A cold Civil War by @BloggersRUs

A cold Civil War

by Tom Sullivan

In a sort-of chance encounter last night, we ended up having dinner in a small town with the pastor of a non denominational church.

He said he had decided it was not his job to change people. But he felt it was his duty to educate people that the world is changing around them and that it is their challenge to come to terms with it. One of the subtexts to the conversation was the political culture clash between conservative country dwellers and more left-leaning city dwellers. (Red America and Blue America, if you will.)

It seems his small town is becoming increasingly modern. It sits just on the edge of an area flush with tech jobs that sees 50,000 new residents each year. Another of those "21st century communities" is planned, bringing thousands of tech workers to the once sleepy, southern town. If projections are correct, the town will double in size. Rich developers will get richer and locals will make money. All well and good until prices skyrocket.

Conservative natives are restless.

In-migration sets up a kind of cold Civil War between newcomers and families with local roots. New growth tends to overwhelm the local culture and folkways. For conservatives already threatened by demographic changes and immigration, in-migration can be just as threatening. They're all for development until the Ausländers they invited actually move in with their foreign ways and foreign politics.

Sure, we wanted their business. But we didn’t want them, you know, in our business.

We see the same dynamic where we live, only our in-migration is driven more by tourism and retirement. Newcomers arrive from the Midwest, the Northeast, and the Left Coast bringing their money and yankee political sensibilities with them. And their interest in local politics. The resentments are palpable enough that conservative politicians look for ways to exploit city-county animus. It's their go-to political strategy.

This clip by comedian Hari Kondabolu has it just about right. Be careful what you ask for.

“I don’t get all the anti-immigrant sentiment in this country. Because this is a country that says this is the greatest country in the world. We’re the best. We’re number one. Then we get upset when people actually show up. But when you advertise something ... sometimes people buy it. That’s how it works.” – Indian-American comedian Hari Kondabolu