Finally, there was the assumption that the life of the metropolis is the experience, the modern experience, and that the life of the rural towns, the farms, the wilderness places is not only irrelevant to our time, but archaic as well because unknown or unconsidered by the people who really matter – that is, the urban intellectuals.
And this is how Trump got elected. You cannot discount the rest of the country by belittling them because you live in the city. Sure, it’s easy to do. I live in the city and yet there are those who have a more well rounded and engaged life who live in a town of 400. They have a relationship with nature, their neighbors and a variety of social and cultural activities that you’d be surprised at compared to those who live in a big city. The city dweller has a regular path to and from work, often interacting with no one and if forced to it can be because there is someone asking you for money or something. Then after 8-12 hours they head home, order food online and a cue Netflix. This is 5-6 days a week and then the days off may or may not involve leaving the house. The single city dweller is very likely to be more isolated than the average small town dweller especially if they’re not extroverts. So judging the small town to not be as important is foolish. With the internet and social media, the same knowledge and experiences are widely available to all, and the town/country dweller has more access to nature and the interactions with it and more actual social interaction in some cases than many city people. There are always people in small towns and rural areas who play music, write, put on plays, have art or craft group activities and while there may not be a lot of local diversity, the internet and library allows for relatively easy access to others with these interests. As for the literary influence, granted you can’t go to a poetry event every night like you can in NYC for example, but what inspires you to write is all around you. The intensity or relationship between people is no different in the country than the city. Good writing makes the story of a farming couple as compelling as a power couple on Wall Street but with less Pilates and dinners are Nobu.
