Book Quote by Bill McKibben
“I've spent my life living in rural America, some of it in blue state Vermont, some of it in red state upstate New York. They're quite alike in many ways. And quite wonderful. It's important that even in an urbanized and suburbanized country, we continue to take rural America seriously. And the thing that makes Vermont in particular so special, and I hope this book captures some of it, is the basic underlying civility of its political life. That's rooted in the town meeting. Each of the towns in Vermont governs itself.”
About This Quote
Source Book: The Rural Manifesto, 2021
Rural America, despite political differences, shares common values and civility rooted in local governance like town meetings.
In simple terms: Rural areas share common values.
Key Takeaway
Value and support rural communities.
Themes
community
politics
culture
Mood
thoughtful
hopeful
Type
sociopolitical
reflective
When to use this quote
- policy making
- community projects
- media representation
Key Concepts
local governance
civility
regional identity
Questions to Reflect On
- How can urban policymakers better understand rural needs?
- What role do town meetings play in civic health?
A Different Perspective
Urban bias may overlook rural nuances.
![“Go walk the streets of Beijing. It's pretty hard to argue it isn't a modern city. Now, if you go outside [of Beijing], in the rural areas, that's true. But rural America, you can say the same thing, in Appalachia there's an awful lot of poverty and lack of education.” quote by Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/726/michael-bloomberg-1293_america_go-walk-the-streets-of-beijing-it-s-pret_482884.jpg)
![“The [Democratic] party's become an urban party, and they don't get rural America. They don't get agriculture.” quote by Collin Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/4ac/collin-peterson-19338_agriculture_the-democratic-party-s-become-an-urban-p_260510.jpg)
![“There's no question that [Donald] Trump got elected because of rural America. And our party still is in denial. They don't get it.” quote by Collin Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/f4a/collin-peterson-19338_america_there-s-no-question-that-donald-trump-go_34314.jpg)
