasy bubbles who want to control everyone outside their bubble without even knowing what’s out there. It’s like growing up inside a prison, and then sadly reminiscing how comforting and secure those four walls were and how everyone should have that security.
Idiots, one and all, and they get no sympathy from me.
February 20, 2018
Because the author, a sociology professor at Princeton, grew up in a tiny town in Kansas, this book displays a careful, sympathetic ear for life in small-town America. He acknowledges that he is now part of the East Coast liberal elite, but his study is consciously nonpartisan. In the introduction, he notes that the standard theory about the cause of rural unrest is economic decline resulting in white male anger. He thinks that is too simplistic. He says that small towns have a culture, a "moral community", which to them feels threatened. Here is his definition of a "moral community":
"I do not mean this in the vernacular sense of "moral" as good, right, virtuous, or principled. I mean it rather in the more specialized sense of a place to which and in which people feel an obligation to one another and to uphold the local ways of being that govern their expectations about ordinary life and support their feelings of being at home and doing the right things....A moral community draws our attention to the fact that people interact with one another and form loyalties to one another and to the places in which their interaction takes place. These enduring interactions and obligations and identities they entail constitute the community as a home. Understanding communities this way differs from the notion that people are independent individuals who form their opinions based strictly on their economic interest and their psychological needs. They may be rugged individualists. But they are not fundamentally that. Spend some time in rural America and you realize one thing: people there are community-oriented." (page 4)
He continues his explanation on page 6, saying, "The moral outrage of rural America is a mixture of fear and anger. The fear is that small-town ways of life are disappearing. The anger is that they are under siege. The outrage cannot be understood apart from the loyalties that rural Americans feel toward their communities."
The book, then, explores aspects of the moral community which seem to be threatened. He says people living in small towns have a philosophy of not being a burden, but that if someone falls on hard times, neighbors rush in to help. The organization through which help is given is usually the church. Washington is viewed with suspicion. On one hand, rural Americans feel ignored and that Washington doesn't offer help when it is needed. On the other hand, Washington is viewed as intrusive, making problems worse. He says there is a feeling in a small community that everyone living there is "the same". They aren't really, of course, but they make an effort to fit in. If they are wealthy, they live below their means and interact with others in the community in an equal way. There is also not a strong distinction between white-collar and blue-collar jobs. People living in small towns are aware of the downsides (such as being far from health care), but think the positives of living there outweigh any negatives.The author lists some of the threats to rural towns as being population decline (leading to an older population), teen pregnancy, drugs, lack of jobs (and a consequent brain drain), and a growing cultural divide. He sums this up by saying, "It is more the almost inexpressible concern that their way of life is eroding, shifting imperceptibly under the feet, and being discredited and attacked from the outside that poses the greatest threat." (page 79)
Having moved to a small town less than a year ago, I found this slim book (just 164 pages of text, excluding the notes, reading list, and index) interesting and thought-provoking. It has made me look around myself with more insight---which is never a bad thing.
"I do not mean this in the vernacular sense of "moral" as good, right, virtuous, or principled. I mean it rather in the more specialized sense of a place to which and in which people feel an obligation to one another and to uphold the local ways of being that govern their expectations about ordinary life and support their feelings of being at home and doing the right things....A moral community draws our attention to the fact that people interact with one another and form loyalties to one another and to the places in which their interaction takes place. These enduring interactions and obligations and identities they entail constitute the community as a home. Understanding communities this way differs from the notion that people are independent individuals who form their opinions based strictly on their economic interest and their psychological needs. They may be rugged individualists. But they are not fundamentally that. Spend some time in rural America and you realize one thing: people there are community-oriented." (page 4)
He continues his explanation on page 6, saying, "The moral outrage of rural America is a mixture of fear and anger. The fear is that small-town ways of life are disappearing. The anger is that they are under siege. The outrage cannot be understood apart from the loyalties that rural Americans feel toward their communities."
The book, then, explores aspects of the moral community which seem to be threatened. He says people living in small towns have a philosophy of not being a burden, but that if someone falls on hard times, neighbors rush in to help. The organization through which help is given is usually the church. Washington is viewed with suspicion. On one hand, rural Americans feel ignored and that Washington doesn't offer help when it is needed. On the other hand, Washington is viewed as intrusive, making problems worse. He says there is a feeling in a small community that everyone living there is "the same". They aren't really, of course, but they make an effort to fit in. If they are wealthy, they live below their means and interact with others in the community in an equal way. There is also not a strong distinction between white-collar and blue-collar jobs. People living in small towns are aware of the downsides (such as being far from health care), but think the positives of living there outweigh any negatives.The author lists some of the threats to rural towns as being population decline (leading to an older population), teen pregnancy, drugs, lack of jobs (and a consequent brain drain), and a growing cultural divide. He sums this up by saying, "It is more the almost inexpressible concern that their way of life is eroding, shifting imperceptibly under the feet, and being discredited and attacked from the outside that poses the greatest threat." (page 79)
Having moved to a small town less than a year ago, I found this slim book (just 164 pages of text, excluding the notes, reading list, and index) interesting and thought-provoking. It has made me look around myself with more insight---which is never a bad thing.
August 9, 2021
I was hoping to learn a lot about rural America from this book, but I think it came up short in a lot of crucial ways.
Robert Wuthnow, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, interviews multiple people from rural areas across the United States. He asks them questions about their specific communities, their views on the federal government, race relations, moral issues, and their hopes and fears for the future. As a result, the reader gets a sense of all sorts of rural opinions. However, I believe Wuthnow could have gone deeper into his research.
The opinions Winthrow gathers are needed to understand much of the broad questions he seeks to answer, but he fails to mention how those opinions compare to the overall research. I often found myself intrigued by some of these opinions. However, I wanted to know how those opinions came to be. Were there certain data trends that back up that individual's claim? If not, why did their opinion differ from the evidence? Did that individual go through a personal experience that is an outlier of the norm? have they experienced trauma from an event that gave them that point of view? Most of these questions went unanswered in this book.
I will say, I admire the intentions of this author. He proclaims to be a "liberal elite" who disagrees with much of the opinions he collected, but his writing is empathetic and objective throughout. It is not easy to be understanding to those with such differing views, but Winthnow does just that. That is something to admire.
Unfortunately, collecting opinions is only good for understanding what views are out there. Winthrow doesn't show us how to reconcile with those differing opinions, how those opinions compare to existing evidence or offer solutions to the issues he brought up. I think that may have been a missed opportunity.
Robert Wuthnow, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, interviews multiple people from rural areas across the United States. He asks them questions about their specific communities, their views on the federal government, race relations, moral issues, and their hopes and fears for the future. As a result, the reader gets a sense of all sorts of rural opinions. However, I believe Wuthnow could have gone deeper into his research.
The opinions Winthrow gathers are needed to understand much of the broad questions he seeks to answer, but he fails to mention how those opinions compare to the overall research. I often found myself intrigued by some of these opinions. However, I wanted to know how those opinions came to be. Were there certain data trends that back up that individual's claim? If not, why did their opinion differ from the evidence? Did that individual go through a personal experience that is an outlier of the norm? have they experienced trauma from an event that gave them that point of view? Most of these questions went unanswered in this book.
I will say, I admire the intentions of this author. He proclaims to be a "liberal elite" who disagrees with much of the opinions he collected, but his writing is empathetic and objective throughout. It is not easy to be understanding to those with such differing views, but Winthnow does just that. That is something to admire.
Unfortunately, collecting opinions is only good for understanding what views are out there. Winthrow doesn't show us how to reconcile with those differing opinions, how those opinions compare to existing evidence or offer solutions to the issues he brought up. I think that may have been a missed opportunity.
May 22, 2018
This book is well-researched--Wuthnow spent years observing and interviewing people in rural America--but its findings are frustratingly over-generalized. Wuthnow creates a composite sketch of rural America, focusing on an unnamed southern town, an unnamed Midwestern town, and an unnamed New England town. The result is a portrait that feels flattened, Wuthnow's main findings reduced to generalizations that in many ways reinforce stereotypes.
Wuthnow makes clear that rural residents don't like to feel inferior: they hate the mocking derision they feel from urban elites. Wuthnow also emphasizes the moral nature of rural communities, where taking care of your neighbors is a way of life.
This being said, I'm not sure I learned anything new from Wuthnow's book, whoch at times falls into the easy rut of contradictory stereotypes. On the one hand, rural Americans resist change; on the other, they resent being left behind by a rapidly changing society. Rural residents feel the federal government is simultaneously too distant and too controlling. Rural communities worry about shrinking populations but resist newcomers. And rural residents believe in helping their neighbors but resent social programs they see as giving handouts.
These general observations might be true, but they are too broad to be helpful. They also obscure the deeper nuances in rural communities and among rural residents. I fear Wuthnow's book ends up reinforcing the very stereotypes he is trying to fight.
Wuthnow makes clear that rural residents don't like to feel inferior: they hate the mocking derision they feel from urban elites. Wuthnow also emphasizes the moral nature of rural communities, where taking care of your neighbors is a way of life.
This being said, I'm not sure I learned anything new from Wuthnow's book, whoch at times falls into the easy rut of contradictory stereotypes. On the one hand, rural Americans resist change; on the other, they resent being left behind by a rapidly changing society. Rural residents feel the federal government is simultaneously too distant and too controlling. Rural communities worry about shrinking populations but resist newcomers. And rural residents believe in helping their neighbors but resent social programs they see as giving handouts.
These general observations might be true, but they are too broad to be helpful. They also obscure the deeper nuances in rural communities and among rural residents. I fear Wuthnow's book ends up reinforcing the very stereotypes he is trying to fight.
February 24, 2019
Worthless book. If you are an adult human being who hasn't been in a coma for the last 20 years, you will learn nothing from this book. If you read this book and felt you 'learned something', you probably have bigger problems to deal with than 'why rural America feels left behind in the 21st century'.
My biggest issue was that the author, who admits in the epilogue to being part of the liberal elite, basically spends the entire book acting as an apologist for rural America for being bigoted, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynist, and every other trait favored by conservatives. Do we really not understand that rural white America dislikes Hispanics coming into their town because their town has always been 99% white? Who doesn't know this??? But more importantly...it's not an excuse!
The book states over and over again how rural America feels comfortable in their small towns, in their communities....how hard is it for them to understand that the entire WORLD is a community and if everyone treated everyone else with the same amount of respect, we would be halfway to solving all of the world's problems?
My biggest issue was that the author, who admits in the epilogue to being part of the liberal elite, basically spends the entire book acting as an apologist for rural America for being bigoted, xenophobic, homophobic, misogynist, and every other trait favored by conservatives. Do we really not understand that rural white America dislikes Hispanics coming into their town because their town has always been 99% white? Who doesn't know this??? But more importantly...it's not an excuse!
The book states over and over again how rural America feels comfortable in their small towns, in their communities....how hard is it for them to understand that the entire WORLD is a community and if everyone treated everyone else with the same amount of respect, we would be halfway to solving all of the world's problems?
October 23, 2020
One of the aspects of this fellowship program I’m in that will have the most lasting aspects on me is just spending time in a rural small town that has been hit with considerable economic decline in the not-so-distant past. The people I interact with know the history of their place and how it has changed, and it’s a painful reality to comprehend the mountain that must be climbed. It’s an experience that hits at the core of this book’s title.
One of the paradoxes that stands out from this book (that is peppered with statistics, yet skillfully does not overwhelm the reader with numbers) is how Washington is reviled by rural folks for not doing enough, or even making worse, the moral standing of the country, even when some federal policies have considerable positive impact on them. This is not because rural folks don’t know the paradox and aren’t aware-it’s that towns and civic/religious institutions become strongholds against the slipping morality of the country, and separating these ideas becomes quite difficult.
I definitely think that the author could have pushed deeper on many things, though. It’s a very neutral book - which can be good and bad. Would the author have been right to explicitly call out the racism, sexism, homophobia, nationalism, etc when he heard it..? It would certainly have been a different book if the author had taken this route. But I’m optimistic that this is becoming more common.
One of the paradoxes that stands out from this book (that is peppered with statistics, yet skillfully does not overwhelm the reader with numbers) is how Washington is reviled by rural folks for not doing enough, or even making worse, the moral standing of the country, even when some federal policies have considerable positive impact on them. This is not because rural folks don’t know the paradox and aren’t aware-it’s that towns and civic/religious institutions become strongholds against the slipping morality of the country, and separating these ideas becomes quite difficult.
I definitely think that the author could have pushed deeper on many things, though. It’s a very neutral book - which can be good and bad. Would the author have been right to explicitly call out the racism, sexism, homophobia, nationalism, etc when he heard it..? It would certainly have been a different book if the author had taken this route. But I’m optimistic that this is becoming more common.
March 14, 2018
Thoughtful and thorough analysis
The 2016 election brought to the forefront a long simmering anger in rural America. Unfortunately, most of the analysis of that underlying rage has been overly simplistic and dismissive. This is an exception to that trend. This is one of the few pieces I’ve read that doesn’t summarily dismiss the point of view of rural America as bigoted and uneducated. I highly recommend this book especially for those liberals (like myself) who have struggled to understand the rationale that lead so many of our fellow citizens to vote for a demagogue. By the end of the book, while I vehemently disagree with the end results, I can honestly say that I better comprehend the fundamental issues at play. If there is to be a way forward collectively beyond the ultra-partisan divide, surely it must begin with a better understanding of the core issues that are dividing us. This book is a useful tool towards a better understanding.
The 2016 election brought to the forefront a long simmering anger in rural America. Unfortunately, most of the analysis of that underlying rage has been overly simplistic and dismissive. This is an exception to that trend. This is one of the few pieces I’ve read that doesn’t summarily dismiss the point of view of rural America as bigoted and uneducated. I highly recommend this book especially for those liberals (like myself) who have struggled to understand the rationale that lead so many of our fellow citizens to vote for a demagogue. By the end of the book, while I vehemently disagree with the end results, I can honestly say that I better comprehend the fundamental issues at play. If there is to be a way forward collectively beyond the ultra-partisan divide, surely it must begin with a better understanding of the core issues that are dividing us. This book is a useful tool towards a better understanding.
December 8, 2018
A good book, presenting the results of an in-depth social study of America’s rural communities. The author, a Princeton Social Scientist, conducted eight years of interviews and data collection throughout various rural counties, towns, and villages across a wide spectrum of regions. He presents the findings through a variety of subjects, seeking to explain the motivations and attitudes of the citizens in these rural communities. His biggest finding, not surprisingly, is that the wide variety of places he studied resulted in a wide variety of perspectives, with very little commonality of thought across similar communities let along across the country as a whole. However, he did see a common baseline, that of the “moral community”, where relationships built on common moral understanding seemed to outweigh other factors in decisions effecting the community. He pointed out that some of the same demographic conditions exist in rural communities as in urban communities, just with a wider geographic spread. But with the moral-centric attitude used by rural communities to deal with these conditions differing greatly from the methods used in urban areas. The author also points out that the last decade has seen massive changes in rural areas, many of which were caused by the inhabitants themselves, both knowingly and unknowingly. It is the confrontation of these changes with the foundations of the moral community concept which both creates many of the dynamics we see today and provides the single most unifying trait across America’s rural landscape. Do not look for easy or clear answers from this book, it really is more about presenting bundled research results rather than the drawing of specific conclusions. But it does help provide greater insight into how the rural-urban divide, which has always been a factor in America, has evolved over the last three decades. A great book for those wanting to know more about the challenges facing rural communities and how they are being overcome.
April 9, 2018
Wuthnow’s writes that rural American live in communities and to understand rural Americans you have to understand their connection to the community. He then offers many examples of this sense of community and the various obligations members of the community have. He goes on to show that rural Americans feel their community is being threatened by various forces economic, cultural, and political. Some of these threats are concrete (factory closing) others are harder to articulate (moral decline). Finally when your community is threatened you act. This comes out in practical solutions but also in scape goating Washington or immigrants.
As a small town boy I was afraid this book, written by a Princeton PHD, would look down upon rural Americans. It wasn’t. Wuthnow shows that rural America wants respect. They are angry at the stereotypes and the way they are looked down upon. For the most part he gave them the respect the want, in my reading of the book.
It left me wanting more. It was a straight reporting of what rural Americans say. Didn’t often go very deep into the thinking of the individuals he quoted. Offered no projections of the future of rural America. Didn’t offer much in the way of what to do about it-though you should gather giving rural Americans the respect they deserve is step #1.
As a small town boy I was afraid this book, written by a Princeton PHD, would look down upon rural Americans. It wasn’t. Wuthnow shows that rural America wants respect. They are angry at the stereotypes and the way they are looked down upon. For the most part he gave them the respect the want, in my reading of the book.
It left me wanting more. It was a straight reporting of what rural Americans say. Didn’t often go very deep into the thinking of the individuals he quoted. Offered no projections of the future of rural America. Didn’t offer much in the way of what to do about it-though you should gather giving rural Americans the respect they deserve is step #1.
April 17, 2019
Reading some of the other reviews, I can hardly believe we all read the same book! For me, I thought this book was very enlightening and—to ME at least—it showed rural America to be very different than what I expected, in a great way. I think that readers need not be so hateful towards small town folks when city folks aren’t always all that different in their views. I say this as an American Muslim.
The book is short, insightful, and much-needed. The author makes it clear that the book is only titled “The Left Behind” to reflect the perceptions of the subjects in the book, but I also think we need to be honest with ourselves and recognize the kernel (or much more) of truth in that. If we want to move forward as a truly united country then we need to make sure we aren’t overlooking anyone. This isn’t to say their struggles are better or worse than others, but I’m sure if we actually tried to understand rural towns and engage in dialogue with them and show them we care, then we’d at least see SOME progress.
My only minor hang-up about the book is essentially my own fault: I’m always waiting for a clear solution to be proposed. But given that this book was not written to achieve some specific goal (aside from being a resource of thought-provoking insight), I will say that this book did what it actually set out to do and it did it well.
The book is short, insightful, and much-needed. The author makes it clear that the book is only titled “The Left Behind” to reflect the perceptions of the subjects in the book, but I also think we need to be honest with ourselves and recognize the kernel (or much more) of truth in that. If we want to move forward as a truly united country then we need to make sure we aren’t overlooking anyone. This isn’t to say their struggles are better or worse than others, but I’m sure if we actually tried to understand rural towns and engage in dialogue with them and show them we care, then we’d at least see SOME progress.
My only minor hang-up about the book is essentially my own fault: I’m always waiting for a clear solution to be proposed. But given that this book was not written to achieve some specific goal (aside from being a resource of thought-provoking insight), I will say that this book did what it actually set out to do and it did it well.
April 11, 2022
The preface was better than the book. Questionable research methods + weak analysis with a few good points/quotes thrown in. quick read which was a plus.
July 12, 2023
This 2018 book by social scientist Robert Wuthnow examines the unique religion, politics, population decline, and economic struggles of rural and small-town America. He notes the political patterns of recent elections and the ways that rural and urban America seem like two different universes. Since the politicians favored by rural areas have an angry edge—toward Washington, the coasts, liberals, news media, Hollywood, mainline churches, “experts,” etc., Wuthnow wanted to understand the dynamic of that anger. He studied rural communities all through the United States, and came up with three composite, fictional communities to share his findings. One is in the Plains states, one in the south, and one in New England.
Wuthnow is a sympathetic researcher, perceiving the feeling that rural people have that they have been left behind and are looked down upon by much of the rest of the country. While his book is a deep exploration of rural-anger, he also gives good coverage to the things rural and small-town people like about their lives and their communities.
In order to help us understand the root of rural angst, Wuthnow uses the term, “moral community.” By that, he does not mean some sort of ethical organization, but rather an ethos, a set of customs, rules, and expectations in a small town regarding how life ought to be and how it can be sustained. Moral community is created by the daily habits of people, their friendly interactions with their neighbors, their loyalty to schools and churches, the centrality of friends and family, the daily necessity of work, volunteerism, assumptions that everyone shares the basically the same opinions about right and wrong, and a (mostly) shared belief that an infringing and invading and meddling outside world is responsible for the disintegration of small towns and rural areas.
Moral community is central to rural and small-town life, and is virtually absent in urban areas and growing suburbs. Wuthnow helps us see how moral community is disintegrating in rural areas, and he describes the understandable feelings people have about that disintegration, feelings that include rage, depression, grief, and anxiety. He also points out the irrationality of feelings, and how feelings can easily lead to blame, grievance, closed-mindedness, tribalism, and prejudice. This pattern of feelings morphing into social hostilities is not confined to rural areas. But since this is a book about rural areas, that is the demographic Wuthnow scouts and describes.
To give an idea of how Wuthnow defines rural: “Of the 19,000 incorporated places in the U.S., 18,000 of them have populations less than 25,000. And of these 18,000, 14,000 are located outside of an urbanized area. This is rural America.” (p. 5)
Wuthnow notes that rural America is rooted in a sense of community, even more so than urban or suburban America. It is the battering of rural community that sparks reactions. Noting why community is important to rural Americans, Wuthnow notes, “It matters to them that they feel safe and can enjoy the relative simplicity of small-town life. They take pride in their communities’ achievements, if only something as locally significant as a new fire truck or a winning basketball team. They recognize the disadvantages of living where they do, and yet they weigh these disadvantages against the obligations they feel to their children, perhaps to aging parents, and to themselves.” (p. 7)
Moral community comes into play like this: “…rural communities’ first line of response is the people they trust and look to for help when they need it. They expect fellow citizens to take responsibility for themselves as best they can, and when they can’t, for community organizations to help…Don’t be a burden if you can help it, and pitch in generously when you can be of help.” (p. 8)
As rural population ages and declines, drug problems grow, the “wrong element” moves in, internet and TV invade with no filters, businesses and churches close, schools consolidate and blur community identity, and small towns become more reliant on state and federal governments, all the while resenting government intrusion on local democracy, their communities are drastically weakened from the ideal of “community” that rural people have in mind.
Moral community offers residents a sense of place marked by stability and familiarity. That is eroding, especially due to depopulation in many areas.
One of the illusions of rural communities is that “everyone is pretty much the same here.” This misconception is held both by rural people and non-rural people. There is a significant silent minority in every rural community that takes time to perceive and understand. Wuthnow describes the process of “othering,” which is when those who are perceived as “different” are signaled out for exclusion, condemnation, and discrimination. Smaller, more homogenous communities seem more vulnerable to “othering.”
Wuthnow’s book raises and explores a number of dangers to rural communities: depopulation, higher rates of teen pregnancies, poverty, loss of jobs, closing of business and churches, consolidation of education and health care services—often making them more difficult to access, abandoned buildings, opioid and other drug and alcohol problems, dilapidated buildings, low rankings on the “amenities-scale,” and brain drain and loss of young people to other areas. Rural people are aware of the stereotypes and prejudices others have about them, how those attitudes lead to condescension and misunderstanding, and these prejudicial outsiders have power which will further erode rural communities.
Wuthnow points out that rural people are involved in a number of initiatives to help their communities, such as volunteerism, economic development initiatives, charity, and turning to religion. But these efforts do not seem to be turning the tide.
The difficulties faced by rural communities makes them particularly vulnerable to demagogues, whether in the media, politics, or religion. The fear evoked by these demagogues, who are highly coordinated these days, makes their presentations, programs, and communications highly addictive. Unfortunately, by directing rage outward, they drain the energy needed for rural people to build alliances and develop creative solutions that will actually make a difference in rebuilding their communities.
No one enemy has destroyed the wall of rural American or desecrated its holy places. The tragedies are not due to singular or simple causes. Wuthnow’s book is an excellent starting place for us to “love our neighbors” who live in rural America.
Wuthnow is a sympathetic researcher, perceiving the feeling that rural people have that they have been left behind and are looked down upon by much of the rest of the country. While his book is a deep exploration of rural-anger, he also gives good coverage to the things rural and small-town people like about their lives and their communities.
In order to help us understand the root of rural angst, Wuthnow uses the term, “moral community.” By that, he does not mean some sort of ethical organization, but rather an ethos, a set of customs, rules, and expectations in a small town regarding how life ought to be and how it can be sustained. Moral community is created by the daily habits of people, their friendly interactions with their neighbors, their loyalty to schools and churches, the centrality of friends and family, the daily necessity of work, volunteerism, assumptions that everyone shares the basically the same opinions about right and wrong, and a (mostly) shared belief that an infringing and invading and meddling outside world is responsible for the disintegration of small towns and rural areas.
Moral community is central to rural and small-town life, and is virtually absent in urban areas and growing suburbs. Wuthnow helps us see how moral community is disintegrating in rural areas, and he describes the understandable feelings people have about that disintegration, feelings that include rage, depression, grief, and anxiety. He also points out the irrationality of feelings, and how feelings can easily lead to blame, grievance, closed-mindedness, tribalism, and prejudice. This pattern of feelings morphing into social hostilities is not confined to rural areas. But since this is a book about rural areas, that is the demographic Wuthnow scouts and describes.
To give an idea of how Wuthnow defines rural: “Of the 19,000 incorporated places in the U.S., 18,000 of them have populations less than 25,000. And of these 18,000, 14,000 are located outside of an urbanized area. This is rural America.” (p. 5)
Wuthnow notes that rural America is rooted in a sense of community, even more so than urban or suburban America. It is the battering of rural community that sparks reactions. Noting why community is important to rural Americans, Wuthnow notes, “It matters to them that they feel safe and can enjoy the relative simplicity of small-town life. They take pride in their communities’ achievements, if only something as locally significant as a new fire truck or a winning basketball team. They recognize the disadvantages of living where they do, and yet they weigh these disadvantages against the obligations they feel to their children, perhaps to aging parents, and to themselves.” (p. 7)
Moral community comes into play like this: “…rural communities’ first line of response is the people they trust and look to for help when they need it. They expect fellow citizens to take responsibility for themselves as best they can, and when they can’t, for community organizations to help…Don’t be a burden if you can help it, and pitch in generously when you can be of help.” (p. 8)
As rural population ages and declines, drug problems grow, the “wrong element” moves in, internet and TV invade with no filters, businesses and churches close, schools consolidate and blur community identity, and small towns become more reliant on state and federal governments, all the while resenting government intrusion on local democracy, their communities are drastically weakened from the ideal of “community” that rural people have in mind.
Moral community offers residents a sense of place marked by stability and familiarity. That is eroding, especially due to depopulation in many areas.
One of the illusions of rural communities is that “everyone is pretty much the same here.” This misconception is held both by rural people and non-rural people. There is a significant silent minority in every rural community that takes time to perceive and understand. Wuthnow describes the process of “othering,” which is when those who are perceived as “different” are signaled out for exclusion, condemnation, and discrimination. Smaller, more homogenous communities seem more vulnerable to “othering.”
Wuthnow’s book raises and explores a number of dangers to rural communities: depopulation, higher rates of teen pregnancies, poverty, loss of jobs, closing of business and churches, consolidation of education and health care services—often making them more difficult to access, abandoned buildings, opioid and other drug and alcohol problems, dilapidated buildings, low rankings on the “amenities-scale,” and brain drain and loss of young people to other areas. Rural people are aware of the stereotypes and prejudices others have about them, how those attitudes lead to condescension and misunderstanding, and these prejudicial outsiders have power which will further erode rural communities.
Wuthnow points out that rural people are involved in a number of initiatives to help their communities, such as volunteerism, economic development initiatives, charity, and turning to religion. But these efforts do not seem to be turning the tide.
The difficulties faced by rural communities makes them particularly vulnerable to demagogues, whether in the media, politics, or religion. The fear evoked by these demagogues, who are highly coordinated these days, makes their presentations, programs, and communications highly addictive. Unfortunately, by directing rage outward, they drain the energy needed for rural people to build alliances and develop creative solutions that will actually make a difference in rebuilding their communities.
No one enemy has destroyed the wall of rural American or desecrated its holy places. The tragedies are not due to singular or simple causes. Wuthnow’s book is an excellent starting place for us to “love our neighbors” who live in rural America.
July 27, 2021
Even though I hail from the booming metropolis that is Tyler, Texas, I like to fancy myself somewhat of a small town boy. With family scattered throughout East Texas and Southwest Arkansas, I spent a lot of time in and around the types of places studied by Wuthnow, and though I think he is spot-on in his analysis of the people and communities in rural America, I did not leave with any new sort of revolutionary insight.
I would highly recommend this book to anybody who hasn’t spent much time in these one-stop-sign towns—Wuthnow gives a great description of what the communities and the people are like, why the governing norms are so important to them, and how they’ve been shaped by and responded to decades of economic and social transition.
If you have spent time in these places that likely have more cows than people, it’s certainly still a worthwhile read as Wuthnow provides a great sociological framework within which to place your already-held thoughts and experiences, but don’t expect it to rock your world or change your life.
To love our neighbors I think we have to first understand our neighbors, and in a political climate where half of the country can’t even begin to understand why the other half voted for a certain candidate or maintains certain beliefs, “The Left Behind” can be great step in the right direction for people seeking to make sense of these sorts of things.
I would highly recommend this book to anybody who hasn’t spent much time in these one-stop-sign towns—Wuthnow gives a great description of what the communities and the people are like, why the governing norms are so important to them, and how they’ve been shaped by and responded to decades of economic and social transition.
If you have spent time in these places that likely have more cows than people, it’s certainly still a worthwhile read as Wuthnow provides a great sociological framework within which to place your already-held thoughts and experiences, but don’t expect it to rock your world or change your life.
To love our neighbors I think we have to first understand our neighbors, and in a political climate where half of the country can’t even begin to understand why the other half voted for a certain candidate or maintains certain beliefs, “The Left Behind” can be great step in the right direction for people seeking to make sense of these sorts of things.
June 24, 2018
A solid, even-handed report on a years-long project in which Americans living in rural communities were interviewed about their views of politics, race, morality, immigration, government, and a host of other topics. Wuthnow seems to have been very discreet about his own opinions -- I had the feeling that the respondents felt safe about expressing their thoughts. Doubtless certain things were held back or toned down, but a picture nevertheless appears of what factors are most important in shaping the world view of this diminishing and overwhelmingly white (and aging) cohort.
"The Left Behind" is not "Hillbilly Elegy" or "Strangers in Their Own Land" or "White Rage" or any of the other worthy entries into trying to understand what America is in these strange times. Nor does it try to be of their ilk. Rather, it is a quiet, sober, and respectful report on rural communities-- in short, a valuable addition to their number.
"The Left Behind" is not "Hillbilly Elegy" or "Strangers in Their Own Land" or "White Rage" or any of the other worthy entries into trying to understand what America is in these strange times. Nor does it try to be of their ilk. Rather, it is a quiet, sober, and respectful report on rural communities-- in short, a valuable addition to their number.
March 24, 2021
Wuthnow does a good job of explaining the cultural mythologies embedded in small-town rural America. He also clearly and sympathetically outlines how these mythologies, combined with lack of resources, unpredictable economic setbacks, and out-of-touch government interventions lead to frustration, fear, and hopelessness. The bigotry, homophobia, and lack of sympathy for those dependent on government handouts present in these communities is not outright excused, but given a broader context that humanizes the interviewees. Given the author's own context as a self-professed liberal elite, he makes a good case for mutual respect, listening, and understanding as solutions to bridging the urban-rural divide.
November 1, 2023
Breaking this all down was huge for my understanding of communities I’ve lived in from a new perspective, especially as we approach the election. Sometimes required reading isn’t all bad
September 21, 2024
Although it got me reflecting (and I have a more solid base to do so from), I wish the author had delved a bit deeper.
October 13, 2018
rural white people are upset that society is changing and it's hard to find a good job locally thanks to automation and outsourcing. They sometimes vote for people who appear to "get" their frustrations, rather than people who propose ostensibly helpful gov't. programs to alleviate their economic problems.
if the above comes as news to you, get this book by a Princeton sociologist and dig in. Nice mix of high-level survey stuff and on-the-ground anecdotes. generally describes people and social phenomena neutrally but without trying to hide his own biases/perspectives as a liberal from the Northeast.
but.....if like me you read the Wx Post and have heard this same riff approximately two thousand times since the 2016 presidential election, then don't go get this book. Instead, conduct a detailed case study of why I continue to have my attention drawn by books in this vein when my public library puts them on the "new nonfiction" shelf. Must learn to just say "no thanks; I already read something similar" -- off to memorize that as my new mantra.
if the above comes as news to you, get this book by a Princeton sociologist and dig in. Nice mix of high-level survey stuff and on-the-ground anecdotes. generally describes people and social phenomena neutrally but without trying to hide his own biases/perspectives as a liberal from the Northeast.
but.....if like me you read the Wx Post and have heard this same riff approximately two thousand times since the 2016 presidential election, then don't go get this book. Instead, conduct a detailed case study of why I continue to have my attention drawn by books in this vein when my public library puts them on the "new nonfiction" shelf. Must learn to just say "no thanks; I already read something similar" -- off to memorize that as my new mantra.
June 9, 2024
I grew up in the Midwest, partly in a town of 1500 and partly in a town of 350, and this book literally hits home. I didn't realize how "left behind" both areas were/are until I moved out of them at 19 years old. Yet now, when I go back, what has changed the most is how much has shut down & how lifeless things feel (especially at local sporting events). The fact that I once saw these places as the whole world and was jealous of the "big name" families that ran these towns seems so foolish. The inability to keep up with the rest of the country, the inability to adapt with modern technology, the inability to learn/unlearn/relearn new things, as well as using religion to back up thoughts & beliefs; only to blame all of the issues that result from that on the few minorities in town or the federal government, is a heartbreaking reminder to those who got out, of what happens when you don't look in the mirror
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2019
I saw this book referred to by an associate who considers himself part of the urban intellectual elite and refers to this book as examples of why rural residents are dumb. Having grown up in a small town, and not dumb, I had to read it for myself.
The author captures many of the values shared by rural America. A strong sense of community. Concern with moral decay in society. Concern with government overreach, and so forth.
To me, the conclusions are exactly similar to why the House is becoming Democrat (votes based on population, which favors urban centers) and the Senate is Republican (where each State has the same number of votes, irrespective of population). The minority voices in rural America are important, and need to be heard.
The author captures many of the values shared by rural America. A strong sense of community. Concern with moral decay in society. Concern with government overreach, and so forth.
To me, the conclusions are exactly similar to why the House is becoming Democrat (votes based on population, which favors urban centers) and the Senate is Republican (where each State has the same number of votes, irrespective of population). The minority voices in rural America are important, and need to be heard.
July 28, 2024
There are some good insights in here that reflect realities familiar to those of us who have lived in rural communities. But the book poorly written, and some themes aren't well supported with data. Some chapters and sections (e.g. misogyny, diversity) seem disjointed and underdeveloped. There is not nearly enough discussion of the structural factors (corporations, media, policies) that created the conditions driving rural sentiment. There's NO discussion of rural heterogeneity (variation in attitudes and voting behaviors across rural regions, labor markets, or racial/ethnic groups).
May 24, 2024
Honest and well documented, but lacking in an acknowledgment of the mythology of "Washington" as a primary adversary to rural communities. Other institutions: agribusiness, higher education, Christianity, and television deserve a more critical examination.
July 20, 2018
The book contains a great description of the concerns of rural people in a variety of communities as the describe them, as well as the interesting and valuable concept of the "moral order," which essentially seems to be a set of norms about how things should be done and how people ought to behave. When those norms are violated or come under pressure from the outside, the community reacts angrily and considers itself under siege by people who have no "common sense", as demonstrated by their lack of adherence to these norms. They would prefer to handle everything their way, according to the norms inherent in their conception of how the world should work. Yet the rural communities are dependent on global markets and funding from Washington. This is especially galling because part of the "moral order" is that you're supposed to be totally self sufficient, unless you're recovering from some kind of short term setback such as illness or a bad harvest, etc. This coupled with people seemingly "rejecting" the community by moving out en masse, businesses shutting down, etc. leads to the perception that their community is under siege by hostile and culturally alien forces.
This part of the book is good, but I sometimes wish the analysis was deeper. The author brings up a number of racially charged statements made in small towns in the final chapter but seems to dismiss them as being important motivating factors in politics, on the basis of citing a single NYT article. It seemed a little thin to me, especially because of numerous places in the text where he alluded to the potency of barely submerged racial animosity as a motivating factor for people, e.g. passages where he described hatred of the government in a community going back to anger at northern carpetbaggers at the end of reconstruction and how older people in the community remember voting for Goldwater in opposition to the civil rights movement. Given that this seems implicitly to be a book about explaining rural Trump voters to city people who don't understand them, I think that this topic should have been explored more fully. I feel that the author's deep sympathy for small communities and his origin within one makes him reluctant to call out the negative aspects of this kind of community, and when he does he always seems eager to shift back onto more positive ground as quickly as he can. I still think it's a valuable book in that the positives of rural communities in America are often neglected, and the people in these communities experience real difficulty with the government that should not be ignored. Even as someone who is very progressive leaning and a "big government liberal," I felt sympathetic to the town officials describing the impact of unfunded federal mandates on their small town budgets, and how they were forced to cut money from core services such as police and park service in order to meet them. But I don't know that I understand or sympathize so much with the proferred "moral order" that seems to implicitly include the disapproval and/or oppression of gay people, black people, Muslims, and a host of other minority groups in addition to the more positive elements of promoting politeness and compromise within the in-group.
This part of the book is good, but I sometimes wish the analysis was deeper. The author brings up a number of racially charged statements made in small towns in the final chapter but seems to dismiss them as being important motivating factors in politics, on the basis of citing a single NYT article. It seemed a little thin to me, especially because of numerous places in the text where he alluded to the potency of barely submerged racial animosity as a motivating factor for people, e.g. passages where he described hatred of the government in a community going back to anger at northern carpetbaggers at the end of reconstruction and how older people in the community remember voting for Goldwater in opposition to the civil rights movement. Given that this seems implicitly to be a book about explaining rural Trump voters to city people who don't understand them, I think that this topic should have been explored more fully. I feel that the author's deep sympathy for small communities and his origin within one makes him reluctant to call out the negative aspects of this kind of community, and when he does he always seems eager to shift back onto more positive ground as quickly as he can. I still think it's a valuable book in that the positives of rural communities in America are often neglected, and the people in these communities experience real difficulty with the government that should not be ignored. Even as someone who is very progressive leaning and a "big government liberal," I felt sympathetic to the town officials describing the impact of unfunded federal mandates on their small town budgets, and how they were forced to cut money from core services such as police and park service in order to meet them. But I don't know that I understand or sympathize so much with the proferred "moral order" that seems to implicitly include the disapproval and/or oppression of gay people, black people, Muslims, and a host of other minority groups in addition to the more positive elements of promoting politeness and compromise within the in-group.
April 8, 2024
3/5 stars.
While this book is certainly well-researched, it didn't get as in depth as I wanted. I think the framing of this in small groups is a good one, and it focuses on "othering" and "in groups vs. outgroups," but the author doesn't probe as deeply as I think he could have. Thus, I'm left wondering "okay but WHY - WHY do these people feel this way?"
The author argues that the perceived erosion of classic American small town morality is what's driving people in these small towns to feel left behind, to hate Washington, to vote super conservatively, etc. And while I absolutely agree with the author and believe that's true, we still don't get at the crux as to why, then, they support someone like Donald Trump - one of the least-moral people you can possibly imagine. If rural folks are going to argue that they want to preserve morality, I need the author to go deeper and make them confront their relationship with Trump and with how they judge others (oh you had a baby out of wedlock? Shame! But no abortion, and definitely no government assistance!).
It's frustrating: I resent labels as much as the next person - of casting rural communities as uneducated, clinging to an antiquated way of life, etc. But this book didn't really do much to change that perception. It's painfully obvious reading this that these people are doing this to themselves: they're allowing themselves to be fed the same schpeel from conservative Limbaughian type people. They're voting against their own self-interests because they let their perceived ultra morality go beyond policy choices - and Republicans know this! That's why they're successful! Plus, these towns aren't doing anything to cater to young people, to talent - they know the world around them is changing, but they refuse to change with it. And as such, they suffer and then blame Washington for being out-of-touch (which I wouldn't say is entirely false, to be fair). But again, I need the author to go deeper and ask "okay, you hate Obama, but you love Obamacare...explain that to me." That's what's missing from this.
Additionally, parts of this read more like a textbook, especially the first chapter - some parts were a struggle to get through as a result, even if the topic was interesting to me. But truly, the only people I was left feeling pity for are small business owners and farmers who are bled dry by capitalist, corporate initiatives.
While this book is certainly well-researched, it didn't get as in depth as I wanted. I think the framing of this in small groups is a good one, and it focuses on "othering" and "in groups vs. outgroups," but the author doesn't probe as deeply as I think he could have. Thus, I'm left wondering "okay but WHY - WHY do these people feel this way?"
The author argues that the perceived erosion of classic American small town morality is what's driving people in these small towns to feel left behind, to hate Washington, to vote super conservatively, etc. And while I absolutely agree with the author and believe that's true, we still don't get at the crux as to why, then, they support someone like Donald Trump - one of the least-moral people you can possibly imagine. If rural folks are going to argue that they want to preserve morality, I need the author to go deeper and make them confront their relationship with Trump and with how they judge others (oh you had a baby out of wedlock? Shame! But no abortion, and definitely no government assistance!).
It's frustrating: I resent labels as much as the next person - of casting rural communities as uneducated, clinging to an antiquated way of life, etc. But this book didn't really do much to change that perception. It's painfully obvious reading this that these people are doing this to themselves: they're allowing themselves to be fed the same schpeel from conservative Limbaughian type people. They're voting against their own self-interests because they let their perceived ultra morality go beyond policy choices - and Republicans know this! That's why they're successful! Plus, these towns aren't doing anything to cater to young people, to talent - they know the world around them is changing, but they refuse to change with it. And as such, they suffer and then blame Washington for being out-of-touch (which I wouldn't say is entirely false, to be fair). But again, I need the author to go deeper and ask "okay, you hate Obama, but you love Obamacare...explain that to me." That's what's missing from this.
Additionally, parts of this read more like a textbook, especially the first chapter - some parts were a struggle to get through as a result, even if the topic was interesting to me. But truly, the only people I was left feeling pity for are small business owners and farmers who are bled dry by capitalist, corporate initiatives.
July 21, 2019
The title of this book plays on the popular Evangelical end-times books of the same title. That series treated events around the "Rapture" in which true Christians are taken out of the world, leaving everyone else on the Earth to face the Great Tribulation. Robert Wuthnow suggests with this title that there's a group of non-elect Americans who feel like they have been left behind, while a select group of others has advanced at their expense.
Wuthnow's goal is to make readers familiar with the points of view taken by rural Americans (=residents of cities with <25,000 people). He worries that it is too easy to disparage rural Americans without really understanding how they see the world. In my view he gives too much time to reporting their point of view, and not enough attention to theorizing the reasons for these views. For example, at one point he writes about a pastor in a small town who has some thoughts on the local celebration of Christmas: "...it makes him feel better, knowing that the community can publicly celebrate Christmas this way instead of having to be politically correct about it" (25). OK, but how can anyone write about these topics ("War on Christmas" and "political correctness) without thinking about the reach and importance of conservative media?
Wuthnow mentions the role of conservative media and the internet, but this book wants mostly to take the opinions and ideas of rural Americans at face value. But time and again that method fails because it is clear that the ideas espoused by people are driven by national currents, and not originating from local conditions. One man has some choice words for Obama: "I'd say 'Get off your bum, you doofus. Take care of things. Leave our Constitution alone!'" (155). Wuthnow immediately notes that rarely did anyone imply anything against Obama on account of race. But, come on! Even toward the beginning of Trump's term it was obvious that such "concern" about the Constitution must be interrogated. Wuthnow does not excel at drawing our attention to the larger currents that could make sense of the things we are reading about the thoughts of rural Americans.
Since this cultural divide between cities and rural areas is at the center of our national strife, I will continue to read books that take up this theme (from one direction of the other). Back in 1810 an unbelievable 95% of Americans lived in rural settings. Then in 1910 it was 55%, and finally in 2010 it was 20%. We are in the midst of a long term decline in the importance and economic vitality of rural America. Cities are dominated by modes of thought that place value in Innovation and creating the Self, while the Left Behind use the Bible to spin out stories of moral decline and the coming Judgment.
Wuthnow's goal is to make readers familiar with the points of view taken by rural Americans (=residents of cities with <25,000 people). He worries that it is too easy to disparage rural Americans without really understanding how they see the world. In my view he gives too much time to reporting their point of view, and not enough attention to theorizing the reasons for these views. For example, at one point he writes about a pastor in a small town who has some thoughts on the local celebration of Christmas: "...it makes him feel better, knowing that the community can publicly celebrate Christmas this way instead of having to be politically correct about it" (25). OK, but how can anyone write about these topics ("War on Christmas" and "political correctness) without thinking about the reach and importance of conservative media?
Wuthnow mentions the role of conservative media and the internet, but this book wants mostly to take the opinions and ideas of rural Americans at face value. But time and again that method fails because it is clear that the ideas espoused by people are driven by national currents, and not originating from local conditions. One man has some choice words for Obama: "I'd say 'Get off your bum, you doofus. Take care of things. Leave our Constitution alone!'" (155). Wuthnow immediately notes that rarely did anyone imply anything against Obama on account of race. But, come on! Even toward the beginning of Trump's term it was obvious that such "concern" about the Constitution must be interrogated. Wuthnow does not excel at drawing our attention to the larger currents that could make sense of the things we are reading about the thoughts of rural Americans.
Since this cultural divide between cities and rural areas is at the center of our national strife, I will continue to read books that take up this theme (from one direction of the other). Back in 1810 an unbelievable 95% of Americans lived in rural settings. Then in 1910 it was 55%, and finally in 2010 it was 20%. We are in the midst of a long term decline in the importance and economic vitality of rural America. Cities are dominated by modes of thought that place value in Innovation and creating the Self, while the Left Behind use the Bible to spin out stories of moral decline and the coming Judgment.
October 22, 2022
Much in this book is familiar (both in terms of what’s been evident in the news and what I know from having small town roots), which could be a sign of its accurate reporting of people’s sentiments. What’s frustrating though is the thin analysis. How much acceptance of the line “old Bob isn’t racist just because he thinks all his tax money goes to (minority) welfare cheats…he had a Black friend in the military” is acceptable? Nearly every time it pops up, it’s preceded or followed by a “but they are good community folk” softening remark. Doesn’t he see that is how racism works in small towns. The mass shooting in Buffalo (which occurred after the book’s publication) is a perfect example how that festering subsurface racism in small town America can grow into unspeakable acts of racial violence. Where is the anti-government militia movement the strongest? The FBI says the training occurs in rural areas, but that might just be a few bad apples in this book. (Most small town people are just so darn mad at the feds that they might say “shit” instead of “shoot.”) Wuthnow references a foiled domestic terrorist plot against Somali immigrants in Garden City, Kansas; but then reasons that there are people on both sides of the immigration issue in Garden City. Ok. Why the murderous rage though? He mentions conservative media in the book but doesn’t dwell on its potential rage-inducing impacts. The “Washington’s Broken” chapter, while accurately reported, was the most frustrating to read. It was page after page of rural White folks saying “I’m so pissed at Washington’s meddling” in one breath and “I wish DC folks would pay more attention to us” in the next. The idea that rural folks’ community sensibilities were offended by the hostility between political parties in Washington was also perplexing. Who do they think is to blame for that when they keep putting extremist political candidates in offices? You want moderation and cross-aisle cooperation? Elect more moderate and cooperative candidates. The book had no real prescriptive solutions to reduce rural rage.
May 28, 2018
"The moral outrage of rural America is a mixture of fear and anger. The fear is that small-town ways of life are disappearing. The anger is that they are under siege."
Wuthrow, a Princeton sociologist who grew up in Kansas, spent years researching and conducting thousands of interviews in small town America to come up with one of the most respectful, thoughtful looks at why rural America is angry. All this research, careful consideration, and respect, and yet I still don't feel I learned much - not much said here that I haven't read in other places. But if you have not read extensively about the decline of rural America or why they are so angry - this would definitely be the one book I would read.
One thing I did find interesting that I hadn't heard before was a lack of anger at wealthy people. Most rural people, seeing their town doctor or wealthy farmer, felt that people who were rich had worked hard to get there - so they didn't have the anger we sometimes see in the suburbs or urban core. This personal experience seems to have so much to do with opinions on social issues - whether you know someone who is homosexual, or who has had an abortion, or is an immigrant. As with all people - harder to hate people you know and work with every day.
Being a Kansan myself I enjoyed his focus on rural Kansas. Didn't realize the meat processing plant in Garden City was the largest in the world! He paints a very respectful picture of small towns as places people feel are moral, community oriented, protected from the immoral, meddling outside world. That Washington is too far removed and doesn't understand small towns, so should be passing down unfunded mandates. I am still trying to piece together how Trump won in 2016 - but this book sure made the reasons more clear. That's worth a read.
Wuthrow, a Princeton sociologist who grew up in Kansas, spent years researching and conducting thousands of interviews in small town America to come up with one of the most respectful, thoughtful looks at why rural America is angry. All this research, careful consideration, and respect, and yet I still don't feel I learned much - not much said here that I haven't read in other places. But if you have not read extensively about the decline of rural America or why they are so angry - this would definitely be the one book I would read.
One thing I did find interesting that I hadn't heard before was a lack of anger at wealthy people. Most rural people, seeing their town doctor or wealthy farmer, felt that people who were rich had worked hard to get there - so they didn't have the anger we sometimes see in the suburbs or urban core. This personal experience seems to have so much to do with opinions on social issues - whether you know someone who is homosexual, or who has had an abortion, or is an immigrant. As with all people - harder to hate people you know and work with every day.
Being a Kansan myself I enjoyed his focus on rural Kansas. Didn't realize the meat processing plant in Garden City was the largest in the world! He paints a very respectful picture of small towns as places people feel are moral, community oriented, protected from the immoral, meddling outside world. That Washington is too far removed and doesn't understand small towns, so should be passing down unfunded mandates. I am still trying to piece together how Trump won in 2016 - but this book sure made the reasons more clear. That's worth a read.
January 5, 2020
On one hand, I found Wuthnow's argument about rural moral community facing a barrage of threats to be a compelling argument about the rise of right-wing populism. Wuthnow identifies various threats and clearly conducted lots of research.
To an extent, this reminded me of The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. I think Wuthnow's analysis helps identify where the rural consciousness examined by Kathy Cramer really comes from. To this end, it's effective. Wuthnow uses some polling data as well as anecdotal qualitative interviews. It also tied well into Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, particularly in chapters discussing religion. It fits well into the communitarian body of literature on populism that intrigues me. To boot, Wuthnow issues a good rebuke on the "voting against their interests" notion that Thomas Frank puts forward. So there's no lack of good arguments.
The reason I give "The Left Behind" 3 stars instead of 4 or maybe 5 is that it feels slightly unsatisfying. Like the author built up to a nonconclusion by skirting around this idea of the community without clearly parsing through all of its implications. I wish more attention would have been paid to analysis, but overall it was a good, quick read.
To an extent, this reminded me of The Politics of Resentment: Rural Consciousness in Wisconsin and the Rise of Scott Walker. I think Wuthnow's analysis helps identify where the rural consciousness examined by Kathy Cramer really comes from. To this end, it's effective. Wuthnow uses some polling data as well as anecdotal qualitative interviews. It also tied well into Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse, particularly in chapters discussing religion. It fits well into the communitarian body of literature on populism that intrigues me. To boot, Wuthnow issues a good rebuke on the "voting against their interests" notion that Thomas Frank puts forward. So there's no lack of good arguments.
The reason I give "The Left Behind" 3 stars instead of 4 or maybe 5 is that it feels slightly unsatisfying. Like the author built up to a nonconclusion by skirting around this idea of the community without clearly parsing through all of its implications. I wish more attention would have been paid to analysis, but overall it was a good, quick read.
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