Rural Cosplay: America’s Newest Identity Crisis
ALT TITLE: Brokeback Metropolis ALT ALT TITLE: Desperate Houseplants: Tales of Urbanites Dreaming of Rural Roots ALT ALT ALT TITLE: Urban Planning Videos Make Me Feel Feelings それで最近 @CityNerd による田舎のコスプレをテーマにしたビデオを見て、いくつか持ってきました田舎のコスプレのアイデアについての考え。しかし、これではあまり SEO に最適化された説明にはならないので、当たり障りのない話をして、田舎と都会の間のあいまいな境界線についての示唆に富んだ探求である「田舎のコスプレ: アメリカの最新のアイデンティティ危機」について詳しく説明することにしましょう。現代アメリカにおけるアイデンティティ。ホストのモーガン・ゴールドは、バーモント州での自身の田舎暮らしを振り返りながら、私たちをニューヨーク市の街路に連れて行き、大都市圏の人々が自分たちを田舎の風景の一部として認識している複雑な様子を浮き彫りにします。このビデオでは、個人的な逸話からより広範な社会的洞察まで、この国を形成する文化的およびイデオロギー的な戦いを率直に紹介します。都市の風景や文化のギャップについての会話をナビゲートしながら、このビデオでは、アイデンティティ ポリティクスについての微妙な考察と、これらの認識が日常のライフスタイルの選択から選挙の結果に至るまで、あらゆるものにどのような影響を与えるかを示しています。これは私たちが住んでいる場所だけの問題ではありません。それは、私たちが自分自身をどのように定義するか、そしてそれに伴う分裂がもたらす、より大きな影響についてです。固定観念に疑問を投げかけ、今日のアメリカのアイデンティティのダイナミクスに光を当てる説得力のある分析にぜひご参加ください。このチャンネルについて: こんにちは、私の YouTube チャンネルへようこそ。私の名前はモーガン ゴールドです。ここは物語が語られる場所です。このビデオをご覧いただきありがとうございます。本当に感謝しています。ご意見をお聞かせください。ありがとう、モーガン PS 私の農場の YouTube チャンネルをお探しの場合は、ここで見つけることができます: @GoldShawFarm このビデオについて: このビデオのビジュアルは、オリジナルの写真、Photoshop、伝統的なアニメーション、デジタル アニメーション、モーションを独自にブレンドしたものです。追跡ツール、厳選されたストック画像、生成 AI ツール、著作権で保護されたコンテンツの公正な使用。ストーリーテリングを強化し、新しくて異なるアイデアを独自の方法で実現するために、各要素が思慮深く組み合わされています。私がどのようにして何かを作ったかについて興味があれば、お気軽に聞いてください。これなら何時間でも夢中になれます…
48 Comments
I'm an urbanite. Most of my family are rural. Thankfully, they understand tariffs. A couple are "anti-city" folk, yet most use modern technology manufactured in cities. 🤔 I think both sides of the argument is a weird hill to die on.
I certainly get the appeal of not living on top of each other and long for that, but given my skill set, that isn't an option without a long commute and I hate long commutes even more.
Also, I get the saving the metro card. Where I am, each monthly metro pass is different and beautiful and I have a whole stack of them as they are too pretty to throw away. I keep meaning to make an art project out of them.
I am a person who drives a truck who also lives north of MA. Yes, toxic masculinity is a thing, but there is a lot of overlap. I think you are not completely understanding City Nerd's point. Rural cosplay has been a thing for as long as I can remember (I'm gen X). It's a growing trend. Again, I live in a rurally. Rural cosplay has become so comical in my area. They have become caricatures of themselves. I would require supplemental oxygen from laughing so hard if it wasn't so scary. But to Ray's point, next time you are traveling through MA, drive thru some of the more densely populated suburbs and try to understand the premise of his argument. Also, next time wait to do your video. No one wants to listen to RFK jr.
Great discussion, Morgan. I am a city person in Cincinnati (owning a small rural acreage about an hour away). Those red/blue county maps are really in stark relief here. It's blue and fairly progressive here, and deep red in all directions, once you leave the outer belt.
I think rural New England is going to have the most tempered version of this phenomenon.
You're missing the forest for the trees here, Morgan. The conflict city nerd addresses is not between urban and rural, but rather urban and suburban//exurban. The anti-intellectualism and bro-dozers he refers to a a feature of suburban//exurban dwellers who "identify" as rural even though they manifestly are not. Actual rural dwellers, who live and work in rural, land based economies, comprise only 17% of the US population.
Urban maximalists (e.g. the nerd, me) are not interested in forcing that 17% into cities, but in reversing the suburban//exurban sprawl within the 83% of the population that lives and works in the greater urban metro areas. They are often the subject of our ire because those bro-dozers have created a huge spike in pedestrian deaths, occupy excessive space on urban roads, and cause pollution in congested areas.
The housing issue is a result of hedge funds snapping up available housing. Hedge funds have been buying housing since 2007. Today they control the housing prices across the country.
2:28 RFK jumpscare
There's a lot of rural areas that have become suburbs and the people there still think it's rural. Now there's a growing concept of doing what he's was talking about. Renovating old downtown areas and making them walkable rural downtowns or mainstreets. There's even federal funding for it.
81+% of people didn’t grow up in rural areas. They need to stop pretending
It was very clear from the get go that you are a city person living in a rural community. You don't get it even though you think you do. I grew up in very rural upstate NY and have lived the last twenty years in rural Oklahoma. I have a master's degree and a long track record of being "an intellectual." At the end of the day, though, my country identity supercedes all else. I mean this as respectfully as possible, but if you are really confused as to why your neighbors are fighting your apartment project – or worse – you understand but are pushing it anyway, you are essentially a colonizer. Go home and stop pretending to be someone you're not. Let your rural neighbors live their lives in peace. They live where they live to avoid people like you, to avoid your culture, attitudes, and actions; yet y'all just keep coming into our communities all across the country and taking over.
We don't want any of you here.
I know a guy who epitomizes this. He hates his own existence. Also, don't think I've ever seen more carbon fiber pieces on a truck before lol.
The city nerds video will only offend you if it applies to you lol.
As someone who wants to have a farm while still being near a regional rail system, I’d really appreciate & enjoy a video about your journey from small farm to BIG city. Maybe tied with it is your experience with vehicle dependency for your household.
With your own view as city person in a rural area and on a farm, I’m curious about your thoughts about people in small towns surrounded by rural areas that by all comparison live an urban lifestyle but outside an “urban area”. I think this is the disconnect you & Ray are trying to get to that keeps muddying the water.
Love the Pyrenees dog!
Nevermind, I saw which part of VT.
I hope you were at a punk rock show!
Not a new thing at all
Look at popular country singers, they are almost exclusively rich trust fund kids
I think CityNerd was mostly talking about those who live in Exurbs … I live in an Exurb that is extremely conservative leaning and votes down any attempt at bringing in public transportation. Every other vehicle in my neighborhood is a truck which has never seen a actual construction site (but instead, sees their owners' office parking lot every day). Because we live in an area surrounded by prairie grazed by Black Angus cattle – a good portion of those who live here "think" they're just country folk … many listen to conservative talk radio (which has an unusually strong signal here) and consider themselves Christians – but every Sunday morning, that truck is still parked in their driveway. One of my favorite stories from 2019 … there was a crowd of local Trump supporters in red cowboy hats, waving their flags, back-the-blue, err whatever by the local feedstore … one of the actual ranchers from the area was driving by in his F-250 and straight-up coal-rolled them. I guess the guy didn't want another term where the price of his beef experiencing wild market fluctuations from retaliatory tariffs imposed by other nations in response to Trump's trade policies. Adjusted for inflation and GDP … farmers collected more farm subsidies during his first term than any other time since the Great Depression (they still voted for him in 2024 – but that's another story).
As population grows to a certain point, living in mega cities will be more efficient, because you can't have everybody taking up too much unproductive land which will be needed to produce food. Only the very rich will be able to afford large chunks of land and whatever Governmental lands like state and natural parks will exist for a period of time at least until maybe that land is also needed for it's resources.
Morgan, did you produce that Rural Cosplay video? Is there more to that one – can't seem to find it anywhere. It was great.
I just started buying these kinds of clothes because I got sick of everything being garbage quality. I want clothes and shoes that last for years to come, not year to come.
I don't drive a pickup though, those things are woefully impractical even NEAR a city like I am. I hate that pickups have become the new go-to family vehicle these days since they've gotten bigger and bigger with smaller and less practical beds over time to accommodate the soccer moms and small men.
Replace rural with the word white, or “American”, it then makes perfect sense.
I've worn a cowboy hat since the '90s and never ridden a horse. I also wear a flat cap and have never been to Ireland. I don't live in a proper high rise city but I also don't work on a ranch/farm. Last time I voted red was in a primary in the '90s (McCain over GWB). Only people with insecurities worry about how others dress. 🗿👽🗿
I live in both areas a lot over my life. City people call me a hick and country people call me a hippie. I am comfortable living in either space, but really prefer country life to city life. A lot more freedom and room to breath.
That nerd guy who made the video you are referencing is the type of people I avoid in cities, they are insane. I had no idea identifying as a red neck now was part of the identity wars.
You almost lost me with the quasi defense of the ridiculous electoral system, but I hung in there and I'm glad I did. Great video
Trump 2024!
The city that never sleeps also doesn't open anything before 9 😅
You were nailing it when you approached what some stuffy French guys called the “Consumptive Identity”, but I feel you sorta gave a pass to Rural folks for the part they play in the shared delusion required for cultivating identity through consumption. It takes two to tango, right?
Regardless, it’s ALL evidence of a lack of or insecurity about one’s fundamental identity. Kinda like that Fight Club line, “the things we consume end up consuming us” or whatever.
Those terrible themed t-shirts with run-on sentences about being a forklift operator or a scary protective uncle are a testament to this.
These observations seem unfair, that you could paint a picture in your head of a person based on their Amazon shopping history, but you’d be surprised how accurate the caricature is. Even still, these observations aren’t an indictment of character. We should love people as they are. My words are a critique of the use of “things” to project one’s identity.
Which flag to buy/fly? 🏳️🌈🏴☠️🏴🇺🇸🚩🏳️
All of this on its face is a bit of people-watching speculation of course, but the video sent my thoughts reeling in this way.
It’s true as well that there are folks in the sociopolitical realm, like Tom Fitton, who are dead set on exacerbating and entrenching the divisive nature of the consumptive identity conflict. He calls it the “parallel economy”. He spent all of Covid shilling for a conservative clone of Amazon. Nevermind the destruction Amazon has brought to our main streets; He just wants to get his beak wet. Compounding the problems. Not surprising coming from someone whose whole thing is separatism and has all but said the plan is to create a “red” version of everything so neo-confederate can crack the union in two and still have their treats and amenities.
Good video. I need more coffee.
When I was young my parents were normal. As an adult they are now rural while living in suburbs. Weird psyop.
Couldn't make it through that insufferable citynerd segment.
I don't think City Nerd's issue is with rural living or rural people, it's a specific type of urbanite (usually someone who lives in a suburb) who chooses to identify with rural life and lives their life and votes for policies that fit that idyllic worldview. The most obvious thing is the huge pickup trucks, but there's also the opposition to multi-family housing, opposition to density, opposition to public services, and more. I don't have any issue with people who wanna live a rural life. Have at it. But don't make our lives in the cities worse just because you want to have your cake and eat it too. You can't have all the benefits that come with urban living while still being able to live a rural life.
City Nerd is always interesting. You are always interesting. He is basically a pessimist. You – an optimist.
You are right about the role of our natural resources in rural places supporting our big economic engines, because whether it is multiple small sustainable farm or giant agribiz, rural places feed our economy.
WITH FOOD.
OH PLEASE we do plenty of rude and backward here in the cities, too!🙄
There is oodles of Know It All anti intellectualism in cities too!
lol I can’t take you serious if you think toxic masculinity is a thing
Demographic posing aside. What’s the difference between a rich guy driving a sports car vs truck. One is probably not racing and the others is probably not towing. They are just driving the car they want make the environment slightly worse for us all.
I have been thinking about this for like 2 weeks because I have been watching landman and there was a line in particular that stuck with me, they were at a bar and were offered a pitcher of bud light for half off and they were basically like “I still ain’t drinking that shit” I don’t remember the exact words but I was thinking “hey you can drink double the beer for the same price” and then I’m like are they still mad about the trans person advertising for bud light? Like you know kid rock is drinking it again? I don’t mind some jokes about it I suppose but it reminds me of guys complaining about other men ordering Mai tais or something like shut up and drink it, as if there weren’t more important things to complain about. What I got from city nerd’s video is that these fake country people are often victims and perpetrators of toxic masculinity and anti intellectualism rather than holding true rural sensibilities. I’m in the ag field and I have met many country folk that embody the scientific process and many suburban people that want the aesthetics of being country while working a desk job in the city that they commute to in their f250 lifted that has never seen a tow trailer or a load in the bed besides groceries. They like taking their barely used truck to mud pits because it makes them feel alive because the office job sucked the life out of them, it’s another symptom of alienation from the working conditions that many of us have to deal with
The funniest thing is it’s suburbanites who cosplay rural life and also shit on urbanites. Meanwhile urban areas give no sh*ts about anyone and I’m unsure about rural folk since it’s such a rarity these days.
I think that CityNerd’s video would be so much more well received if he used the same script and got a normal person to narrate it in a normal voice
Oof I hope you feel better! But also there is so much truth in the statement about how much of this is toxic masculinity… it's even overflowing into actual rural culture at this point to a degree that I find rather disturbing
I watched most of that city nerd video and this video. I grew up on in a very rural area of northwest Ohio but have lived most my life in major cities. I get him making fun of people who live in suburbs that drive full sized pickup trucks ups, want a full acre of land, demand that everyone else have that to, engage in pointless urban agriculture (landscaping), as part of being worthy of membership in society. The pickup truck is the most visible issue because we all see them. Nothing worse than going to parking lot and having to fight for space because oversized F250 are taking all the spaces. No problem with a truck. I mean my dad had one. It showed battle scars from hauling wood, steeling or pulling his welder. These trucks look like they just rolled off the lot. What’s sadder is when the rural cosplayers lead the charge against things like public transportation, apartments, condos, affordable housing or public green spaces.
Super Dave back with a hot take
Great rfk impression lol
Nice RFK impression
Flatlander cosplay?
Same thing as rich people spending $2,000 to “look homeless”. Identities aren’t naturally occurring anymore, they are manufactured and presented to us to pick from. Each one comes with its own set of commodities to accumulate to signal to ourselves and the people around us what demographic we’ve “chosen” while also allowing the manufacturing and presentation machinery to continue to run. Every day (ok more like every few months or whatever) new identities enter the marketplace of identities and some stay in the mix for a while like the rural cosplay and some are short-lived. Rural larping has been around for an extremely long time and is a permanent fixture of our culture. Because it basically never changes companies can avoid all kinds of risks that selling a less stable identity demands. Good businessmen know that’s a wonderful place to be so I guess what I’m saying is start putting whiskey steak in mason jars if you want to make america great again