Geographic Sorting By Politics Is Bad For Democracy

 

 

s someone who has lived most of his life in places where people could mostly be considered to be on the "right" politically, I would say the trend toward people moving to places with like politics is not a good one. We need less red and blue and more purple.

I tend to think suburbanization, the automobile and our spread-out car-centric geography is at least a factor. It cuts people off from each other and puts everyone in their little boxes. Whether it is house, car or cubicle; each of us is being sorted and stratified socioeconomically by unhuman, inhuman geography. If you drive a big SUV and work in an office, you probably live in one neighborhood and if you drive a barely functional car and work at McDonald's, you live in another. That isn't good for democracy.

 

We need diversity of thought as much as any other type of diversity and I like to say I find conservative folks as nice as liberal ones until one hits those certain issues that tear us apart. Part of it is we are being torn apart by powerful forces that have a vested interest in creating division. If we were neighbors, we would be able to see right through it. It is good to live around people who aren't like you.

The trend isn't a new one though. The excellent 2008 book titled The Big Sort that I read years ago details this process over decades up to that time. It is worth a read after looking at this more recent article.