Rod Dreher makes some observations about The Atlantic’s recent piece on how wealthy (white) progressive counties (with lots of POCs) are the Most Politically Intolerant, while poorer (white) counties are the Least Politically Intolerant.
As becomes apparent, the most intolerant counties are dominated by white liberals, in superzips where only 2 classes of people can afford to live: wealthy whites (overwhelmingly progressive) & much poor persons of color. White working class individuals and families (less likely to have college degrees and so less likely to be indoctrinated by PC) have simply been squeezed out into the hinterlands.
In Watertown NY, 80% of the population is non-Hispanic white. Estimated median household income in 2016 is $37,134, just over half the avg for NY as a whole. 53% of the population over 15 years of age are married.
The following may be the most salient factors: 93% of Watertown residents speak English; 71% of Watertown residents were born in NY; only 4% were foreign born.
For comparison —
* In NYC, only 51% speak English (national avg = 79%); 48% of NYC residents were born in NY; and 37% were foreign born.
* In Boston, 63% speak English (national avg = 79%); 44% of residents were born in Boston; and 28% were foreign born.
* In SF, 56% speak English (national avg = 79%); 39% of residents were born in SF; and 35% were foreign born.
In these Low Tolerance zips, one begins to see the following dynamic that may be a root cause of High Political Intolerance. Stratification of income by race becomes even more acute, as the income gap between white (liberal) professionals and POCs gets wider. This, in turn, leads to mounting white guilt over POC failure to similarly rise in socioeconomic status. After all, *they* themselves (who dominate local and state level politics) are ‘good people’, so why is this happening? Said white libs than seek an ‘explanation’ for this income gap (and their own personal status in the new aristocracy): “racism”. IOW, it must be due to that tiny minority of Republicans in their geographic area that is the cause.
BO’s presidency was supposed to “heal” the nation racially. Instead, BO did a lot to worsen race relations, despite the fact that many Deplorables in the white working class voted for him. The failure of BO’s presidency then hyper-accentuated the aforementioned prog white wealthy class sense of guilt. Hence, the uptick in radical prog white rhetoric about racism (the spiraling PC madness we are now seeing consume the Democratic Party) really began taking off around 2013, which was during first year of BO’s second term (see Steve Sailer). This was the era of the Trayvonn Martin case, BO’s (and others’) inflammatory response to it. Then, the Ferguson police shooting of Michael Brown took place in 2014, which led to years of additional gasoline poured onto the fire… by the most prominent Dems in the country.
Combine this with the contemptuous attitudes of white liberal elites (e.g., the Thomas Franks of the country and their contempt for the Kansas’s of the country), as well as Robert Putnam’s findings that more diversity means depletion of social capital (erosion of trust across the board), and one can start to see a picture emerge of how Political Intolerance would spike in the wealthiest, whitest, and most progressive zips in the country.
