[lbo-talk] War Losses Mount for Small Towns

[Jim Straub]

The social geography of the US left these days doesn't lend itself to any
task, does it?   Mainstream america and the military, in the absence of
being reached out to en masse by the left, has now turned against the war of
their own accord, with a mixture of good and bad reasons for doing so.

Imagine the possibilities if all US leftists were offered substantial cash
vouchers in exchange for moving away from college towns and the bay area.
Now -there's- a project for moneybags soros to fund, if he really wants to
get some de-nazification happenin...

Of course many towns with big colleges are cities in their own right.  Both
Richmond VA and Columbus OH have as their largest local employer the local
public university, predominantly attended by working-class kids; and their
own local blue-collar economy.  Very different from Charlottesville and
Yellow Springs.  Of course the demographic future of america is in suburbs
and exurbs which the left mostly boycotts in residency... our social
positioning in this country just gets better and better!   : (

Youngstown has a very dynamic local anti-war movement, stemming from the
longtime left organizing of the Lynds and others there.  McKeesport
(basically part of pittsburgh area).... man, thats a tough town.  Locals
call it 'Tube City' bc used to produce america's metal tubing.  Not
anymore.  Tough place.  One step up from aliquippa, but, then again, so is
camden NJ.

I wish some geographer would make a map or chart contrasting a state's war
losses with the amount that state gets from the military-industrial
complex.  My impression is that the sun belt gets a ton of money per very
few casualties; whereas the rust belt is vastly over-representing in death,
with very little military money anymore and almost none of it in
economy-stimulating hi-tech.

American recruits who are fighting the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.
> come from the America of small towns, in contrast to American leftists
> who tend to live in the most urban areas of America (or near college
> campuses if they live in small towns at all).  Social geography of
> America doesn't easily lend itself to an anti-war movement in the age
> of wars fought by an army of white working-class volunteers from small
> towns that have lost industrial jobs. -- Yoshie
>
>
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