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In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue. The idea the living in rural parts of the country is simpler, better and full of more Ideals then Urban or Suburban living.
Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism
But in my studies(AKA, Reading beyond the assigned text in class) It says that many studies show that urban lifestyles produce a more solid community, more happiness and that most of the country is predominatly urban but espouses rural virtues.

I ask Dakka, what do they think of the Myth of Rural Virtue.

I hate it, mostly because of all the (sub)urban kids that think/act/call themselves 'country' even though they know jack about being 'country', aside from what the gakky music they listen to tells them 'being country' is all about (like... calling your girlfriend 'girl', flannel shirts, big pickup trucks, dirt roads, and moonlit nights down by the river/lake).

I've lived in urban and rural areas and I can say that rural virtue is not a myth, though you have a bit of luck deciding if you get the rural virtue or the rural hate fest. It all depends on the area. Also you should know by now that sociology is total garbage.

Having lived in both rural (very rural) and big city. (all sizes and many countries.) I can tell you that it isn't a myth. Living in the country had a much stronger sense of community, right and wrong and charity. That said, people are still individuals and you'll get jerks and horrible people just like you would anywhere else. But I prefer living in the country for many reasons. The people are far more polite and caring, they'll leave you alone but still check in on how you're doing if they think you need help. Don't trust out of touch college professors to tell you the truth of the world. As someone with multiple college degrees I have experience in that as well.

Is it not pretty much alike with the concept of noble savage ?
Seems like a similar reasoning to me.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue.

Jesus that class sounds boring.

 bossfearless wrote:
I've lived in urban and rural areas and I can say that rural virtue is not a myth, though you have a bit of luck deciding if you get the rural virtue or the rural hate fest. It all depends on the area. Also you should know by now that sociology is total garbage.

Please do not insult my Chosen Major.


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 Gentleman_Jellyfish wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue.

Jesus that class sounds boring.

It was at first. but once you get past the introductory stuff and get to the meat, it becomes fascinating. Right now we are talking about racial and ethnic trends in urban america.

 bossfearless wrote:
I've lived in urban and rural areas and I can say that rural virtue is not a myth, though you have a bit of luck deciding if you get the rural virtue or the rural hate fest. It all depends on the area. Also you should know by now that sociology is total garbage.

I disagree, sociology is extremely valuable, and I think its more valid a science than psychology is.

 MWHistorian wrote:
Having lived in both rural (very rural) and big city. (all sizes and many countries.) I can tell you that it isn't a myth. Living in the country had a much stronger sense of community, right and wrong and charity. That said, people are still individuals and you'll get jerks and horrible people just like you would anywhere else. But I prefer living in the country for many reasons. The people are far more polite and caring, they'll leave you alone but still check in on how you're doing if they think you need help. Don't trust out of touch college professors to tell you the truth of the world. As someone with multiple college degrees I have experience in that as well.

This is from several books I read, just not a college proffessor. What im saying is that while Community will be stronger in Rural america, In urban america is it shown that while the ties of kinship and friendship are less numerous, They tended to be stronger.

Yes, but professors tend to guide the class. Always question what they say and don't take it at face value. They may be 100% correct, but don't assume they are until you look into it. Many of them are out of touch with reality and are too arrogant to see anything through their opaque haze of academia.

Just be careful. Your professor maybe totally awesome for all I know.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue. The idea the living in rural parts of the country is simpler, better and full of more Ideals then Urban or Suburban living.
Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism
But in my studies(AKA, Reading beyond the assigned text in class) It says that many studies show that urban lifestyles produce a more solid community, more happiness and that most of the country is predominatly urban but espouses rural virtues.

I ask Dakka, what do they think of the Myth of Rural Virtue.

More serial killers too.

Urban areas typically have substantially higher crime rates. In my personal life I never experienced the joy of a drive by in country or Da Burbs. Can't say the same for the The Big City.
many studeis have showed that social cohesion in urban environments is actually much less, as groups are more transient.

On the flip side there is a much higher chance that a city slicker wil have all his teeth. There's a lot to be said for that.

 MWHistorian wrote:
Yes, but professors tend to guide the class. Always question what they say and don't take it at face value. They may be 100% correct, but don't assume they are until you look into it. Many of them are out of touch with reality and are too arrogant to see anything through their opaque haze of academia.

Just be careful. Your professor maybe totally awesome for all I know.

Well, its also historical sociology(This time, it was though Urban enviroments produced less stable Marriages and worse kids. But its now seen as less like that) My latest "Introduction to the Social Sciences" teacher said that in order to be a well rounded adult you needed kids, I Challenged him on that all the way.

Define "Well Rounded".

How do you even measure that?

His definition was "Not going to vegas every couple of weeks and being responsible"
Then we got into a 30 minute debate about whether vegas was family friendly or not.

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue. The idea the living in rural parts of the country is simpler, better and full of more Ideals then Urban or Suburban living.
Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism
But in my studies(AKA, Reading beyond the assigned text in class) It says that many studies show that urban lifestyles produce a more solid community, more happiness and that most of the country is predominatly urban but espouses rural virtues.

I ask Dakka, what do they think of the Myth of Rural Virtue.

More serial killers too.

Urban areas typically have substantially higher crime rates. In my personal life I never experienced the joy of a drive by in country or Da Burbs. Can't say the same for the The Big City.
many studeis have showed that social cohesion in urban environments is actually much less, as groups are more transient.

On the flip side there is a much higher chance that a city slicker wil have all his teeth. There's a lot to be said for that.

And rural areas have more white supremacists, racial violence, and lynch mobs. Whats your point?

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue. The idea the living in rural parts of the country is simpler, better and full of more Ideals then Urban or Suburban living.
Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism
But in my studies(AKA, Reading beyond the assigned text in class) It says that many studies show that urban lifestyles produce a more solid community, more happiness and that most of the country is predominatly urban but espouses rural virtues.

I ask Dakka, what do they think of the Myth of Rural Virtue.

More serial killers too.

Urban areas typically have substantially higher crime rates. In my personal life I never experienced the joy of a drive by in country or Da Burbs. Can't say the same for the The Big City.
many studeis have showed that social cohesion in urban environments is actually much less, as groups are more transient.

Actually Frazz, Suburbia is considered a part of Urban lifestyle believe it or not, a certain culture withing urban lifestyle.

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
His definition was "Not going to vegas every couple of weeks and being responsible"
Then we got into a 30 minute debate about whether vegas was family friendly or not.

Lame.

If you're going to say "People with Chilldren are more Well Rounded" in an academic setting, you need to define what Well Rounded means, and back up your claim with studies and research and sciency gak.

I'm more well rounded than anyone that's been on an episode of Jerry Springers "You are/aren't the father".

Having lived in both Baltimore city (urban) and now living in the sticks of Maryland, I would never and could never move back to a city.

Just the simple things easily separate urban from rural living. I don't know everyone that lives in my area, but I still greet and wave to them. Do that in a city like Baltimore or NYC and see how many positive responses you get.

I know plenty of people who love their urban lives, so more power to them. Suburbs, on the other hand, seem perfectly made to rot the brain with same-ness and repetition. Probably why you see so many mini-vans there.

Agree with you about the not needing kids to be a well rounded adult though. There are plenty of ways to have responsibility and such without breeding.


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 hotsauceman1 wrote:
Actually Frazz, Suburbia is considered a part of Urban lifestyle believe it or not, a certain culture withing urban lifestyle.

Considering how separate the two are in both form and function, I would say any class that equates the two is a class you should drop.

You can't separate them. Suburbia is intimately connected to urbanism (that's why its sub-Urbia, not sub-Ruria ).

Well they arent the same. but for the discussion about Rural america, they are not the same to that. My urban sociology class studies them both, both their function and their effect on cities.

Keep in mind that the sociological climate varies greatly from metro area to metro area. I found the people in NYC and Philly to be obnoxious, rude, and excessively unfriendly (I lived in NYC, and currently live in between the two), whereas Bostonians tend to be friendlier and more welcoming (though those accents anger me...). The Phoenicians I've met (Phoenix, Az) tended to be a weird hybrid of redneck hick and city-slicker, and I haven't met enough Baltimorians to really pass judgement, though they seemed to be pretty friendly (then again, I can only really remember meeting really sweet older black ladies that had all the southern charm and hospitality you'd come to expect from watching romanticized movies about the south... even though Maryland is totally mid-atlantic, but whatever).

As for suburbia, living their now (skewed towards rural though, yes, even in NJ), its weird... the immediate transplants from the city tend to be more insular and seem to have a superiority complex, after a few years they tend to mellow out, while the old-timers tend to be more friendly... still something weird about the people, they are simultaneously more/less friendly/outgoing than city and country folk, its really hard to explain... again though, it might be because I live in a very rural suburban area that attracts the upper-middle and upper class crowd from the city.

It is a Myth.

I have lived many places, but no place was less tolerant of diversity in race, creed, or thought than the rural location.

LordofHats wrote:You can't separate them. Suburbia is intimately connected to urbanism (that's why its sub-Urbia, not sub-Ruria ).

I understand the connection (hated living in suburbs). But the actual lifestyle of the two places are fairly different from each other. Even something as simple as driving vs not, to me, separates the two. I do realize that in many places, suburban dwellers generally go urban for jobs and such though. I work in DC, for example, and 90% of the people that work there don't actually live there.

hotsauceman1 wrote:Well they arent the same. but for the discussion about Rural america, they are not the same to that. My urban sociology class studies them both, both their function and their effect on cities.

Fair enough. If you're breaking living styles into "rural" and "not rural", the suburbs definitely belong in the "not rural" category.

But don't you have to deal with religion more in US rural settings? It seems to have more of a hold than in Urban areas, or is that just a stereotype?

 Wolfstan wrote:
But don't you have to deal with religion more in US rural settings? It seems to have more of a hold than in Urban areas, or is that just a stereotype?

Depends on the area. For vast swathes of the South and Midwest, absolutely, you will find more religion.

In areas on the two coasts like California, Maryland or the like I think you'll find it's less "in-your-face" at the very least.

What about the Rural Juror?

I love those dear hearts and gentle people who live in my home town, because those dear hearts and gentle people will never, ever let you down...

chaos0xomega wrote:

 Frazzled wrote:

 hotsauceman1 wrote:
In my Urban Sociology class, we are being taught about the Myth of Rural Virtue. The idea the living in rural parts of the country is simpler, better and full of more Ideals then Urban or Suburban living.
Here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrarianism
But in my studies(AKA, Reading beyond the assigned text in class) It says that many studies show that urban lifestyles produce a more solid community, more happiness and that most of the country is predominatly urban but espouses rural virtues.

I ask Dakka, what do they think of the Myth of Rural Virtue.

More serial killers too.

Urban areas typically have substantially higher crime rates. In my personal life I never experienced the joy of a drive by in country or Da Burbs. Can't say the same for the The Big City.
many studeis have showed that social cohesion in urban environments is actually much less, as groups are more transient.

On the flip side there is a much higher chance that a city slicker wil have all his teeth. There's a lot to be said for that.

And rural areas have more white supremacists, racial violence, and lynch mobs. Whats your point?

Thats not correct either. You're right, lynch mobs no. Shootings yes.
If you disagree take a walk around Compton. Notify your next of kin first.

 MWHistorian wrote:
Having lived in both rural (very rural) and big city. (all sizes and many countries.) I can tell you that it isn't a myth. Living in the country had a much stronger sense of community, right and wrong and charity. That said, people are still individuals and you'll get jerks and horrible people just like you would anywhere else. But I prefer living in the country for many reasons. The people are far more polite and caring, they'll leave you alone but still check in on how you're doing if they think you need help. Don't trust out of touch college professors to tell you the truth of the world. As someone with multiple college degrees I have experience in that as well.

And try and live in that rural paradise when you don't conform to the norm and see how friendly your neighbours are.

Rural communities are generally closer but they are also generally much less tolerant of those that don't fit in...

It isn't purely an American phenomenon. There is a strong strand of agrarian idealism in the UK, stretching at least from Blake's "dark, satanic mills" to Tolkien's "Shire". Similarly, France has the concept of "la France profonde".