Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumExamining Interesting Maps
Here's a very interesting analysis of the US just by looking at its maps:
NurseJackie
(42,862 posts)Thanks.
Yavin4
(35,437 posts)There are a lot of political lessons that you can glean just by our geography and why we think/vote the way that we do.
Dark n Stormy Knight
(9,760 posts)And now that I know they have a Map Porn subreddit, I might finally have to join reddit.
Cirque du So-What
(25,932 posts)Thought-provoking and informative.
BumRushDaShow
(128,887 posts)A little of it was touched on in the OP's video that basically displayed the areas of the states that are actually populated that shows why trotting out a map that depicts party affiliation using "geography" (with state outlines rather than actual "population" within the states), is not only disingenuous, but highly distorts the reality.
In fact, after the 2008 elections, there were some attempts to better depict this phenomena like this - https://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/electoral-results-maps/
Or this from 2016
and from 2000 -
(both of the above from here - https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/how-election-maps-lie/)
The same political distortion happens with PA where you'll see a large swatch of "red" with tiny areas of blue around the edges and corners, whereas the reality is that 36 of PA's 67 counties each have less than 100,000 residents, including 3 that have less than 10,000.
Yavin4
(35,437 posts)We have far more land than we have people. We are too sparse. This is why guns and religion are so important to certain areas of the country.
BumRushDaShow
(128,887 posts)definitely impact how people's worldviews and how the laws impact them. I.e., it is difficult to try to impose a "one-size fits all" approach to certain types of laws.
If I own a cattle ranch with 1000 acres and several hundred head of cattle that I'm hoping will bring a price of $1,500 a head, and a pack of wolves appears and starts going after them, then I sure as hell would want to pull out my gun (rifle) to dispatch of them post-haste.
However in a city with 60 rowhouses per block, there is no damn need for a rifle (unless you use it for hunting and NOT hunting people), let alone a MAC-10.
Yavin4
(35,437 posts)building a social structure. I live in NYC, and when I want to be social or become part of a community, I can just leave my house. Heck, I don't even have to do that given my apt. bldg.
so church becomes important as a means for people to connect with each other.
BumRushDaShow
(128,887 posts)religion seems to be a more diverse entity and isn't necessarily an "urban vs rural" thing. In rural areas, it most likely provides some sort of organizational structure outside of "clubs" (like card game clubs or crafting clubs).
But religion also offers a refuge for many marginalized communities and you can find all sorts of houses of worships - whether "formal/established" as well or "storefront" types, in a typical city. Many provide food pantries, housing, and some types of social services (e.g., for addiction or other counseling).
That's why you often hear it referred to as "the opiate of the masses".
Fla Dem
(23,654 posts)Wow, what great video. Very interesting and enlightening information. Thanks!
ancianita
(36,030 posts)Have you ever read Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall? Great read with maps, of course.
Yavin4
(35,437 posts)which communicates very powerful ideas.
ancianita
(36,030 posts)A lot of what geographic visualization has meant in Marshall's book is that the more the powerful can contain populations with physical obstacles and notions of "difference and old grievance 'over there on the 'other' side,' " the more the powerful can move around without their populations knowing.
Space has become digital, but on the ground realities, combined with digital power, are still big factors in human freedom and mobility.
BigOleDummy
(2,270 posts)Thanks for posting this. Very interesting and informative.
As an aside....... politically .... well.... how to say it? I'm freaking tired of the cows in Wyoming having as much voice in our Senate as people do. Just sayin