Political Map - Is it really any wonder why Americans seem to hate each other?

[maxparrish]

I ran across this map, which shows the 'red' and 'blue' Congressional districts in the last election. While most folks talk about 'red' and 'blue' states and regions, the division is not between states, but between urban an rural, even in the South.

Urban folk are blue, Rural is red, and their community interests are so divided that it is startling to see these divisions. Is it any wonder why it feels like two nations under one flag? Even within blue states, such as Oregon and California and New York, or red states such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia the divide is obvious. Urban vs. Rural.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Yup, that's the way it's been for a long time.

 

[bilby]

Rural population (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 17.38 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 47.81 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

(Source)

Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 47.81 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

Aren't there a lot of people who just aren't motivated to vote?

 

[maxparrish]

(Source)

Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 47.81 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

Because 53 percent are not urban. More likely it means they are suburban, small town, and rural.

 

[another1]

The spread on that pic is totally wrong. The sparse urban areas vs. rural areas can't be so solid red and blue. The little pic of America should look like a skin infection. There should be lots of little dots. The urban infections should be way more prevalent. I see that as common sense. As for voting, I was too cool to do it the other day. Voting is fucking stupid. I don't need a binky to suck on like a damn baby every few years. That is what I see voting for anything other than who dies to be. Pacifier to give the illusion of empowerment in a swarm of confusion meant to turn our heads away from the piggy wiggly freaks who think they mean shit themselves. No one means anything and it doesn't matter in my unpopular opinion. Stability through atrophy and pulling it off nicely because everyone is still fighting in a cave for a piece of mammoth meat. It chills me to read so many people who seem educated and are probably intelligent on this internet thing. Nice thread and no offense but those statistics are wrong, the pic is inaccurate and it doesn't matter.

 

[dx713]

(Source)

Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 47.81 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

That's part of the checks and balances of a democracy. You don't want the common good to be assimilated to the majority (in that case urban) good, without the minorities having a voice. Example: you wouldn't want the rural areas to be sacificed as the cities dumpsters, you want the cities to make an effort to manage their own wastes. So you try to get a balance between representatives per population and representatives per area - which give a heavier weight to a rural voter but allows rural area a strong enough representation.

In most countries that's supposed to be solved with two chambers, one with a "by headcount" representatives and one with a "by area" representatives - although I agree this might not be the ideal solution (first drawback, it gives an incentive to adopt a "winner take all" approach to make sure your locaction's voice is strongly heard, which in the end disenfranchises your location's minorities). Plus, in a lot of countries, it doesn't really work that way, due to a history of "arrangements", gerrymandering, and what else. (Plus, here in France collision with another principle of having a chamber of directly-elected "popular voice" representative, and a chamber of indirectly elected "older and wiser, less pressured by polls" representatives).

But the basic problem of having a rural voter weight differently than a urban voter isn't necessarily a democratic problem, it can be a feature. It's all about how you implement it.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

No wonder we hate each other... the right-wing loves to poison the well.

That map is pure crap. Makes it seem like North Dakota is all conservatives, New England nearly all communists. I prefer the map on the bottom that takes voting percentages and population density into account. This is for the 2012 Presidential Election.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, no wonder you hate each other then. You're all pretty much purple. Purple people are assholes, so you're right to treat each other with such contempt because you all deserve it.

 

[ksen]

Who hates each other?

I don't hate anybody on the other political side of me.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

(Source)

Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million (% of total population) in the United States was last measured at 47.81 in 2012, according to the World Bank.

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

You're forgetting towns and smaller cities.

- - - Updated - - -

The spread on that pic is totally wrong. The sparse urban areas vs. rural areas can't be so solid red and blue. The little pic of America should look like a skin infection. There should be lots of little dots. The urban infections should be way more prevalent. I see that as common sense. As for voting, I was too cool to do it the other day. Voting is fucking stupid. I don't need a binky to suck on like a damn baby every few years. That is what I see voting for anything other than who dies to be. Pacifier to give the illusion of empowerment in a swarm of confusion meant to turn our heads away from the piggy wiggly freaks who think they mean shit themselves. No one means anything and it doesn't matter in my unpopular opinion. Stability through atrophy and pulling it off nicely because everyone is still fighting in a cave for a piece of mammoth meat. It chills me to read so many people who seem educated and are probably intelligent on this internet thing. Nice thread and no offense but those statistics are wrong, the pic is inaccurate and it doesn't matter.

The map is based on congressional districts. You can't do a dot-by-dot map because the ballot is secret. At best you could do a precinct by precinct map.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

(Source)

(Source)

So why, if the USA is supposedly run as a Federal Republic with a strongly democratic tradition in the election of representatives, is the 17.38% able to even come close to the level of influence of the 47.81%? These figures suggest that the GOP should be crushed like a bug at the ballot box.

You're forgetting towns and smaller cities.

- - - Updated - - -

The spread on that pic is totally wrong. The sparse urban areas vs. rural areas can't be so solid red and blue. The little pic of America should look like a skin infection. There should be lots of little dots. The urban infections should be way more prevalent. I see that as common sense. As for voting, I was too cool to do it the other day. Voting is fucking stupid. I don't need a binky to suck on like a damn baby every few years. That is what I see voting for anything other than who dies to be. Pacifier to give the illusion of empowerment in a swarm of confusion meant to turn our heads away from the piggy wiggly freaks who think they mean shit themselves. No one means anything and it doesn't matter in my unpopular opinion. Stability through atrophy and pulling it off nicely because everyone is still fighting in a cave for a piece of mammoth meat. It chills me to read so many people who seem educated and are probably intelligent on this internet thing. Nice thread and no offense but those statistics are wrong, the pic is inaccurate and it doesn't matter.

The map is based on congressional districts. You can't do a dot-by-dot map because the ballot is secret. At best you could do a precinct by precinct map.

Exactly. Look at my state (MN) You'd think the MPLS/STP were red from how tiny their districts are. (Also, our districts aren't gerrymandered. State law forces bipartisanism. Hence why we have a more solid rural blue.)

 

[ZiprHead]

The spread on that pic is totally wrong. The sparse urban areas vs. rural areas can't be so solid red and blue. The little pic of America should look like a skin infection. There should be lots of little dots. The urban infections should be way more prevalent. I see that as common sense. As for voting, I was too cool to do it the other day. Voting is fucking stupid. I don't need a binky to suck on like a damn baby every few years. That is what I see voting for anything other than who dies to be. Pacifier to give the illusion of empowerment in a swarm of confusion meant to turn our heads away from the piggy wiggly freaks who think they mean shit themselves. No one means anything and it doesn't matter in my unpopular opinion. Stability through atrophy and pulling it off nicely because everyone is still fighting in a cave for a piece of mammoth meat. It chills me to read so many people who seem educated and are probably intelligent on this internet thing. Nice thread and no offense but those statistics are wrong, the pic is inaccurate and it doesn't matter.

 

[arkirk]

I ran across this map, which shows the 'red' and 'blue' Congressional districts in the last election. While most folks talk about 'red' and 'blue' states and regions, the division is not between states, but between urban an rural, even in the South.

Urban folk are blue, Rural is red, and their community interests are so divided that it is startling to see these divisions. Is it any wonder why it feels like two nations under one flag? Even within blue states, such as Oregon and California and New York, or red states such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia the divide is obvious. Urban vs. Rural.

If you look only at political parties, your map IS QUITE ACCURATE. The more rural and isolated a population is, the easier it is for a well funded PR machine to influence public opinion and dominate political perceptions. For instance, if you live in the San Joaquin Valley in California, there are large stretches where Clear Channel radio stations dominate a lot of peoples' drive times, and you have either Limbaugh or Hannity and really little else. It would be a real mistake to characterize the red areas on the map as areas where all the people are ignorant of the political realities. It really is a map that reflects the wealth dominated media consolidation that has taken place in these areas.

 

[Terrell]

I think this map may be useful as well, it distorts the shape of the states to reflect their relative population. I think that the district by district map really doesn't show the population disparities involved.

 

[Sabine Grant]

Who hates each other?

I don't hate anybody on the other political side of me.

Mind you that Max was cautious enough to state "seem to hate each other". Which then becomes a matter of subjectively induced perception rather than a claim stating as a fact that they "hate each other". The content of his Op certainly would not support the claim as a fact that they "hate each other". As to the "seem to hate each other", politically induced division reflected in the way local populations voted, showing a divide between rural and urban areas, I am not even sure how it is supposed to project the perception that "they seem to hate each other".

 

[ksen]

Hell, I'm a liberal democrat and my wife is a kind of conservative republican and we don't hate each other.

Granted, we do try to fuck each other . . .