The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now how 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive hateful mean-spirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks -- they are irredeemable, but thankfully they are not America. But the other basket -- and I know this because I see friends from all over America here -- I see friends from Florida and Georgia and South Carolina and Texas -- as well as, you know, New York and California -- but that other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they're just desperate for change. It doesn't really even matter where it comes from. They don't buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won't wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroine, feel like they're in a dead-end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.
I trust I understand, and truly estimate the right of self-government. My faith in the proposition that each man should do precisely as he pleases with all which is exclusively his own, lies at the foundation of the sense of justice there is in me. I extend the principles to communities of men, as well as to individuals. I so extend it, because it is politically wise, as well as naturally just; politically wise, in saving us from broils about matters which do not concern us. Here, or at Washington, I would not trouble myself with the oyster laws of Virginia, or the cranberry laws of Indiana.
The doctrine of self government is right---absolutely and eternally right---but it has no just application, as here attempted. Or perhaps I should rather say that whether it has such just application depends upon whether a negro is not or is a man. If he is not a man, why in that case, he who is a man may, as a matter of self-government, do just as he pleases with him. But if the negro is a man, is it not to that extent, a total destruction of self-government, to say that he too shall not govern himself? When the white man governs himself that is self-government; but when he governs himself, and also governs another man, that is more than self-government---that is despotism. If the negro is a man, why then my ancient faith teaches me that ``all men are created equal;'' and that there can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another.
America has grown even more urban. 80.7 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas as of the 2010 Census, a boost from the 79 percent counted in 2000. That brings the country's total urban population to 249,253,271, a number attained via a growth rate of 12.1 percent between 2000 and 2010, outpacing the nation as a whole, which grew at 9.7 percent.
Peoria voted for Clinton. Neighboring Woodford County, Illinois did not. People in Woodford County make as much as people in Peoria. Yes the racial breakdowns are different
The racial makeup of the city was 62.4% White, 26.9% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 4.6% Asian, and 3.6% of mixed races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.9% of the population. The city has a sizable, established Lebanese population with a long history in local business and government.
The racial makeup of the county was 97.4% white, 0.6% Asian, 0.5% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 48.7% were German, 14.1% were Irish, 10.9% were English, and 8.8% were American.
but please read the quotes above and try to get past race for now by focusing on believing that hope for the future is the difference and that all men are created equal (even white ones).
Having lived in a remote area I believe Hillary Clinton gets it right when she describes the “other basket”. People in Peoria have an up and coming lifestyle that is denied to Woodford County residents. They eat at better restaurants (as opposed to driving into town to get to them). Their neighborhood may not have a great school but they can aspire to a neighborhood which has one (a 10 as opposed to a 9 in the Woodford County seat of Eureka which is to say that anyone who moves for the school will move to Peoria instead of Eureka). They have a vibrant culture where someone like Lincoln might pop in for a speech (excerpt above).
Now you might say oh the people of Woodford County are asking for it by living in the less populated area. But there are a number of reasonable problems with this assertion. First reductio ad absurdum — we force the entire population of the country to be urban and if so how dense? Second there is a violation of Lincoln’s “The doctrine of self government is right---absolutely and eternally right”. This country was somewhat founded on the principal of people being free to move into unpopulated areas and obtain different but comparable lifestyles. Had the open spaces required too heavy of a sacrifice then the adoption of progressive ideals would likely have been impeded. Third the right for Americans to live equitably in Woodford County is built into our electoral process. Certainly our system could be upgraded by, for instance, fractional voting, but one vote one person would not be an upgrade.
A state's number of electors equals the number of representatives plus two electors for both senators the state has in the United States Congress. The number of representatives is based on the respective populations, determined every 10 years by the United States Census. Each representative represents on average 711,000 persons. Without the starting with one representative plus two electors equals minimum three factor small states more quickly lose political power to any state that has more children or immigration.
When classified by the share of immigrants out of the total state population, the top five states in 2014 were California (27 percent), New York (23 percent), New Jersey (22 percent), Florida (20 percent), and Nevada (19 percent). Electoral vote wise that’s 55+29+14+29+6)/538=25%. But in 1960 the electoral math was (32+45+16+10+3)/537=20%.
Or another more obvious example of one person, one vote going wrong is the political power of baby boomers. The electoral college concerns itself with geography but there are any number of ways that population changes can unfairly disenfranchise. Native Americans were perhaps the first American victims of a one person, one vote winner take all result.
Of course in an era where some call for colonization of Mars there is really no need for geography to remain such a prevalent factor. We have the technology to build a fast train between Woodford County and Peoria for night life and job commute. We increasingly have the virtual presence technology to move beyond geographically located schools. Woodford County children would play with other Woodford County children but when play time was over they might be taking a course anywhere in the world. I already routinely work with others around the world.
What we lack is the political will to reach out to Woodford County. We have rejected the Woodford County Journal in favor of the Wall Street Journal. Most progressives just can’t grasp the appeal of a smaller community
The department recently established an “E-commerce Exchange Zone” in its parking lot for those who wish to conduct such transactions at a neutral site and where video surveillance is in place. Selling and buying things online can be tricky, and sometimes scary because the people involved do not know each other.
So they lack the empathy for Woodford County that Hillary Clinton calls for when she includes them in her “other basket”.
Its one basket. We reach out to remote areas now or we risk more monsters in office. If we don’t get rid of Trump in 4 years the damage to the Supreme Court might take generations to reverse. Cross the equality bridge for Woodford County or ride the train to hell.
Whether slavery shall go into Nebraska, or other new territories, is not a matter of exclusive concern to the people who may go there. The whole nation is interested that the best use shall be made of these territories. We want them for the homes of free white people. This they cannot be, to any considerable extent, if slavery shall be planted within them. Slave States are places for poor white people to remove FROM; not to remove TO. New free States are the places for poor people to go to and better their condition. For this use, the nation needs these territories.