Political segregation:The Big Sort

[flashl]

From The Economist print edition

Americans are increasingly choosing to live among like-minded neighbours. This makes the culture war more bitter and politics harder

SOME folks in Texas recently decided to start a new community “containing 100% Ron Paul supporters”. Mr Paul is a staunch libertarian and, until recently, a Republican presidential candidate. His most ardent fans are invited to build homesteads in “Paulville”, an empty patch of west Texas. Here, they will be free. Free not to pay “for other people's lifestyles may not agree with”. And free from the irksome society of those who do not share their love of liberty.

Cynics chuckle, and even Mr Paul sounds unenthusiastic about the Paulville project, in which he had no hand. But his followers' desire to segregate themselves is not unusual. Americans are increasingly forming like-minded clusters. Conservatives are choosing to live near other conservatives, and liberals near liberals.

A good way to measure this is to look at the country's changing electoral geography.

...

County-level data understate the degree of ideological segregation, reckons Bill Bishop, the author of a gripping new book called “The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart”. Counties can be big.

...

Because Americans are so mobile, even a mild preference for living with like-minded neighbours leads over time to severe segregation.

...

Over time, this means Americans are ever less exposed to contrary views. In a book called “Hearing the Other Side”, Diana Mutz of the University of Pennsylvania crunched survey data from 12 countries and found that Americans were the least likely of all to talk about politics with those who disagreed with them.

Intriguingly, the more educated Americans become, the more insular they are.

Economist

[Demeter]

1. Going Back to Colonial Practices

Rhode Island was a refuge for those the Puritans rejected; and several other colonies were populated by self-selected.

It's the Corporate Masters who want interchangeable Widgets, ready to pack up and leave at a moment's notice, instead of people. And the Political Masters who seek to divide and conquer us all.

And if the Corporate Overlords and the Political Overlords finally come to their Armageddon, which side will win?

I'm hoping the Corporate put themselves out of business with their fraud and extortion and abuse of power. Then We the People can overthrow the Political Overlords, yet again.

[Tutonic]

2. Is Texas the armpit of America?

Why do all the weirdos gravitate to Texas? Remember WACO and this Mormon group recently? There have been others over the years. Don't they ever think "hmmm lets move to New York City"?

[Igel]

3. It's a big expanse, with lots of empty spaces with cheap land.

New York City covers small territory, few empty spaces, and not cheap.

Distance and isolation breeds tolerance. New York City breeds crowdedness.

Now, why the Paulians didn't move to Paul's territory is a mystery. There are still some open spaces down there, and while land's not as cheap as in West Texas, it's still not too expensive.

Then again, his territory *is* the armpit of the US, with lots of petrochemical plants. I'm always nervous when I go down there to the beach.

[readmoreoften]

4. Yeah that's why all the major cities in Texas are on the top 10 list of fastest growing areas

Austin and San Antonio are just total armpits! What a horrible quality of life! Oh yes, New York City is a grand place for the working class to be. No "weirdos" there.