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Mendon, Missouri

seandietrich.com

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Re: Mendon, Missouri

#121

Post by cgriswald »

melenaboija wrote: post #43
ryan_j_naughton wrote: post #35

> And the most unusual thing about all this is: None of this is unusual. At least not within the national tapestry that is The Great American Small Town. It also isn't unusual in the cities. Humans are wonderful and terrible everywhere. It reminds me of the 30 Rock episode where Jack and Liz go to Georgia to find a new comedian in touch with the "real America" and Liz keeps insisting that all Americans are real Ameri…

Although I agree with it I think that small towns have something that is lost in big cities which is the sense of community, and that is simply because in towns you know every single person that has some impact in your daily live. My family is from a small town who moved to the city right before I was born and there is something my mom said to me when I was a kid that got stuck in my mind which is the awareness of de…

That sense of community comes roaring back in times of calamity.

I've only ever lived in cities or suburbs. During a major calamity, those of us in the city drove out to a small town that was nearly wiped out and gave supplies, money, and time. When our own city was hit by an extremely damaging and deadly storm, we took care of our neighbors (generators for refrigerators, places to sleep, help with repairs, food, etc), even if we had just met them for the first time.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#122

Post by psmith50 »

fortran77 wrote: post #5

One way to see rural MO is on the Katy bike trail: https://mostateparks.com/park/katy-trail-state-park It's a 240 mile protected bike path.

Rode the entire trail in 3 days in 2016! Quite the challenge for myself at the time and living out of your bike was a blast. Got to talk and meet many locals and go into many small towns to resupply food and enjoy the ride. My total milage ended up being 270 miles.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#123

Post by adventured »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #106
Threeve303 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have found otherwise good people are capable of intentionally doing awful things to another human, even if you have known someone almost your entire life, a switch flips and it is like a full psychopath is unlocked. Many only need the moral cover, certain they are right, to say and do awful things to another. This was always true but it seems to me that social media, in all its forms, not only takes your privacy, i…

The proof of kindness is everywhere, too. Just look around.

In most cases people see what they prefer to see. Their response to such impossible questions tells you more about them - how they see the world, their sense of life - than it does humanity at large.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#124

Post by kortilla »

mlyle wrote: post #115
kortilla wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I posit that at the root of all societal friction is the widening income/wealth gap within the US, Why would you think this when there is little meaningful difference income-wise between Democrats and Republicans? A significant chunk of the US votes on single issue matters that have nothing to do with economic status (abortion, gun rights).

I don't agree that the root is the income/wealth gap, but it certainly is playing a big role in the divide. > little meaningful difference income-wise between Democrats and Republicans? https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/religious-landscape-stu... is striking-- and when you look into the sub-demographics of the lowest and highest band it gets more interesting still-- e.g. that 27% in the lowest income band is shock…

>certainly is playing a big role in the divide.

The only divide is in whether it’s something that is even a problem that needs to be addressed. Income inequality doesn’t divide people itself, just the focus on it does.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#125

Post by InefficientRed »

njarboe wrote: post #117

Great to hear these people helping out. I didn't like when people started using the phrase "First responder" for police, fire, ambulance people. If you are at the scene of a problem, you can be a first responder and be there sooner than the "first responders". You can be a zeroth responder.

> You can be a zeroth responder.

You can be. But you can also cause more harm than good as the zeroth responder (removing an impaled object, moving someone with a back injury).

Fortunately, there are affordable high-quality first responder courses. In the extreme, becoming a certified EMT takes only 100-200 hours of instruction, and there are many training options that are much shorter and cam be completed over a weekend.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#127

Post by logifail »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #114
logifail wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are very, very different views about the role of government and religion in this country, very different takes on morality, responsibility, and lots more. These are not resolvable via compromise. I spent a lot of my time telling my three kids they have to learn to compromise [with each other!], since the alternatives are much, much worse. Q: What's the plan for reconcilling "very, very different views" if one…

There is no plan. These things get resolved by some combination of: 1. civil war 2. political power (domination) 3. secession 4. overwhelming economic prosperity

> These things get resolved by some combination of: 1. civil war 2. political power (domination) 3. secession [snip]

Umm, there would appear to be a fair bit of collateral damage in those first three. Are you sure you're going to end up on the winning side?

Compromise is healthy. Maybe you should reconsider.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#128

Post by bediger4000 »

Just as a counterpoint to this, here's a murder in small town Missouri, not too far from Mendon: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fox2now.com/news/true-crime/mis...

Nobody said anything about it in 40 years. There's a lot more nuance to small town people pulling together than the train wreck shows.

I grew up outside of Kirksville MO. I've even taken the Southwest Chief from La Plata one or two stops NE of Mendon, to Newton KS. Idealizing small town or rural life is a mistake. The issue is more complicated than "rural Americans pull together, urban Americans do not".

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#129

Post by RC_ITR »

bediger4000 wrote: post #128

Just as a counterpoint to this, here's a murder in small town Missouri, not too far from Mendon: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fox2now.com/news/true-crime/mis... Nobody said anything about it in 40 years. There's a lot more nuance to small town people pulling together than the train wreck shows. I grew up outside of Kirksville MO. I've even taken the Southwest Chief from La Plata one or two stops NE of Mendon, to Newt…

This is the same problem with authoritarianism.

Communities aligned to a single goal can do amazing things, the downside is just that sometimes that single goal is “protect a murderer that we all like” or “commit genocide”.

Re: Mendon, Missouri

#130

Post by soared »

bediger4000 wrote: post #128

Just as a counterpoint to this, here's a murder in small town Missouri, not too far from Mendon: https://www.google.com/amp/s/fox2now.com/news/true-crime/mis... Nobody said anything about it in 40 years. There's a lot more nuance to small town people pulling together than the train wreck shows. I grew up outside of Kirksville MO. I've even taken the Southwest Chief from La Plata one or two stops NE of Mendon, to Newt…

I do not enjoy that every good hearted story needs to have a top comment with a clickbait counterpoint.
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