Comment by api | Hacker News Reader

Comment by api | Hacker News Reader

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I bet you live in a major city.

I live in the USA and would feel this way too about Trump if I didn't know people who lived in the interior. I live in the Los Angeles metro, which is one of America's "alpha cities."

London and other major global cities have formed something almost akin to the science fiction concept of a breakaway civilization. They are their own global meta-nation. Meanwhile the interior and rural districts of their own host countries have been in a state of permanent depression for almost two decades now.

Not saying the conservatives or Trump will fix this. They're political opportunists riding a wave of dissent. All Trump had to do to get elected was to style himself the opposite of all the values and ideas popular in global Urbanity. One of the most insightful comments about Trump I've read was that his racism was more intended to offend educated white urban coastal liberals than to offend non-white races.

From what I can see Brexit and this stuff is the same.

It's a "fuck you" vote from the forgotten districts.

Edit: required reading:

https://morecrows.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/unnecessariat/

I don't. I'm situated in a very stereotypically "rural England" type place — a deeply Conservative area, within the sea of Blue you see on maps of our election results[1].

In regard to Brexit, there's actually a strong libertarian case for leaving the EU. I personally think it was shortsighted of people (and somewhat reckless) to vote with this mindset given our current government, as the exit of the EU that is desired by those libertarians is not that which will occur. However, this is a much more contentious opinion amongst people I know, many of whom would argue that this was a valid and commendable rejection of the status quo. Saying this, I don't know if the libertarian argument for Brexit was strongly enough represented in the referendum to tip the balance. Given the tiny margin by which Leave won[2] (< 1.3 million votes. It's worth noting that this majority corresponds to about 1/3 of the electorate), I think it's possible.

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2015/results

[2] http://www.bbc.com/news/politics/eu_referendum/results

> It's worth noting that this majority corresponds to about 1/3 of the electorate

I think you meant 1/30?

No I mean the 'majority' as in the 51.9% who voted Leave, due to the poor turnout, corresponds to about 1/3 of the electorate.

Ah. I thought you meant the margin of victory, which was about 1/30 of the voters (not the electorate, as you point out).

What does shitty economics outside the powerhouse of London (a thesis which I agree with but which I would argue has also been common knowledge for decades) have to do with setting up a new and stricter internet? I don't believe that disgruntled pensioners in the Cotswolds want to stick it to the globalists in London by forcing them onto a different version of the internet protocol.

Nothing directly, nor is Brexit necessarily going to help. But they will vote for politicians who set themselves up as anti-urban-values to stick it to the globalists in London.

The urban/rural split is insane these days. In my home state, Maine, it's getting very close to a situation where Portland can wag the whole rest of the state.

Urban vs rural values and opinions are almost mirror images of each other...

> London and other major global cities have formed something almost akin to the science fiction concept of a breakaway civilization. They are their own global meta-nation. Meanwhile the interior and rural districts…

Almost, except that cities are utterly dependent on "the interior and rural districts" for food.

Well, my whole country depends on other countries for food...

No they're not. They can grow their own (and have in times of previous crisis) and most large cities are built around ports. Also, when was the last time a rural population laid siege to a city and starved it? Hundreds of years ago.

Honestly, I don't understand the fantasy world people like you live in. You seem to assume that people who live in cities are helpless kittens or something.

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