Sunday Digest #18
American communities
We think of the US as deeply polarized along red and blue (Republican and Democratic) lines, which map neatly onto urban/rural, college/non-college, and have/have-not lines. But the real America is much more complex. A new report from the American Communities Project divides the country into 15 community types, each with unique views. The results, sometimes surprising, reflect an America often shaped more by perception than reality:
If you want to understand the complicated nature of the United States in 2023, ask Americans to define their country themselves. In the past year, the American Communities Project did just that. It visited four different counties and asked passersby to define 25 words, including America, and the responses showed a range of opinions.
It’s a “colonized country,” said a Native American woman in New Mexico. It’s “a lot of duplicity, a lot of dichotomy, but, at the end of the day, home,” said an African American radio host in Milwaukee. It’s the “land of the free because of the brave,” according to a veteran in Mississippi. It’s “a beautiful continent,” said a brewer in a Spanish accent in Ohio.
Those are very different interpretations of the United States, and depending on one’s perspective, each is valid. Furthermore, they just scratch the surface of the differences that define the United States. The media tends to explain the divides in United States in binary terms — red/blue, left/right, urban/rural. News stories discuss war between two conflicting “cultures” in the country. Sometimes included is a third option for “independents” or “centrists.” But look closer and the picture is far more complicated, marked by fault lines that can be hard to see.
The American Communities Project has just started to explore what those differences look like with a three-year project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and today is releasing the first of three large public opinion surveys conducted with Ipsos. This survey of more than 5,000 Americans spread through the ACP’s 15 community types shows a deeply complicated landscape across the country on many issues — from gun ownership to race. But it also shows some areas of commonality and potential for common ground.
On the whole, three key points emerge in the data — centering in some way on dissonance.
Americans experience and perceive very different realities. The most pressing issues at the community level can vary greatly. And there is a perception-driven disconnect between big local and national issues. Inflation is seen as a top issue everywhere, but beyond that the numbers get very complicated. Some cite guns and gun violence. Others cite opioids and drug addiction. Taxes rate high in others. And, more broadly, there is a dissonance between national and local concerns that suggests many attitudes are driven more by perception than experience. Some issues that voters say are big ones nationally, such as immigration, don’t show up as big issues in any community.
Across communities, most people believe their lives are on the “right track,” but they are deeply concerned about the direction of the country. On the whole, people seem to feel good about their individual circumstances and pretty good about their community. But the views are much bleaker when the United States is the entity in question.
A series of statements about values reveal some broad areas of agreement — particularly around the economy and abortion. But others show wide disagreement. In total, there are nine statements in which every community type is in broad agreement (that is respondents in all types are either over or under the 50% mark). For instance, 50% or more in each community type say, “Obtaining an abortion should be a decision made by a woman in consultation with her doctor, without government’s involvement.” But 10 other statements show differences across ACP community types, some massive. “The right to own a firearm is central to what it means to be an American,” is one such statement.
Read the full report here.
Interesting graphic
The report’s findings illustrate a complex American tapestry:
Media recommendation
Keeping with this week’s theme of maps, I recommend the YouTube channel RealLifeLore. This channel explains the most complex issues of today in maps.
Here’s a particularly interesting one on why 80% of America’s population lies east of a line running through the middle of America.
#Motivation Monday 52: Kansas Jayhaawks
There you have it, the eighteenth edition of Sunday Digest featuring a cartographic explosion, including America’s 15 communities and a YouTube rabbit hole. The portrait of a world spinning faster and faster. The good news is you have Netflix, Uber Eats, and running water. Until next time, be a good citizen, quit doomscrolling, and go outside.
Ad Astra Per Aspera!