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You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, a lot like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Barack Obama#56

EconomyCommunityReligionCultureJobs

About this quote

What does it mean?
Economic decline in small towns leads to frustration and clinging to guns or religion as coping mechanisms.
In plain terms
Job loss causes people to hold onto guns or religion to cope.
What can you take from it?
Economic hardship can drive attachment to traditional comforts or cultural symbols.

Where it applies

  • rural areas
  • depressed regions
  • community forums

Putting it to work

  • economic revitalization
  • community support
  • understanding grievances

Questions to consider

  • What else explains the frustration?
  • How can communities regenerate?

Another view

It generalizes complex social reactions to economic change.

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