Organizing in Rural America (w/ Luke Mayville)
Added 2024-11-27 22:47:37 +0000 UTCThis is a conversation we've wanted to have for a while, and it seemed like there was no better time than now, as many people on the broad center-left are asking tough questions about Donald Trump's strength in rural America—according to one post-election analysis, he won 62 percent of rural voters. To unpack what's happening in these parts of the country, we talked to Luke Mayville of Reclaim Idaho, a grassroots organization that, among other things, helped win a ballot referendum that expanded Medicaid in the state. Why, when an initiative like that can succeed, or voters in red states reject school vouchers or approve hikes to the minimum wage, does the party that opposes these measures tend to clean up in such places? What can be gleaned from talking to voters from all over a state like Idaho about how they view the two major political parties, understand the role of government, and explain the problems facing them in their lives? We take up these questions and more!
Sources:
Luke Mayville, "Do Something Big," Commonweal, Sept 22, 2020
— "The Battle Against School Vouchers," Commonweal, Dec 11, 2023
— John Adams and the Fear of American Oligarchy (Princeton University Press, 2016)
Paul Demko, "The Ballot Revolt to Bring Medicaid Expansion to Trump Country," Politico, Oct 19, 2018
Daniel Nichanian, "How Organizers Are Defending Direct Democracy," Bolts, Aug 16, 2023
Dana Goldstein and Troy Closson, "Voters Poised to Reject Private School Vouchers in Three States," New York Times, Nov 7, 2024
Keith Orejel, "The Political Economy of the Urban-Rural Divide," Law & Political Economy Project, Nov 11, 2024
Comments
Rural Republicans are willing to vote for Medicaid expansion, protecting public schools, minimum wage Increases and other specific policies more likely to be supported by Democrats. What is it about the "national brand" of Democrats that keeps Rural voters Voting for Republicans? No, it is not that they believe the Democrats support the economic interest of the "professional managerial class. " it's the whole collection of social issues: the Democrats are the party of Open borders, letting criminals and homeless people take over the cities, mocking Christianity, Child sex changes, etc. rural voters think there is a lot of bullshit on the left and Democrats either support it or won't protect the people from it. Left economic policies are popular, left social policies are not. Disappointed that the guest was never asked what do rural Idahoans say they dislike about the Democrats. Not something the left wants to think about.
Thomas Holz
2024-12-11 02:49:31 +0000 UTCThis was a really interesting episode, and I enjoyed hearing about the tactics that Reclaim Idaho used. But, I was disappointed that there was no discussion of race and the politics of Medicaid. Perhaps not in Idaho, but nationally half of Medicaid recipients are Black or Latine. The politics of Medicaid are also thoroughly racialized, as are all politics around social assistance programs. There's a huge scholarly literature about race and Medicaid politics. Some reflection on how this campaign would have played our differently in states with higher non-White populations would have been enlightening as it seems racial prejudice is a major element of the politics of Medicaid expansion.
joey vdN
2024-12-04 13:16:27 +0000 UTCGreat episode. We need more of these. At the end of the day, it's about the work.
Rachel
2024-12-03 21:04:45 +0000 UTCFrom 2020. A Pennsylvania town once known as ‘communism on the prairie’ is all about Trump now Norvelt was a government-planned homestead established by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Now, fear of socialism runs deep — and so does support for Trump. https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/norvelt-pennsylvania-trump-biden-socialism-20200913.html
Seth K
2024-12-02 13:02:28 +0000 UTCThis episode reminded me of an old episode of Have You Heard from January 2020, on "The Rural Schools Conundrum", in which Jennifer Berkshire interviewed people in Wisconsin trying to understand why people supported their local schools and would vote to raise taxes locally for their schools, but yet also voted for politicians who wanted to cut funding for the schools. Unfortunately they don't seem to have transcripts up for their shows anymore and they're reorganized their website and I can't even find the episode, but from what I wrote about it at the time on Facebook, it was a combination of not knowing what the politicians are voting for (the education funding can be buried within bigger bills) but also , they don't mind paying more locally for their kids, but not so much for kids elsewhere (which obviously can have some bad implications, which I don't think they got into). They interviewed someone from the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, maybe a good source for another episode. "Now way back at the start of this episode, I mentioned that I came to Wisconsin to try to make sense of what seems like a contradiction. In a state that really put the concept of rural resentment on the map, you have all these rural communities voting again and again to hike their own taxes to pay for local schools. Well, one argument I heard more than once is that the key word here is local. These communities may be willing to pay more to educate their own kids. It's other people's kids they have a problem with. Kim Kaukl of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance says that he hears some version of this argument all the time." I wonder how this kind of viewpoint interacts with the viewpoints being heard about Medicaid as discussed on the episode, and how the different structures of Medicaid/school funding factors into that.
Seth K
2024-12-02 12:57:17 +0000 UTCI think Sam is spot-on with his alternative material analysis of liberal hate/Trump love among non-college educated/working class voters; I think the working class is much more intimately upset with the meritocracy than the oligarchy at this point in history.
Brian Bowes
2024-12-02 05:57:10 +0000 UTCExcellent episode and just what the moment calls for. I really enjoyed how you three drew distinctions between what kind of organizing is possible in these political conditions and - even more so - what kinds are not.
Harry Brussel
2024-12-01 22:31:53 +0000 UTCI'm skeptical about the 'revenge-against-Robin-DiAngelo' theory of the election. What I hear in Trumpist messaging isn't "The PMC doesn't approve of you." It says, "The PMC favors them over you." Or 'they/them' as it were. The Democrats, goes the thinking, would rather side with freaks and bums over regular folk. And what's more, they stop the treatment that the freaks and bums deserve. The Trumpist is favorable to scolding, as long as he does it. (That was the whole point of the 'weird' meme employed against Republicans. It was an attempt to flip the pompous college graduate image back onto them.) I've also grown a bit tired of the word 'atomizing.' I don't think it's the right word for what's being described in this episode. If there's a lack of social bonding, how can national trends really effect local organizing? How does that work without a shared network of relationships? It may not be the network found in unions, churches or -- pause for eyeroll -- bowling leagues, but it is the one people use and maybe even prefer.
David B Hearne
2024-12-01 14:07:06 +0000 UTCGreat episode, but I must be an ingrate and immediately suggest another episode topic. @Sam and Matt, could you devote an episode to Adrian Vermule and Catholic Integralism? Could you also do an episode on the trendy chud divide between Orthodox Christianity and Catholicism?
Lauren Kay
2024-12-01 07:23:27 +0000 UTCGreat episode as always. As someone who has engaged in my fair share of single issue advocacy both door knocking and organizational backend, a lot of this rang true to me. I will say it’s not exactly heartening just how back the dems national image is as it seems to me that the politicians who can seperate themselves are also often Fox News whipping targets (Bernie and especially AOC)
Ethan Stern
2024-12-01 04:24:19 +0000 UTCThese demographics ate out of FDR’s hand. The second these benefits were extended to black people at all their support for the democrats began coming undone. We want to give them healthcare and a liveable planet and they spit in our face and vote to make things worse for everyone, especially the most vulnerable members of our society. They do this out of spite time after time Fuck them. They shouldn’t get healthcare. Give me an example of them being anything but an overwhelming negative for science, the arts, and our future. How many minion memes about owning teachers unions do we need? How many Let’s Go Brandon shirts do we need to sell?
Vanguard Kas
2024-11-30 18:26:23 +0000 UTCGreat stuff. I listened to it twice and passed it on to other health activists. Has Hahrie Han been on KYE? Her work might be a natural way to extend this conversation about red-state organizing. Haven't read her new book, but Prisms of the People is super-interesting.
David Glenn
2024-11-30 11:41:49 +0000 UTCHad the pleasure of listening to this ep after finishing the Ruby Ridge chapter of When the Clock Broke. I would have loved to hear Luke’s thoughts on progressive organizing and perceptions of the Democratic Party in a state that’s also a stronghold for ethno nationalist organizations like Aryan Nation and the Christian Identity movement. It makes me wonder what kind of constraints or limits on solidarity might exist where those beliefs are particularly strong and/or intractable. Loved the episode as always and my dad was forced to listen bc I was driving, so does that count as organizing?
Jenna Harmon
2024-11-30 02:15:20 +0000 UTCI needed to hear this thx
Andy Cason
2024-11-30 01:42:26 +0000 UTCThe Republican Party, the party of change?
Sam
2024-11-29 16:42:59 +0000 UTCMaybe the DSA should run republicans
Sam
2024-11-29 16:40:20 +0000 UTCI'm a public librarian in a red county, we have tons of people coming in with Trump attire looking for an argument but we've gotten pretty good at not taking the bait. We also have Trump supporters come in who really need our services, and we always get around 75% of the vote for our budget, so the disconnect is real.
desdinova
2024-11-29 11:40:40 +0000 UTCI lost state coverage when I made $100 more than was covered ($13.79-$13.8), which also put me back $500 in prescriptions?? Such a batshit way of approaching healthcare.
Roflmaocopter
2024-11-29 08:12:23 +0000 UTCYou can, it's free for all to listen to! Here's a link that should work for anyone: https://know-your-enemy-1682b684.simplecast.com/episodes/organizing-rural-red-america-w-luke-mayville
Know Your Enemy
2024-11-29 00:01:17 +0000 UTCWould love to share this episode with some rural organizers here in Oregon.
Little Beruit Dweller
2024-11-28 23:29:09 +0000 UTCI'm kinda curious if y'all could do an episode on Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz's "the race between education and technology." America's shift from agriculture to manufacturing to business/human intelligence has been uneven geo-temporally, and an accounting of how those shifts have altered this country's political economy would be immensely helpful.
Leonardo Restrepo
2024-11-28 20:55:41 +0000 UTC“psycho sexual social Marxist transferential expectations” has more syllables than “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”. Unrelated to anything
morecoffeeplease
2024-11-28 18:44:33 +0000 UTCAs a transplant to Idaho from rural upstate NY and an enthusiastic participant i n Reclaim Idaho, just want to emphasize what unique grassroots movement Reclaim is. If the National Dems ever decide to actually recognize the "deplorables"as real people and compete f or their support both locally and nationally then they will have to do from the bottom up as Reclaim has done. I just wish we had had a network like this in Upstate NY. Maybe we could have begun to compete more effectively against the likes of Stefanik. For the National Dems all we are is ATM citizens. Just more $$ for their increasingly frantic politics. In Idaho there is a proven alternative alternative to this vacuous politics. Thanks for or this conversation with Luke! bart harloe boise, Idaho
Bart Harloe
2024-11-28 18:13:59 +0000 UTCA great episode—sending it to Idaho family. Inspired me on my Thanksgiving morning walk.
Jean Malarkey
2024-11-28 17:43:24 +0000 UTCInspiring discussion of rural organizing possibilities. Listeners might check out the important work of Rural Organizing Project (OR) too.
Arlene Stein
2024-11-28 17:23:36 +0000 UTCVery inspiring episode!
Kyle Mitchell
2024-11-28 15:08:58 +0000 UTCIncredibly inspiring work, and great episode. I especially enjoyed the digging in to the specific organizing strategies, even on a basic 1-1 conversation level.
Sam
2024-11-28 04:51:49 +0000 UTCthanks for this! i was interested in sam’s thoughts about the role of the pmc in the shift of the democratic party’s orientation, but was also a bit confused: is the idea that the pmc is the target audience for the center/rightward shift of the clinton era on economics (which seem to go hand in hand with rightward hedges on cultural issues e.g. sister soulja, don’t ask don’t tell, safe legal and rare) or are they supposed to be the “in this house” yard sign left-liberals and bernie bro social democrats? wouldn’t a shift towards pmc sensibilities seem to push the democrats to the left of where they are now? anyway, reminds me of this quote from the eighteenth brumaire: “proletarian revolutions, like those of the nineteenth century, constantly criticize themselves, constantly interrupt themselves in their own course, return to the apparently accomplished, in order to begin anew; they deride with cruel thoroughness the half-measures, weaknesses and palatines of their first attempts, seem to throw down their opponents only so the latter may draw new strength from the earth and rise before them more gigantic than ever…until a situation is created which makes all turning back impossible”
Andrés Emil González
2024-11-28 04:26:35 +0000 UTCListening, learning — Matt
Know Your Enemy
2024-11-28 02:42:33 +0000 UTCI abandoned my family to listen to this podcast and I’m deeply disappointed this parasocial relationship hasn’t completely fulfilled my psycho sexual social Marxist transferential expectations.
Sam
2024-11-28 01:56:09 +0000 UTCLearned a lot from this episode. Thanks fellas.
Andrew
2024-11-28 00:33:28 +0000 UTC
