The Political Environment

The following map shows how John Sidney McCain III swept the 2008 election by territory. Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. carried the areas in blue.

Source: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/election/2008/

In this cold weather, I think of how our friends in Wisconsin are better prepared for a lengthy power outage or crisis. They have a wood burning stove, oil lamps, and lots of stored food and supplies. They hunt, grow their own food and receive extra fish or deer from their neighbors regularly-they just have to butcher the meat.

Our friends were back to nature progressives in the nineties, but by the time of our last visit in 2008, I noticed a few changes. The husband had been completely immersed in gun culture. They were not and are still not racists, but have grown used to the all white community where they live and a little de-sensitized to the less than charitable remarks made by some members in their rural community. We've invited our friends to visit us in Chicago, but they would prefer not to. The husband now especially regards big cities with distaste.

Urban living doesn't allow for as much independence or self-reliance as in the country. You get used to hearing several languages at the store or interacting with people from different cultures at the local school. You rely on a "nanny state" to keep the electricity going and keep the streets clear. Guns in the hands of people out in the street are a cause for concern, not sport. Rather than dealing with people whose families have been in the same area for generations, city dwellers move from place to place and often have never spoken more than a few sentences to the dozens of people on their block. In some areas, kids aren't sent outside to play and the houses have bars on the windows. Is it any wonder that red and blue areas have different priorities and prefer different political rhetoric?