Our Great Cultural Divide

There are many lines of division in our culture. We divide along racial lines, economic lines, educational lines, political lines, spiritual lines, and perhaps some others; but all of these divisions relate in interesting ways with what I believe is the greatest cultural divide in the American context today.

The urban/suburban* divide.

Now, this is actually a surprise to some people. People are used to thinking of the more obvious divisions, but think about it...

...if you tell someone you live in the city or suburbs, they are able to make a pretty good guess at your politics, your spirituality, your economic status, and your education. Conversely ethnicity is a fairly good indicator of where someone might live. In short, the cultural milieu within the city limits is markedly different than outside of it. In fact, changing other factors is less likely to result in as great a cultural shift as changing the geographical location. Ethnic minorities in the suburbs are much more likely to fit into stereotypical 'suburban culture' when it comes to politics, economics, even spirituality. Caucasian city dwellers are likely to look very different than their suburban counterparts when it comes to spirituality, politics, and many other aspects of culture.

My goal here is not to minimize the more obvious cultural dividing lines, but rather to elevate the geographical dividing line. Race, politics, religion, economics, etc. are legitimately significant; however, geography is at least as significant, if not more so.

*My apologies to you rural folks out there, but there really just aren't too many of you left. There are plenty of suburbanites living in the country and erecting their cultural values out there, but the true rural paradigm (farmers, ranchers, loggers, pioneers) is a very small segment of the population; small, and ever diminishing...