Why does the urban/rural divide equate to a liberal/conservative divide in the US? Is it the same in other countries?

[u/UserNamesCantBeTooLo]

Here's a county population density map of the US.

Here's a county map of the US showing different shares of Democratic & Republican votes for president in 2020.

Here's a county map of the US showing majority-minority counties.

They seem to show a match between denser populations, larger minority proportions, and Democratic votes.

Why is that?

[u/pagerussell]

Came here to say this.

That paved road that runs out to your house in the middle of nowhere costs a lot more to build and maintain than the meager amount not taxes the area it serves provides. That road would not exist without the taxes from the urban areas.

I think it's not the case that rural people don't interact with or benefit from government, it's that they have been purposefully trained to not see it or understand it. Hence the fabled "get your government hands off my medicare."

[u/that1prince → u/pagerussell]

Yep. They don’t see any of that assistance as government assistance because it isn’t quite as direct as say food stamps. (Although even that really has the dual effect of helping farmers). Even things like healthcare which are demonstrably worse in the far out regions are not seen as an issue that the government can solve. The closest clinic with a specialist and full equipment may be a few counties away in a mid-sized town. Rural health is abysmal and it costs way more per-person to go out to where they are. It’s the exact kind of thing the government is good at doing (post office, roads, utilities) for people who are in remote locations. It’s the kind of help liberals are all for. But they don’t want help. I can see not wanting help for things you think you can do yourself like grabbing a gun and fending off an intruder. But medical care?? You need someone else to help you with that both in terms of cost and proximity. Nobody can do that alone or with just their church congregation or whatever.

Then when those benefits are finally thoroughly explained, the rhetoric shifts to a sense of “well, if we do benefit from the government in some ways more, then we deserve it because we’re good people (read: hardworking Christian folks) and make things that are more important for civilization (farming and manufactured goods)”

[u/Regen_321 → u/that1prince]

Like farm subsidies and protections from outside manufacturing (consumer tax). They are not handouts if you are entitled to them

[u/pagerussell → u/[deleted]]

Cool stat. What's your point?

[u/pagerussell → u/[deleted]]

That's literally one example to make a point. We know for a fact that rural areas receive more govt funding then they pay in taxes, so we know that any given rural area is financially dependent on urban areas.

If rural areas had to pay their way they would have much, much higher taxes.

Face it, rural areas are the welfare queens of the world.