there are indeed lots of hicks and uneducated rednecks who cannot be talked to about anything outside of mechanical fields, or specific types of stuff related to land, contracting, landscape, etc.
I find socializing with people here quite difficult, even though I was born here, and people like me.
people truly are not sophisticated here, in the countryside.
and in the cities, where they believe themselves to be civilized, they are often complete ignoramuses without even half the common sense of the ignorant country folk.
which is sad to say. the hipsters just spout whatever popular saying is going about, just like the upper classes here always have -- following the trends and doing little of the legwork and research that goes with it -- which is relegated to the both poor AND intelligent
Who must rise above their circumstances and surroundings, and utilize every facet of modern technology and every information gathering method possible to make the best possible decisions at every moment.
People who have to learn to be charismatic, to not fuck up the few chances they ever get, Intelligent, in that they are self educated, and enriched on a variety of topics, and unwilling to go with popular opinion even if that means crucifying oneself with 'differentness' or 'otherness' that people cannot accept.
its that inability to accept otherness, and make it part of oneself which keeps America from ever becoming civilized in such a sense. in uniting that which is different to make the whole organism stronger.
no, the sickness that afflicts us is the sickness we so wish to claim we could never have, but always have had.
its the same sickness they had back then during the war, its just manifested itself in a different way, as can be seen with the covert, now declassified actions after the war.
the sickness of power, of tasting and maintaining power, of excess. greed, lust, and gluttony. the sickness of manufacturing a system -- or machine -- that maintains power, rather than allowing it to fluctuate along the pendulum it always has.
the suspension of the machine into an artificial state upon which the needs of some are satisfied while others go ignored.
the sad thing is, in a real meritocratic system, a system not based on a few individuals hitting it big and staying there, but a system focused on the group as a whole, even in a capitalist world things could be better.
but there is no focus on the bigger picture really -- only propaganda from multiple sides, all spewing steam with no real tangible positive result.
if we could all work together -- and do it because we had to do it, not because it was profitable.
if we could all realize the benefit of a lost profit today, a small gain NOT taken, for the larger treasure tomorrow.
if individual men could forsake the treasure they truly do not need, and keep for value of their namesake and power only.
then maybe this could have been a better world, with a happier story,
that maybe, all of us could have been more civilized after all.
but that is a world which was not allowed to be. despite the dreams and goals of the many forgotten anarchists, socialists, communists, and even common farmers and tradesmen of this country wanted at various points in history.
many different groups have always sought change here -- some of which actually were big majorities, but not big enough % of the money to matter -- like farmers, who always stood against high inflationary banking measures and wanted solid valued, silver or gold backed money -- to prevent the banks from enslaving them.
this was a tactic that went all the way back to the revolutionary war here --
the founding fathers had a group of townsmen murdered who peacefully stood assembled to discuss that the government hadn't paid them money or land, and they could not afford taxes and were being evicted after being veterans.
lots of fucked up shit happened here, sure, and probably lots of people who opposed it were silenced, or not even recorded in history.
I don't think it can ever change.
but I don't think anyone in power, now or ever, has truly ever been civilized.
being 'civilized' is akin to be domesticated like cattle to our lordships. To go die in their wars, work in their factories, and create their dreams for them.
will it ever change in that the common man, the average person, will actually matter? actually make those life and death decisions for himself ever again -- and be able to CHOOSE the peaceful path of life willingly?
I don't think so.
in the sense we use the term civilized, I don't think any civilization can be until a fascist elite is finally able to willingly put the power down on its own, and hand the bounteous inheritances of the earth over to actual instances of democracy, and choose not to use unfair Ponzi schemes to create guaranteed positions of predetermined wealth.