Why rednecks may rule the world
By Joe Bageant
Author of Deerhunting With Jesus
During this US election cycle we are hearing a lot from the pundits
and candidates about "heartland voters," and "white working class voters."
What they are talking about are rednecks. But in their political
correctness, media types cannot bring themselves to utter the word
"redneck." So I'll say it for them: redneck-redneck-redneck-redneck.
The fact is that we American rednecks embrace the term in a sort of
proud defiance. To us, the term redneck indicates a culture we were
born in and enjoy. So I find it very interesting that politically
correct people have taken it upon themselves to protect us from what
has come to be one of our own warm and light hearted terms for one
another.
On the other hand, I can quite imagine their concern, given what's at
stake in the upcoming election. We represent at least a third of all
voters and no US president has ever been elected without our support.
Consequently, rednecks have never had so many friends or so much
attention as in 2008. Contrary to the stereotype, we are not all
tobacco chewing, guffawing Southerners, but are scattered from coast
to coast. Over 50% of us live in the "cultural south", which is to say
places with white Southern Scots-Irish values - redneck values.
They include western Pennsylvania, central Missouri and southern
Illinois, upstate Michigan and Minnesota, eastern Connecticut,
northern New Hampshire
So when you look at what pundits call the red state heartland, you are
looking at the Republic of Redneckia.
As to having our delicate beer-sodden feelings protected from the term
redneck; well, I appreciate the effort, though I highly suspect that
the best way to hide snobbishness is to pose as protector of any class
of folks you cannot bear. Thus we are being protected by the very
people who look down on us - educated urban progressives.
And let's face it, there's plenty to look down on. By any tasteful
standard, we ain't a pretty people.
Uppity and slick? Not us...
We come in one size: extra large. We are sometimes insolent and often
quick to fight. We love competitive spectacle such as NASCAR and
paintball, and believe gun ownership is the eleventh commandment.
And most of all we are defiant and suspicious of authority, and people
who are "uppity" (sophisticated) and "slick" (people who use words
with more than three syllables). Two should be enough for anybody.
And that is one of the reasons that, mystifying as it is to the
outside world, John McCain's choice of the moose-shooting Alaskan
woman with the pregnant unmarried teen daughter appeals to many
redneck and working class Americans.
We all understand that there is a political class which dominates in
America, and that Sarah Palin for damned sure is not one of them. And
the more she is attacked by liberal Democratic elements (translation:
elite highly-educated big city people) the more America's working
mooks will come to her defence. Her daughter had a baby out of
wedlock? Big deal. What family has not? She is a Christian
fundamentalist who believes God spat on his beefy paws and made the
world in seven days? So do at least 150 million other Americans. She
snowmobiles and fishes and she is a looker to boot. She's a redneck.
American ethos
The term redneck indicates a lifestyle and culture that can be found
in every state in our union. The essentials of redneck culture were
brought to America by what we call the Scots Irish, after first being
shipped to the Ulster Plantation, where our, uh, remarkable cultural
legacy can still be seen every 12 July in Ireland.
Ultimately, the Scots Irish have had more of an effect on the American
ethos than any other immigrant group. Here are a few you will recognize:
* Belief that no law is above God's law, not even the US Constitution.
* Hyper patriotism. A fighting defence of native land, home and
heart, even when it is not actually threatened: ie, Iraq, Panama,
Grenada, Somalia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Vietnam, Haiti and dozens more with
righteous operations titles such as Enduring Freedom, Restore Hope,
and Just Cause.
* A love of guns and tremendous respect for the warrior ideal.
Along with this comes a strong sense of fealty and loyalty. Fealty to
wartime leaders, whether it be FDR or George Bush.
* Self effacement, humility. We are usually the butt of our own
jokes, in an effort not to appear aloof among one another.
* Belief that most things outside our own community and nation are
inferior and threatening, that the world is jealous of the American
lifestyle.
* Personal pride in equality. No man, however rich or powerful, is
better than me.
* Perseverance and belief in hard work. If a man or a family is
poor, it is because they did not work hard enough. God rewards those
who work hard enough. So does the American system.
* The only free country in the world is the United States, and the
only reason we ever go to war is to protect that freedom.
All this has become so deeply instilled as to now be reflexive. It
represents many of the worst traits in American culture and a few of
the best.
And that has every thinking person here in the US, except perhaps John
McCain and Sarah Palin, worried.
Very worried.
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