Norman Rockwell Where Are You?

As I have worked across the US these last 8 years, I have discovered some interesting things about its people:

1. The smaller the town the meaner and more ignorant the people.

2. The uglier and harsher the environment the uglier and harsher the people.

3. At the heart of conservatism lies fear - of nearly everything. 

    a. Fear of change from imagined historical norms.

    b. Fear of the unfamiliar - people of color number one.

    c. Fear that their way of life will be taken from them.

    d. Fear that their stuff will be taken from them. 

    e. Fear of their own failings.

    f. Fear that they will fail even more when faced with change.

4.  There are good people everywhere - there are just more of them in the more urban, or the prettier and/or more educated areas of the country.

5.  Conservatives tend to be mean and more likely to:

    a. Cut you off in traffic.

    b. Tailgate.

    c. Gawk but keep moving at accidents - not the ones who get out of their cars and help. 

    d. Lie

    e. Feign religiosity to cover heartlessness and to empower their selfishness. 

    f. Mistreat people when they perceive little risk of blow back.

    g. Lack a sense of social responsibility - denying climate change even when they know it's real, refusing to help those in need - immigrants, refugees, the poor, the traumatized. Ignoring the suffering of others. Using 'fierce independence' to cover for selfishness and a lack of empathy. 

6. Major corporations in this country are obsessed with profit, do not really care about their customers except as to keep them coming back, and lack a sense of social responsibility. Think of how badly the airlines treat you now, and how much worse they would treat you were they not so heavily regulated as just one example. 

7. People are more than willing to exchange richness of life, intimacy, uniqueness, and soul - for convenience, cost, and to avoid the unfamiliar. Chain restaurants and coffee shops, strip malls, and cookie cutter homes, come to mind.

8. Americans love war, violence, violent competition, and all things military.

9. Americans hate 'losers', old people, and anyone too different from themselves. 

10. 'Justice' predicates for the most part on the almighty dollar and that's ok.