WHITE RURAL RAGE | A Busboys and Poets Books Presentation
Date and Time
Sep 16, 2024 6:00 pm
Location
Takoma
Sep 16, 2024 6:00 pm
Takoma
White rural voters hold the greatest electoral sway of any demographic group in the United States, yet rural communities suffer from poor healthcare access, failing infrastructure, and severe manufacturing and farming job losses. Rural voters believe our nation has betrayed them, and to some degree, they’re right. In White Rural Rage, Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman explore why rural Whites have failed to reap the benefits from their outsize political power and why, as a result, they are the most likely group to abandon democratic norms and traditions. Their rage—stoked daily by Republican politicians and the conservative media—now poses an existential threat to the United States.
Schaller and Waldman show how vulnerable U.S. democracy has become to rural Whites who, despite legitimate grievances, are increasingly inclined to hold racist and xenophobic beliefs, to believe in conspiracy theories, to accept violence as a legitimate course of political action, and to exhibit antidemocratic tendencies. Rural White Americans’ attitude might best be described as “I love my country, but not our country,” Schaller and Waldman argue. This phenomenon is the patriot paradox of rural America: The citizens who take such pride in their patriotism are also the least likely to defend core American principles. And by stoking rural Whites’ anger rather than addressing the hard problems they face, conservative politicians and talking heads create a feedback loop of resentments that are undermining American democracy.
Schaller and Waldman provocatively critique both the structures that permit rural Whites’ disproportionate influence over American governance and the prospects for creating a pluralist, inclusive democracy that delivers policy solutions that benefit rural communities. They conclude with a political reimagining that offers a better future for both rural people and the rest of America.
Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman are joining us on the Busboys stage to share more about their New York Times bestselling book and how we can better understand the political climate “in the perilous Age of Trump”. Copies of the book will be available for purchase during and after the event, and both authors will be signing following the program.
This event is free and open to all. Our program begins at 6:00 pm, and will be followed by an audience Q&A. Copies of WHITE RURAL RAGE will be available for purchase before and after the event. Please note that this event is in person and will not be livestreamed.
We ask that guests RSVP in order to receive direct updates about the event from Busboys and Poets Books
Tom Schaller is a professor of political science at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. A former columnist for The Baltimore Sun, he has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He is the author or co-author of four other books, including Common Enemies, The Stronghold, and Whistling Past Dixie.
Paul Waldman is a journalist and author or co-author of five books on media and politics, including The Press Effect and Being Right Is Not Enough. A former columnist for The Washington Post, The Week, and The American Prospect, he is currently a columnist for MSNBC and Heatmap, writes The Cross Section newsletter, and co-hosts the Boundary Issues podcast.