Rural Values
Recent drives on the backroads of southern Mississippi have piqued my thinking on rural America. Women and men of all creed and color toiled through droughts, depressions, war, and prosperity to build this country. I’m not speaking of the country in a physical sense of infrastructure and institutions. I mean the nose-to-the-grind attitude that hard work produces results. The idea that resolute values in faith, family, and self-efficacy are the backbone of America the PEOPLE, not the institutions. In a time where the term “value” can be alarming to some, it is important that we reflect on the values of rural America- values that are not necessarily related to cows and plows.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2017) 60 million Americans live in rural areas classified as those with a low population density far from urban centers. But rural America is more than the census definition, it’s a culture- a value system- that permeates many Americans regardless of their zip code. One does not have to live on a farm, in the Appalachian foothills, in the Arizona desert, or in the mountains of Big Sky Country to embody rural values. These values stem from an outlook on life that is simple, humble, and unbusy.
This lifestyle is often mischaracterized by the media and misunderstood by urban dwellers. Those who love this country, the land, and all it offers are at times portrayed as uneducated rednecks or ignorant hillbillies that live too far from the cultured city to understand the “real world.” Rural values are viewed on the edge of normalcy by some. Faith in God, trust in the human spirit, willingness to give a helping hand, and belief that people are inherently good are ideals near and dear to rural America. They are not ideals of people in a certain geographic location- rather are part of the built-in belief system that has existed in this country for many years. They are part of Americana that should not be given up because of societal pressures.
Rural values aren’t liberal or conservative, male or female, or black or white. This way of seeing the world should not be diminished to the ideological thought process of putting people into a box. Values are bigger than boxes. Values are built on principles we hold to be true. Our values determine our outlook on each new day and our reaction to each new situation.
Rural values speak to realism about the current state of the world, but optimism that the best days are always ahead of us. Rural values don’t result in in-group or out-group because these values are not based on individual human characteristics. They are about relationships and community- ideas that are not gender, race, or geography-bound. They are not rooted in agricultural practice per se, but they are based on the outlook of generations of Americans who lived by the principles of independence, self-reliance, and innovation regardless of economic or education status.
In these tense political times, “rural America” is referred to by pundits and the media as nothing more than a voting block. Those of us who live the rural lifestyle either literally or figuratively have been diminished by many of our countrymen to like-minded pawns who are scared of change. This is so far from the truth. Rural Americans embrace the newness of the future because of anchoring in the past. We are able to overcome and adapt because while the world will change, our value system does not. Our geography, religious beliefs, hobbies, and vocations do not make up the whole of who we are.
In the words of E.M. Tiffany:
“I believe in leadership from ourselves and respect from others. I believe in my own ability to work efficiently and think clearly…I believe in less dependence on begging and more power in bargaining; in the life abundant and enough honest wealth to help make it so- for others as well as myself; in less need for charity and more of it when needed; in being happy myself and playing square with those whose happiness depends upon me” (FFA, 2020)
These are rural values.
It is ok to be simple. It is ok to be humble. It is ok to say hello to a stranger. It is ok to be rural.
References
FFA (2020). The FFA Creed. Retrieved from https://www.ffa.org/about/ffa-creed/
United States Census Bureau (2017). What is Rural America? Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2017/08/rural-america.html
