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On the whole, the first few decades following Irish independence were pretty miserable. This was the time of the Great Depression and the Second World War, and Ireland had a few additional woes of its own. The dominant figure of the era was Éamon De Valera, a man who is notable, among other things, for having cracked only one joke in his life. Here are some highlights:End of the Civil War, 1922–23. The Free State government forces had won the Civil War by the time of Michael Collins’s death in August 1922. Nevertheless, the Anti-Treaty IRA slogged on until May 1923, in a futile guerrilla campaign marked by atrocities on both sides. After the IRA Chief of Staff Liam Lynch was killed in a skirmish, his successor ordered the IRA to dump arms and the war petered out. Irish Civil War - WikipediaFianna Fáil enters the Dáil, 1927. The Cumann na nGaedheal (former pro-Treaty Sinn Féin) government became increasingly unpopular as it wrestled with an economy ruined by the wars of 1919–23. Anti-Treaty Sinn Féin was unable to exploit this popular dissatisfaction, however, because as a matter of policy, it abstained from taking its seats in the Dáil. In 1926, Éamon De Valera led most of Sinn Féin into a new party, Fianna Fáil, which won 44 Dáil seats the following year. Fianna Fáil - WikipediaFianna Fáil takes power, 1932. A further step towards the normalization of political life was the peaceful transfer of power from Cumann na nGaedheal to a Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition following the 1932 general election. The next year, De Valera called a snap election, winning enough seats to allow him to govern without Labour. 1932 Irish general election - Wikipedia; 1933 Irish general election - WikipediaIreland wasn’t quite a model democracy yet, though. The elections of 1932 and ’33 were marred by IRA attacks on supporters of Cumann na nGaedheal and other parties. Although the IRA officially damned De Valera as a traitor, they preferred Fianna Fáil to the hated Cumann na nGaedheal, and De Valera did nothing to discourage their support.De Valera declares “Economic War” on the U.K., 1932. One of De Valera’s first acts in government was to spark a ruinous trade war with the United Kingdom, then Ireland’s only real trading partner. The conflict started with De Valera’s refusal to continue paying land annuities to the U.K. (i.e., reimbursements for loans granted to Irish tenant farmers to enable them to purchase their lands under the Land Acts), something that was required by the Anglo-Irish Treaty. There followed a series of tit-for-tat trade restrictions by both countries, with terrible consequences for the Irish economy. Anglo-Irish Trade War - WikipediaThe Rise of the Blueshirts, 1932–33. Angered by IRA attacks on Cumann na nGaedheal supporters, former National Army officers launched the Army Comrades Association to protect election meetings and defend free speech. Street clashes between members of the IRA and the ACA followed. The ACA was boosted by support from farmers angered by the effects of De Valera’s Economic War. Blueshirts - WikipediaAfter the 1933 election, De Valera fired the Garda (police) commissioner Eoin O’Duffy, a former Civil War pro-Treaty general. He became leader of the ACA, which adopted some of trappings of the “shirted” movements that were sweeping Europe. This led to the “Blueshirts” being branded as fascists (in fact, the movement really had no ideology but O’Duffy himself leaned towards fascism).De Valera banned the Blueshirts but they reorganized under new names. Meanwhile, clashes between Blueshirts and the IRA led many to fear a resumption of the Civil War. De Valera realized that the IRA had served its purpose and was now a liability. He banned both groups: the Blueshirts fizzled out and merged with Cumann na nGaedheal; the IRA persisted, despite increasing crackdowns by the government.The marriage of the Catholic Church and the State. It was inevitable that the Catholic Church would wield considerable power in an independent Ireland with a large Catholic majority. The 1923–32 Cumann na nGaedheal government was dominated by traditional Catholic men who enjoyed a comfortable relationship with the bishops. But it was not until De Valera came to power that Church and State entered into the unholy wedlock that was to retard Irish life for most of the rest of the century.It didn’t have to be that way. Michael Collins, for example, was critical of the influence of the Church and said more than once that he did not want to exchange rule from London for rule from Rome.Ironically, the bishops were alarmed at the prospect of De Valera’s coming to power in 1932, and some even denounced him as a communist. But once installed, he quickly put their minds at ease. Working closely with John Charles McQuaid, president of Blackrock College and later Archbishop of Dublin, De Valera arranged for the Church to have unparalleled control over most aspects of Irish life for decades to come: education, healthcare, adoptions, and censorship of publications and films, among other things. John Charles McQuaid - WikipediaThe end of the Irish Free State, 1937–38. De Valera introduced a constitution in 1937 that was republican in all but name. Among other things, there would be an elected president rather than a governor-general appointed by the king. The constitution laid claim to the entire territory of the island of Ireland, while acknowledging that part of the island was still beyond the jurisdiction of the state. Constitution of Ireland - WikipediaReflecting the fact that De Valera had collaborated with his friend John Charles McQuaid in drafting the document, the constitution acknowledged the “special position” of the Catholic Church and incorporated Catholic social teaching. De Valera and the Church’s special position; The Catholic Church and the writing of the 1937 constitutionDe Valera used the negotiations for ending of the Economic War as an opportunity to sweep away other important vestiges of the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty, including the hated land annuities, and secured the return of the Treaty Ports to Ireland. Eire (Confirmation of Agreements) Act 1938 - Wikipedia; Treaty Ports (Ireland) - Wikipedia“The Emergency,” 1939–45. Ireland was formally neutral in the Second World War but, as is now widely known, was neutral “on the side of the Allies.” The government secretly cooperated with the Allies in intelligence and other matters. An estimated 60,000 Irish citizens served in the British (and also American) armed forces, including about 5,000 Irishmen who deserted from the Irish army and naval service to fight Hitler.Although (aside from a few stray German bombs dropped by accident), Ireland did not suffer directly from the war, food and other necessities were rationed and consumer goods were in short supply. Moreover, De Valera took advantage of the war to impose strict news censorship, adding to the country’s isolation.De Valera described his vision for Ireland in a famous radio speech on St. Patrick’s Day 1943. Known forever after as the “comely maidens” speech (though he didn’t use that phrase), Dev’s address described an insular, Catholic Shangri La that never existed and never would. The Ireland That We Dreamed Of - WikipediaThe Republic of Ireland, 1948–49. Fianna Fáil was the largest party in the Dáil after the 1948 general election but fell short of an overall majority. Animated by a shared loathing of Fianna Fáil, the other parties set their differences aside to form a coalition of right, left and centre that managed to hold together remarkably well for the next three years. 1948 Irish general election - WikipediaIn 1948, on a visit to Canada, the Fine Gael Taoiseach (prime minister), John A. Costello, surprised everyone (including his own cabinet) by announcing his intention to declare Ireland a republic. Whatever the reasons that motivated Costello, a Republic of Ireland Act was passed by the Oireachtas (parliament) on his return home, and the Republic of Ireland was formally inaugurated on Easter Monday, 1949. Republic of Ireland Act 1948 - WikipediaThe Loyal Opposition. The 1930s and ’40s were by no means entirely bleak. Irish people still went to sporting fixtures —hurling, Gaelic football, rugby, horse racing and much more; they played and listened to music, and went dancing; couples got married and had babies; and writers and artists kept the flame of a better Ireland alive. A few examples of the latter:The Bell magazine, founded in 1940 by Seán Ó Faoláin, was a haven for writers who dissented from the official version of Irishness. Among the contributors to its first edition were Elizabeth Bowen, Flann O'Brien, Patrick Kavanagh, Frank O'Connor, and Jack B. Yeats. As Wikipedia puts it, “The Bell was notable, particularly under the editorship of Seán Ó Faoláin, as an outspoken liberal voice at a time of political and intellectual stagnation, fiercely critical of censorship, Gaelic revivalist ideology, clericalism, and general parochialism.” The Bell (magazine) - WikipediaThe Abbey Theatre founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory had become the keeper of an increasingly conservative vision of Ireland—an “official version” not too far removed from that of De Valera. But the Gate Theatre, founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir, offered an alternative perspective, providing Dublin audiences an introduction to experimental European and American theatre as well as modern Irish works. About The Gate Theatre - The Gate Theatre, Dublin Ireland; Gate Theatre - WikipediaFinally, in 1942, a piper and printer’s assistant named Séamus Ennis took to the roads on his bicycle, pen and paper in his pocket, with the mission of collecting the traditional songs of Ireland (and the Scottish Hebrides). In 1947, he acquired a tape recorder, which must have made his task easier than writing out scores with pen and paper! We owe the survival of much the Irish music we enjoy today to Séamus Ennis. Séamus Ennis - Wikipedia

I don't know when you will be rich but according to various reports, articles and notable people, here are 365 ways to get rich!#1Sir John Templeton: “Invest at the point of maximum pessimism.”#2Don’t mistake a low P/E ratio for a value stock.#3Benjamin Graham: “Patience is the fund investor’s single most powerful ally.”#4Let your attorneys ride shotgun, but not in the driver’s seat.#5Remember Enron; reduce your employer’s company stock in your 401(k).#6Warren Buffett: “Rule No. 1 is never lose money. Rule No. 2 is never forget Rule No. 1!”#7Fund a Roth IRA if you’re eligible; your money grows tax free for retirement, and in an emergency you can take your contribution back without penalty.#8Barry Sternlicht: Pay attention to the big themes, because they are what will help you earn ten times your money.#9Back a friend or relative’s startup with a convertible loan, so you share in the upside.#10Use commodities as a hedge against inflation.#11Raise the deductibles on your auto and home insurance.#12Form family limited partnerships to transfer assets at a tax discount.#13Beat death taxes in 20 states by making big gifts while you’re alive.#14For simple federal tax-free wealth transfer, make $14,000 annual gifts to children and grandchildren. It won’t cut into your $5.25 million lifetime exemption from gift and estate taxes.#15Get tax advice before settling a lawsuit.#16Read Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin LeFèvre.#17To keep peace with both relatives and the IRS, document all family loans.#18Peter Lynch: “Never invest in any idea you can’t illustrate with a crayon.”#19View collecting as a hobby first and investment second; psychic returns can make up for a lower average return than in stocks.#20Add a personal items floater to your homeowner’s insurance to cover collectibles.#21When the bear charges, stand your ground.#22For protection from inflation and currency devaluation, buy the “gold you can eat”—farmland.#23Know your risk tolerance. Pick an asset allocation that lets you sleep at night, so you won’t panic and sell stocks at the bottom.#24Don’t keep too much in cash equivalents—over time, this “safe” investment barely keeps up with inflation.#25After setting an asset allocation, rebalance yearly; it forces you to take profits when stocks have surged and to buy more shares when they’re cheap.#26Benjamin Graham: “Adopt simple rules and stick to them.”#27Buy Bitcoin as a speculation or political statement, not a hedge.#28Be a tax-smart investor. Hold taxable bonds in a 401(k) or IRA. Put individual stocks in taxable accounts so you can sell losers to harvest tax losses.#29Pay attention to the IRS’ wash sale rule when harvesting capital losses.#30Don’t invest in a hedge fund unless its audited results are reported in compliance with Global Investment Performance Standards.#31Build an emergency fund outside your 401(k).#32For the biggest tax break when donating collectibles to charity, make sure they’ll be displayed and not sold.#33Put alternative investments like real estate (but never collectibles) in your IRA.#34Burton Malkiel: “All index funds are not created equal. Some have unconscionably high expenses.”#35Keep an eye on—but don’t obsess over—mutual fund fees and expenses.#36Even committed indexers should use actively managed funds to buy municipal and high-yield bonds and value stocks.#37Yield is nice, but total return is the metric that matters.#38Gold is overrated as an inflation hedge—historically, its price moves are unrelated to inflation.#39For inflation protection, buy floating-rate corporate bonds.#40Don’t let the mood swings of Mr. Market coax you into speculating.#41Beware affinity fraud; find God, not hot investments, at your church, synagogue or mosque.#42Sir John Templeton: “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.’”#43Don’t put more than you can afford to lose into a crowdfunded deal; startups are always risky, and the new JOBS Act reduces both paperwork and investor protection.#44Don’t underrate the importance of liquidity.#45Use Quicken or a Web service to track all your finances and see your big picture.#46Use different passwords for each of your online financial accounts; add optional security questions whose answers can’t be found in your Facebook or LinkedIn profiles.#47Write down your passwords and hide them; tell one person where they are.#48Don’t fight demographics—allocate a portion of your portfolio to health care and biotech stocks.#49Diversify globally to boost your portfolio’s risk-adjusted performance.#50Benjamin Graham: “Speculation is neither illegal, immoral nor (for most people) fattening tothe pocketbook.”#51Cash in on companies with stealth dividends—meaning stock buybacks.#52Diversify, but don’t overdo it.#53Set investing rules for yourself that block impulsive decisions.#54Look beneath a fund’s name, with Morningstar’s Style Box and X-ray.#55Use software to track your asset allocation.#56Ask for a “brokerage window” in your 401(k)—an opening that allows you to invest in any mutual fund and even individual stocks.#57Bond laddering is good, but diversifying your income investments is important, too.#58Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) offer protection from inflation—not from rising interest rates.#59John Bogle: “Time is your friend. Impulse is your enemy.”#60Use salary increases to boost contributions to your 401(k).#62Defy conventional wisdom and increase your stock allocation after retirement.#63To make money in small-cap stocks, look for novel business methods and niches, not the next blockbuster drug.#64Don’t abdicate investment decisions to your spouse.#65Be suspicious—and investigate further—when a corporation changes its auditors.#66Carry a $2 million or bigger umbrella insurance policy to protect your wealth from liability suits.#67Warren Buffett: “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”#68Invest to meet goals, not to beat indexes.#69Clarify your own objectives by writing an Investment Policy Statement.#70When you get restricted stock in a startup, make an 83(b) election; if the company takes off, you’ll save big on taxes.#71Consider your marriage tax penalty (or bonus) before setting a wedding date.#72Aim to have five times your salary in your 401(k) and IRAs by age 55 and eight times before you retire.#73Dan Ariely: “If you can’t save money, be really nice to your kids.”#74Put peer-to-peer loans in your portfolio using sites like The Leader in Peer to Peer Lending: Loans and Investing for monthly cash flow and yields of from 7% to 9%.#75Peter Lynch: “Go for a business that any idiot can run—because sooner or later, any idiot is probably going to run it.”#76Never take on a mortgage just for the tax deduction.#77Keep no more than $250,000 in any one bank.#78Buy an index fund weighted to fundamentals.#79Remain anonymous after winning the Powerball jackpot.#80Work for a charity for ten years and get your federal student debt forgiven.#81Beware personal finance gurus pitching products.#82The most successful investors spend many hours at it each day and have passion and patience. There are no shortcuts.#83Warren Buffett: “Diversification is protection against ignorance.”#84Like Captain Kirk, have advisors from different planets.#85Before funding college accounts make sure you’re saving enough in your retirement accounts.#86To avoid a tax penalty, tap IRAs, not 401(k)s, to pay college tuition.#87Borrow from grandma at 4% for grad school; Uncle Sam’s Graduate Plus loans go for 6.41%.#88Marry a billionaire, or perhaps even more rewarding, divorce one.#89When buying a luxury condo, ignore superfluous amenities like massage rooms and pet spas; they won’t contribute to resale value.#90Add commercial real estate to your portfolio.#91Wait for inflation to rise before buying TIPS.#92Howard Marks: “Rule number one: Most things will prove to be cyclical. Rule number two: Some of the greatest opportunities for gain and loss come when other people forget rule number one.”#93Before remarriage, discuss estate plans.#94Track gambling losses to offset taxable gambling winnings.#95Confess any tax crimes to a lawyer, not a CPA.#96Deduct your yacht loan as mortgage interest on a second home.#97Don’t do deals between yourself and your own IRA.#98Don’t roll your old 401(k) into an IRA if you might face a lawsuit.#99When creating a trust or family limited partnership for asset protection, don’t give it your own name or one obviously identified with you.#100Profit from stock market volatility: Buy into a VIX futures fund and use wild, seemingly irrational swings as buying opportunities.#101Gary Shilling: “The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent.”#102Beware dividend traps—fat payouts supported by declining cash flow.#103Bet against weak currencies, like George Soros.#104Back up your financial records using a secure cloud service.#105Before investing in your own state’s 529, compare its fees and tax breaks to New York’s rock-bottom cost plan.#106Buy liens on homes of real estate tax deadbeats.#107Know thyself: Read books like Dan Ariely’s Predictably Irrational and Your Money & Your Brain by Jason Zweig.#108Learn a lesson from each stock-picking mistake.#109Julian Robertson: “Buy into forgotten markets.”#110Join an angel investing club.#111Keep your own entrepreneurial options open by refusing to sign onerous noncompete agreements.#112Buy stocks of companies still controlled by their billionaire founders.#113Leon Black: Do your homework, but still don’t bet the ranch.#114Louis Bacon: “As a speculator you must embrace disorder and chaos.”#115Almost all great value investors look for market anomalies or disconnects that they can exploit.#116Warren Buffett: “Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.”#117Always keep some investment powder dry.#118Allocate investments against your life risks.#119Andrew Tobias: “A penny saved is two (pretax) pennies earned.”#120Deduct losses from your sideline/hobby by bunching your expenses and showing a small profit in 3 of 5 years.#121Postpone real estate gains tax with a 1031 exchange.#122Qualify as a “real estate professional” to save big on taxes.#123Be leery of investments sold for tax savings.#124Burton Malkiel: “Start saving now, not later: Time is money.”#125Before making a big discretionary purchase, calculate future cost—what the dollars you’re spending could grow to if invested for 20 or 30 years.#126Read How to Make Money in Stocks by William J. O’Neil.#127Buy designer goods at consignment shops; when you get bored with them, sell for a profit on eBay.#128Discuss any prenuptial agreement way in advance of your wedding.#129Hell hath no fury. Never cheat on your taxes and your spouse at the same time—exes are a big source of IRS leads.#130Don’t buy a large amount of a thinly traded stock all at once.#131Buy and hold at your own risk.#133Don’t be afraid to buy into strength.#134It’s okay to chase performance—sometimes.#135Burton Malkiel: “In the stock market, past is not prologue.”#136Start a 529 college savings plan for yourself before you have children. If you don’t use it for graduate school, transfer it to your kid.#137Make your kid rich by helping him fund a Roth IRA.#138Deplete Junior’s UTMA—you can spend it on a laptop, camps, private school and tutoring—before applying for college financial aid.#139Reduce your student loan interest rate with auto debit.#140Julian Robertson: Suggest your kid take an accounting course—“It was the course that helped me more than anything.”#141Robert Shiller: “If you want to get rich, go into finance or a related field. Finance is the technology for making things happen.”#142Identify companies that gouge you yet keep your business. Buy them.#143Buy stocks like socks—good quality on sale.#144Buy into big ideas just like a global macro hedge fund for as little as $1,000 to start.#145Use limit orders when buying small-company stocks with low trading volume.#146Don’t leave it all in the dollar. Invest globally for currency diversification.#147Dollar-cost average the whole stock market.#148Buy companies with high ratios of gross profits-to-total assets.#149John Neff: “Buy on the cannons and sell on the trumpets.”#150Monitor your individual stocks; set a Google news alert and watch for signs of possible trouble.#151Bone up on “risk parity” diversification.#152Always know how a financial advisor is getting paid and what if any commissions she’ll earn.#153Watch out for paid shills at investment seminars.#154Ken Fisher: “You know who didn’t have bad years? Bernard Madoff—until he got caught.”#155Buy a retirement annuity cheap by delaying Social Security until 70.#156If you need to tap retirement cash early, study up on the exceptions that let you avoid a 10% penalty, including taking “substantially equal periodic payments.”#157Burton Malkiel: “Tune out the financial TV channels. Watch the cooking channel or the gardening channel if you want useful advice.”#158Warren Buffett: “Returns decrease as motion increases.’’#159Ron Baron: “Don’t waste your time short-selling. Show me the short-sellers’ yachts.”#160If you earn too much to contribute to a Roth IRA, fund a nondeductible IRA and convert it.#161If divorcing, get a “QDRO” from the court that allows you to split retirement assets without owing immediate tax.#162Claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit for your kid’s college—if you’re eligible.#163Don’t make multiple $9,900 bank deposits—the government might seize your money and keep it on the grounds you’re trying to skirt anti-money-laundering laws.#164Do a bond fund swap to harvest tax losses.#165Gain funding—and a market—on Kickstarter.#166Barry Ritholtz: “Never confuse investing with trading.”#167Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog.#168Hold illiquid assets in a Roth IRA, not a regular IRA.#169Be like Peter Thiel and put hot startup stock in a Roth IRA to make all gains tax free.#170Learn about your fiancé’s debts, before you walk down the aisle.#171Beware high-yield investments pitched as being like a bank CD.#172Watch out for stock hoaxes on Twitter.#173Be leery of pitches involving a self-directed IRA.#174Benjamin Graham: “It is absurd to think that the general public can ever make money out of market forecasts. For who will buy when the general public, at a given signal, rushes to sell out at a profit?”#175Avoid sudden lifestyle changes after a windfall.#176Automatically divert money from your paycheck into savings to the point where it hurts.#177Retire to a place without state estate or inheritance taxes.#178Benefit from 20/20 stock market hindsight by reversing a Roth conversion if stocks tank.#179Donald Trump: “Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”#180Ben Stein: Don’t move into a neighborhood of poverty. Avoid any situation that could leave you with too much unsecured debt.#181Get an entrepreneur mentor from SCORE, an organization of retired business folks.#182Tap your ethnic community for business funding.#183To get the best effort and thinking from employees in your startup, give them stock options.#184Like Spanx’s Sara Blakely, solve an irritating problem.#185Larry Page: “It is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. …Since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition.”#186Don’t blindly rely on a target date fund in your 401(k).#187Don’t let your advisor manage you.#188Don’t rely on regulators to protect you from financial fraud.#189Warren Buffett: “What is smart at one price is dumb at another.”#190With large-cap stocks, focus more on cash flow than earnings.#191Strong stocks tend to stay that way. Buy high and sell higher.#192Don’t let family wealth become a curse on your children.#193Start your kid at the bottom of your business.#194Read Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher.#195Buy a gift annuity from your alma mater.#196John Neff: “When you feel like bragging, it’s probably time to sell.”#197Mine your closet for eBay gold.#198Mine your network for investment ideas.#199Warren Buffett: “The risks of being out of the game are huge compared to the risks of being in it.”#200Sell put options like Warren Buffett does.#201Buy stocks when a magazine cover declares “The Death of Equities.”#202Don’t count on an inheritance. If you get one, don’t blow it.#203Leon Cooperman: “Getting rich takes hard work, a passion for what you do and luck.”#204If you win the Powerball jackpot, hire a tax advisor before making any decisions.#205Hunt down pensions from old employers.#206If you’re 50 or older, with substantial self-employment income, use a custom-designed defined benefit plan to shelter $100,000 a year or more from tax.#207Max out your 401(k) contributions: In 2014 you can contribute $17,500, or $23,000 if you’re 50-plus.#208If your marriage is shaky, make a copy of all financial documents.#209If your spouse is shady, file separate tax returns.#210Burton Malkiel: “Never buy anything from someone who is out of breath.”#211Know when to fire your financial advisor.#212Be skeptical of “principal protected” products—ask how much is guaranteed and at what cost.#213Be wary of companies that have gone public in reverse mergers.#214Low-priced stocks aren’t necessarily cheap.#215Make sure a stock’s dividends are less than its cash flow and likely to remain that way.#216Warren Buffett: “Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.”#217Beware unlisted REITs.#218Save remodeling receipts to add to your home’s basis and cut gains taxes when you sell.#219Buy no more house than you can afford.#220Don’t accept a high property tax assessment of your home—you can appeal andtalk it down.#221Don’t assume you should buy a house. Start by calculating rent-versus-buy costs for homes in your market.#222If you have no time for complexity, diversify your portfolio with just three mutual funds.#223Buy a deferred fixed annuity to make sure you don’t outlive your money.#224Build your own ersatz retirement annuity with savings bonds.#225Boost income with closed-end, covered call funds.#226Burton Malkiel: “Trust in time, rather than timing.”#227Delay retirement as long as you can.#228But don’t assume in your planning that you can work full-time until 70.#229Compare insurance costs before choosing a new car model.#230Then go shopping for that model at month’s end.#231To save even more, don’t own a car, share one.#232Hold actively managed mutual funds—the kind that pass on the most-short-term gains—in tax-deferred retirement accounts.#233Hold real estate in your IRA—but carefully.#234Don’t let the groupthink of investment clubs cloud rational investment analysis.#235Warren Buffett: “Diversification is a protection against ignorance.”#236Follow top money-manager moves. Even the great investors piggyback on other smart investors.#237David Dreman: “The time to buy is when there’s blood on the streets.”#238Beware superstar CEOs with weak boards.#239Compare benefits (including options) before switching jobs.#240Find out how your 401(k) rates at Financial Planning Advice, Find a Financial Advisor, and 401k Plan Ratings | BrightScope; if expenses are high or fund choices poor, lobby for a better plan.#241Don’t give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan; adjust your withholding so you don’t overpay your taxes.#242Even if you can’t pay, file your tax return.#243Take a cue from Mark Zuckerberg: Get maximum tax savings for your charitable buck by giving appreciated assets to a donor-advised fund or supporting organization.#244Read Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards by Jack D. Schwager.#245Warren Buffett: “Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.”#246Don’t chase yesterday’s winners unless they’re still winning.#247Purchase “own occupation” disability insurance.#248Remember that market underperformance—just like costs—compounds.#249Ramit Sethi: Set up systems to automate desired behaviors. Leave your gym clothes at the foot of your bed. Have contributions to savings automatically deducted.#250Open a spousal IRA for a stay-at-home husband or wife.#251If you work from home, get a rider on your homeowner’s insurance policy to protect you if the FedEx man slips.#252To maximize college aid, make Roth 401(k) contributions, not pretax ones, while your kids are in college.#253Like Warren Buffett, make concentrated bets in stocks that you have high confidence in.#254Live dangerously; invest your emergency fund instead of keeping it in cash.#255Barry Sternlicht: Study outliers rather than eliminate them. You can learn everything thereis to know about the industry or the player from the company that is performing better or worse.#256Don’t wait until expiration. Always look to buy back cheap options.#257Most stock market gains since 1950 have occurred in the November-Aprilperiod.#258Over the long run, small-cap stocks have outperformed big blue chips.#259Take only calculated risks on the smallest Pink Sheet stocks.#260Move inherited IRAs from trustee to trustee only.#261Name primary and contingent IRA beneficiaries so your heirs can enjoy the maximum years of tax deferral.#262Maximize your Social Security using a couples claiming strategy.#263Open all mail from the IRS.#264Don’t cheat the IRS and your business partner at the same time.#265Never ignore a 1099, even if it’s wrong—the IRS won’t.#266Don’t lie to your tax pro.#267After you hit 70, take the required minimum distributions (RMD) each year from your traditional IRAs or face near-confiscatory tax penalties.#268If you don’t need your RMD, consider rolling it directly to a charity.#269Sign a living will, health care proxy and power of attorney, even if you’re still healthy.#270Get a will. What happens to property if someone dies without one (intestate) varies by state and might not be what you would want.#272Warren Buffett: “No matter how serene today may be, tomorrow is always uncertain.”#273Insure your home for its replacement value; buy flood insurance if there’s a risk of water damage.#274Scan in your tax records, and keep a copy on the cloud or on an external drive at work; fires and floods happen.#275Keep business and personal expenses separate.#276Maintain at least some financial accounts separate from your spouse’s.#277Peter Lynch: “Know what you own and know why you own it.”#278Have your kid read The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt.#279Don’t fall for cheap stocks that are really worth even less.#280Read the classic Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.#281Run from a pitchman “guaranteeing” high returns.#282Benjamin Graham: Speculate only with a separate small portion of your capital.#283Snitch on tax cheats and collect a multimillion-dollar IRS whistle-blower award.#284Learn what behavioral economists have found about self-destructive investor behavior—so you can try to avoid these common and expensive mistakes.#285Understand the risks of using leverage and inverse ETFs, which rebalance assets daily.#286Benjamin Graham: “Every nonprofessional who operates on margin … is ipso facto speculating.”#287Register for Medicare at 65, even if you’re still covered by your workplace insurance, to avoid having to pay a penalty later.#288Rob Arnott: “No strategy can make up for inadequate savings or premature retirement.”#289Start saving for retirement in your 20s to put the compounding winds at your back.#290Use the Rule of 72: Divide your expected percentage return into 72 to figure how long it will take you to double your money.#291Never sell a stock that keeps on rising in price.#292Warren Buffett: “When we own portions of outstanding businesses with outstanding managements, our favorite holding period is forever.”#293Ben Franklin: “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”#294Use ETFs to be your own international fund manager.#295Don’t try to impose your ego on the market.#296Set up 10% trailing stop-loss orders to avoid unexpected nosedives in your portfolio.#297Barry Sternlicht: You have to be willing to change your mind. If you are a stubborn mule, you’ll get killed.#298Read Warren Buffett’s favorite book, Benjamin Graham’s Intelligent Investor.#299Be a vulture investor: Buy distressed bonds at pennies on the dollar like Marty Whitman and David Tepper.#300Pay attention to moving averages. When the 20- or 50-day average crosses below the 200-day average it’s bearish.#301Monitor the level of fear in the market with the CBOE put/call ratio and theVIX.#302Get tax help if you’ve got incentive stock options—they carry tax benefits but also a nasty alternative minimum tax trap.#303Pay public school tuition for your overachieving teen by getting steep discounts at great private colleges.#304Don’t treat your 401(k) as a piggy bank; you’ll regret it come retirement.#305Read Money Masters of Our Time by John Train.#306Never buy anything from a cold-calling broker.#307Be alert for the signs that a bubble is forming.#308Use sentiment indicators as contrarian tools.#309Don’t confuse correlation with causation in markets.#310Small-cap stocks with lower price-to-book values tend to outperform.#311Tap an IRA—not a 401(k)—without penalty for a first-time home purchase.#312Leave the dollars in a Health Savings Account growing tax free for retirement while you cover medical deductibles and copays from your current income.#313Use a “flight path” approach to asset allocation, raising your exposure to stocks as you become a more confident investor.#314Know your sell rules before you buy.#315Read letters of great investors such as Warren Buffett and Jeremy Grantham online.#316Become an online stock researcher.#317Beware of asset protection scams.#318When stuck paying AMT, accelerate some income.#319Rent out your vacation home for two weeks a year, tax free.#320Most people don’t need a whole life policy; buy a 20-year level-premium life insurance policy before your first child is born.#321Warren Buffett: “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.”#322Save $40,000 or more by sending your overachiever to community college and then have her transfer to a top public university or the Ivy League.#323Save on a master’s—for yourself or kids—by earning it in Britain in one year.#324Have your eldest child take a gap year before college so that more than one child is in school at the same time—you’ll get more financial aid.#325Rothify—Roth conversions make sense in more cases than most people realize.#326Time 401(k) contributions to make sure you grab your full employer match.#327Factor your individual health and life expectancy into your decision on when to take Social Security.#328Use an online calculator to help you determine the best strategy to maximize your Social Security benefits.#329Put junk bond funds in tax-deferred accounts.#330If your spouse dies, file an estate tax return to preserve his $5.25 million estate/gift tax exemption (rising to $5.34 million in 2014) for your own use later.#331Buy master limited partnerships late in life to avoid their tax drawbacks.#332Only buy closed-end funds trading at discounts to net asset value.#333Invest in businesses with sustainable competitive advantages.#334Don’t fight the tape.#335Remember, three out of four stocks follow the market’s overall trend.#337Spend 25% less than you make—it will give you flexibility to pursue the big opportunity.#338Bruce Greenwald: To get really rich, copy the hedge fund, private equity and VC masters and “get your hands on somebody else’s money.”#339Warren Buffett: “Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies.”#340Watch out for high fees hidden in some tax-sheltered products like 529s and variable annuities.#341Protect your assets before there’s a claim against you; after-the-fact moves can backfire.#342Check your advisor’s ADV at www.sec.gov.#343Remember Bernie Madoff: Make sure your investment advisor keeps your money in an account with an independent custodian.#344Gary Shilling: Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Instead, intelligently and efficiently apply what is already well known.#345Warren Buffett: “You don’t have to make money back the same way you lost it.”#346When selling a business, plan ahead and you may be able to save big on tax.#347Retire to a place where jobs are plentiful.#348Factor taxes into your retirement income strategy.#349Take $500,000 per couple in gains on the sale of your home, tax free.#350Don’t be afraid to deduct a legitimate home office—you can now claim up to $1,500 a year, with minimal recordkeeping.#351Review the assumptions an ex-employer has made in calculating your pension. Mistakes aren’t unusual.#352Keep 5% of your portfolio in gold.#353Own gold through ETFs like GLD.#354When pundits declare the death of “buy-and-hold” it could well be the sign of a market bottom.#355Warren Buffett: “It’s optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.”#356Burton Malkiel: “ ‘Efficient markets’ does not mean that the price of every security at every moment in time is correct.”#357Look for undiscovered stocks with market caps between $1 billion and $10 billion.#358Understand how the businesses you invest in make money.#359If the short sellers are swarming around your stock, investigate the bears’ thesis.#360When company insiders buy, you should, too.#361Benjamin Graham: Those who want “freedom from concern” must accept lower returns.#362Warren Buffett: It is “far better to buy a wonderful business at a fair price than to buy a fair business at a wonderful price.”#363Burton Malkiel: “Avoid the temptation to follow the herd.”#364Steve Jobs: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”#365Plan.I hope this helps.

Yes and no, and somewhat no, but at least 50% yes.Honestly, it depends on what rural areas we’re talking about, and for what reasons those areas are ignored, if they are.I’m from one of those rural areas. The heart of flyover country. And of Trump Territory.I’m not a Democrat, but I am a Never-Trumper, and in the opinions of most of the folks where I’m from, that puts me on the left somewhere between Lenin and Chairman Mao. I’m one of the people who is trying to have these conversations with neighbors.Their number one complaint? They’re ignored and forgotten until they throw a brick through the window like Trump. People pay attention to them now. But they feel like Democrats, who are almost uniformly city people in their estimation, either ignore them entirely or look down on them patronizingly and condescendingly and refuse to listen to them.It’s not that they are opposed to progressivism. It’s that they feel humiliated.Democrats forget this at their own peril.Let me try to explain.First, understand the actually progressive history of rural areas.There’s an accepted notion that rural areas are just inherently backwaters resistant to change and so they vote conservatively, and always have.As Ira Gershwin once wrote, it ain’t necessarily so.The Progressive movement of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s was primarily led by rural Midwesterners, particularly areas like Minnesota and Wisconsin. There’s a lot of this state with murals of Fightin’ Bob LaFollette on them. The Republican Party was an activist, progressive party for much of its history. That legacy does still live on in places like rural Wisconsin.It wasn’t just the sin and vice values voters, either, who voted progressively for the temperance movement. Organizations such as the Grange were certainly big into ethics and morality, but they were also focused on raising the quality of rural life, including rural electrification and road infrastructure, improved rural schools, and promoting agricultural efficiency.4-H clubs instituted competitions for youth to come up with more inventive ways to improve rural living and agricultural yields. My grandfather won a state soil judging competition. These organizations celebrated modernization and change.These were states that were leaders in creating public elementary, secondary, and higher educational institutions that were free or cheap for residents. UW-Madison created a “short course” college program for farmers to learn better agricultural practices at a bare-bones cost. Both of my grandfathers had degrees through that program. Even when my parents were going to undergraduate at a state school, their tuition was $100 per semester.These voters were concerned with democratic reforms, as well. It was rural progressives that pushed for reforms such as the referendum, the recall, the ballot initiative, the direct popular election of senators, and the civil service. They were concerned with income inequality, and pushed for reforms such as the progressive income tax and ending the laissez faire attitude towards corporate regulations. It was rural progressives that picked up McClure’s Magazine in droves, thanks to a reduced rate for delivery due to the U.S. Post Office and a good price for groundbreaking investigative journalism. And in reading McClure’s, they learned about how stacked the deck was for big business, and pushed for reforms to even the playing field.Even where there was traditionalist pushback, these progressive reformers were generally wildly successful in rural areas until only relatively recently in history.That said, those rural progressives were never particularly welcoming to immigrants, particularly those of color, and had a skeptical attitude towards civil rights at best. Women’s suffrage was a mixed bag among rural progressives, which is particularly ironic considering that women were some of the most vocal in pushing the temperance movement and the women’s vote was essential in delivering the 21st Amendment, a major Progressive Movement platform plank.And they were plenty hostile to urban dwellers, who they saw as decadent, impractical, elitist, snobbish, and out of touch with rural life. Rural progressives blamed urban big-business conservatives for monopolies and unfair trade practices that essentially controlled milk and grain and meat prices.Rural progressives tended to be Republicans. Urban progressives tended to be Democrats. The same basic fault line was present 120 years ago as continues to be present today: the urban-rural divide, and a resentment of city folks by the rural folks.Second, understand the more recent history of liberal (and even conservative) politics and its impact on rural America.Rural America has been beaten to hell, especially in recent years.Cities make up 5% of the country, but dominate in population and especially culture. Name the last television show that positively and fairly portrayed modern rural life. I’ll wait. Can you think of one? The few that even touch on the topic portray rural life as backwaters full of serial killers and dumb accents, or stupid and naive.You remember when the news covered the hundreds of people and $125 billion dollars in damage to rural Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina rolled through, right? Oh, maybe not, because it never got covered in lieu of talking about New Orleans. NOLA is culturally important. Waveland… not so much. Anyone who is not from within 100 miles of it, point to it on a map. Right now. Without using Google. I dare you. Tell me where it is.And yet, Waveland, Biloxi, and surrounding areas suffered substantially more catastrophic damage than the French Quarter did.Infrastructure in rural areas is no longer funded or maintained. Basic things city folk take for granted just don’t exist in rural areas, or if it does, it’s not reliable. Roads, even electricity sometimes can be shaky because it’s not maintained, because the county probably can’t afford it.Rural people generally have to do their own water, including wastewater treatment. You know how much a mound system costs, especially when you have to dig it up every ten years and replace it? You know much it costs to dig a new well if the old one is contaminated? Tens of thousands of dollars. Based on my current city water bill, which is high for the area I’m in, it would take me over sixty years to pay for the cost that my neighbors from where I grew up just put in to dig a new well and replace their septic system to sell their house.And that’s for government services; private ones? Forget about them.It’s not profitable to deliver packages to the ass-end of nowhere, for example. If my in-laws want to order something on Amazon, it’ll get delivered as far as their P.O. Box in town, anywhere from 30–45 minutes travel away depending on road conditions. The Postal Service only goes as far as a turnaround on part of the minimum maintenance road they’re on, five miles away.You want high speed internet? Your only option is satellite or maybe a cell hotspot, both of which are metered, limited connections, so no Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube… anything that consumes more data than basic email. And depending on your television market, you might not even be able to get satellite where you area, even if you don’t want cable with it and just want the internet. Why? Because that’s how the contracts are structured with satellite providers, who really want you to buy the satellite TV.A lot of these communities were built around a single or maybe two industries. Where I grew up, your options were pretty much dairy and crop farming or manufacturing. Both of which are utterly dying. Automation is taking over manufacturing, and giant agribusiness and factory dairies are the only way to survive anymore. My grandfather used to break even at $18/hundredweight for milk. (What, you think farmers sell it by the gallon?) That was twenty-five years ago. It’s up right now from recent years, at just over $18 per hundredweight for November 2019 contracts.Plus crop prices suck right now. You have to get more per acre every year just to break even. A couple bad years in a row and you’re just screwed. So, when some guy from Madison comes along and tells you that you have to put a line fence back that’s going to cost you five grand in lost crop, it hurts.You know why there have been more small farm foreclosures in the past five to ten years than ever? That’s why.There is a not-unfounded belief and understanding that free trade agreements and globalization has caused this.Fine, Democrats tell them. Just move. Go to the city. Unemployment is down right now: get a new job! You can sell the land and go do something else?But right there’s the real kick to the balls: where are you going to go if you want to leave and how are you going to get there?This, right here, is why the suicide rate in my home area has doubled to tripled, particularly among youth and farmers.Where are you going to go?Move to the city, like the urban liberals say we should? That’s what Democrats keep telling my people. Just move. Just move to Madison or Milwaukee because there’s plenty of jobs.Right, because most of my people have $2500 to throw at a security deposit and first and last month’s rent on a cheap place.Sell the land and the stuff on it? To whom? Some giant agribusiness corporation who will happily buy you out… for pennies on the dollar of the assessed value of your land and equipment? It’s not like the other small guy around the corner has the cash to buy your acreage and your cows and your aging equipment.Almost all of that property is mortgaged to hell anyway, because every bad year, every time that milk prices and crop prices are down, you had to take out another loan and refinance the old debt. Crop insurance is enough to maybe keep you from folding for one year. So, you end up taking out a loan against the value of the farm. Again.If the bank will give it to you. Credit is getting progressively tighter because things are leveraged more and more. You can’t sell the farm and fixtures and equipment and livestock for what it’s worth, or even what the debt on it is, because nobody will buy it for that. You’re stuck, because you’ll still lose your shirt when the bank comes after you for the remainder. And the bank might cut you off at any time. Or raise the interest rates.There are no good options.It can be really crushing. It’s why people drink themselves to death, or get into harder stuff. They’re trying to numb the pain half the time. And then you get a drug conviction or a DUI, and now you’re even less employable, and next thing you know, you’re stuck on welfare like the people that the media you listen to tells you are lazy and undeserving.It’s humiliating.And then they turn on the antenna TV and watch the national nightly news and hear the national message of Democrats on every nationally-broadcast television show and media outlet: they’re white, so they’re privileged.And they immediately think, “Fuck that shit,” because it sure doesn’t feel like a privilege to exist where and how they do in what feels like and is the margins of society in a lot of ways.Now, I’ve written at length about how that’s not what privilege means, but that’s not terribly well explained by Democrats to rural people, believe me. Certainly not to my people.And that brings me around to where Democrats are failing at speaking Ruralese right now.It’s worth listening to the complaints of rural voices. Really listen, not take what they say at face value or impose an urban understanding of the rural consciousness.I’m deeply frustrated with some of the answers to this question, which say Bullock is wrong because Democrats do work hard in those areas, but are shouted down because of white fear and nostalgia and that they really like authoritarianism because who doesn’t love a lack of choice and women git back in the kitchen and Jesus Haploid Christ, this is why you people are turning off my people.You know why they’re scared of multiculturalism? It’s not because they believe white people are superior. It isn’t. It’s because they probably lost a job, or knew someone who did, to an affirmative action hire. We can have a legitimate, honest discussion about whether or not that’s good or bad, but if you continue to ignore the fact that happened, you’re going to lose them. As they say in my part of the country, “don’t piss in my face and tell me it’s raining.”*Edit: I want to clarify, after thinking about it a bit on my way home, that this is a very regional-specific take and rural areas may be very distinct in this regard. The pocket of rural America that I’m from is relatively close to a bunch of moderately urban areas and within two hours of three different medium-metro areas. As a result, there is a lot more diversity. There is also a much different tradition to the area. The racism that exists is largely implicit bias and subconscious racism, not overt KKK-style terrorism. That’s not necessarily great, but it’s important to realize that it’s a much different form of racism and fear of multiculturalism than “Jews will not replace us.”There are other pockets of rural America that are a lot different, and are overtly racist. And those pockets are not isolated to certain parts of the country that have a tradition for that. St. Cloud, Minnesota has an appalling number of Confederate flags in the windows of homes and pickup trucks. There was an honest-to-God white pride rally earlier this year. An anti-hate listening session and anti-hate walk had to be called off because of legitimate threats and people who where threatening to hold a protest. A protest against people trying to end bigotry and prejudice. In central Minnesota.I have had some truly horrifying conversations with people that I otherwise respect, who have adopted an almost casual racism, and this has increased in the last three to five years. It’s clear when I press them on it that they don’t understand what they’re saying, and are repeating talking points in many circumstances. But it is alarming, and should be taken seriously.End edit.They don’t fear progress. I call shenanigans on this. Remember, they were the very ones looking for progress a century ago. They absolutely still do want progress.But the progress offered up by progressives is largely delivered with a side of “fuck your present existence; you better just learn how to do something else, and move to the city.” As explained above, even if that were what my people wanted, it’s not an option.Democrats aren’t offering them progress that helps them.What’s the modern equivalent of rural electrification and paved roads? What’s the modern equivalent of rebuilding rural America? What’s the Democratic plan for saving family farms, or easing the transition away from them? What’s the Democratic plan for stopping the slow, relentless march of Wal-Marts destroying the general store?Medicare-for-All? That’s great… if you’re anywhere near a hospital or your local one didn’t already fold. Student loan forgiveness? Awesome… except, probably nobody in your family or workplace went to college, needed to, or will be working in public service.What progress are you offering them?They just like authoritarianism? Horseshit. That is utter horseshit. I call shenanigans on this up, down, left, right, and sideways.You know what the biggest gripe that my people have is? That other people are coming in and telling them what to do who don’t know anything about the subject. They didn’t vote for Trump because he promised them less democracy. They voted for Trump because he’s a one-man government wrecking crew. The fact that he’s destroying the federal government, deregulating the daylights out of everything, sparking chaos on the world order, all of that’s a feature to them, not a bug. They don’t love him because they want someone who will tell them what to do; they love him because they think somehow he’s going to get rid of all the people telling them what to do.They just love nostalgia? Again, I call shenanigans. You know why my people have at least some degree of wanting to go backwards in time? Because at least two generations ago, they could survive on what we had.That’s what made “Make America Great Again” both so enticing to some and horrifying to others. It’s a meaningless glittering generality that allows anyone to impose just about anything on it. Most of my people associated it with a heyday when at least a guy could support a family of four on a regular wage. The fact that it was also a time when being anything but a white guy sucked donkey balls just doesn’t cross their mind.Yes, yes, I hear you screaming in the back right now about how that’s the problem. That’s a selfish attitude. Their mindset is “fuck you, I got mine.”And it is. Oh, hell yes it is. Most of them won’t admit it out loud, but it is. They’ll fight it because these are close-knit communities that look after their own. They’re not selfish when it comes to taking care of the people they know. But outside of that? The rest of the country? They don’t know those folks and don’t care to.But if you’re a Democrat trying to reach these people, take a step back and ask why that is.Yes, many of them are privileged in ways that they don’t understand. That’s a piece of it, sure. But it’s a lot deeper than that.I would like to think that a lot of the progressive voices on here who are constantly attacked over their identity and actually consistently marginalized would have some empathy here. I’m not saying sympathy. But empathy at least.Again, as I’ve written before:It’s disheartening the amount of time I have had to spend trying to convince urban and coastal progressives that the people I grew up with are not just bigoted, racist, homophobic, uneducated Republican slaves to Fox News. That we’re not just a lost cause to progressive policies.When I try to talk to urban progressives about learning to speak Ruralese and understanding rural values, do you know what I get? Scoffs. “What values? Like racism, illiteracy, and superstition?”No, Karen. We’d like to feel safe in our homes and actually get ahead from an honest day’s hard work for once. Probably the same as you.When I tell my urban counterparts that my people feel like their way of life is dying, do you know how many of them smile and say, “Good!”Now, I’m not going to pretend that rural ways of life are always idyllic or healthy. There are destructive generational issues that have haunted rural life. Alcoholism isn’t really viewed as a problem so much as kind of the norm. Case races with Bud Light or Coors are part of living here. There are lots of people trapped in abusive, destructive relationships because they got married young and had a couple kids before they really had life figured out. Egalitarianism for women is not awesome in some parts of rural America. Being gay or trans could be a death sentence, though it’s better than it used to be in most parts of rural America now.. . .There is plenty of hypocrisy and ugly to rural living.But there is also a lot of beautiful to it. There will be a meal train and a card signed by the entire community with whatever cash people could scrape into the hat if someone gets sick or someone dies. Move into a new house and someone will be around shortly with a casserole or hotdish for the oven. We’ll hold benefit nights for a family that lost a house to pick up the slack from the insurance, donate our gently used toys and children’s clothing to a less fortunate local family, or show up in crews with chainsaws and ropes to clean up the trees that come down in a storm. We’ll patch up the roof of the pole shed for the neighbor or rope up the cows that got out through the hole in the fence for each other. We’ll plow or blow each others’ driveways out in the winter, especially if it’s old man Holler who’s like 170 and the crazy fool would probably try do it and kill himself trying if someone didn’t.A farmer in Central Minnesota lately had cancer bad enough that he couldn’t harvest his corn crop, so all the other farmers in the area pitched in, brought their combines over, and brought it in for him.Folks care about each other out here.I was always taught as a kid that we had to look out for each other, because God knows nobody else will.Still think that our backwards ways are all without merit?And then there’s the whole “you’re voting against your interests!” thing. I’ll admit, I used to think that, as well. The 2016 election and subsequent conversations and reading honestly changed my mind on that.The people in my home area feel like liberals are elitist and condescending to rural voters. The most recognition my home area has received from Hollywood lately is Making a Murderer. (Side note, that was several counties over from where I grew up. That’s a whole different part of the state.)Democrats are not asking questions of my people. They’re not listening. They don’t even have to agree, they just have to make my people feel heard.If you can’t offer them something better, at least give them a good explanation as to why, and why that at least still is important to the values you both share.I love this little clip from The West Wing, where Jed Bartlett faces a dairy farmer who was angry about a vote Bartlett took in Congress on dairy prices that look money out of his pocket and hurt him. The farmer is mad about it, and wants to know why Bartlett voted that way, because the farmer is seriously considering not voting for Bartlett for president.What did Bartlett do? He owned it. He spoke to a shared value: we take care of our own, and we should be making the world better for our kids. And what does that have to do with the price of milk? Bartlett explains that voting for that bill would have made it harder for poor kids to afford it.You know what? My people can probably get behind that.But better yet: include them in the solutions. Maybe there could have been a better idea out there for how not to screw the farmers and still get milk to kids in poverty. My people are pretty creative, actually. You’d be amazed at how smart they can be, how inventive, how far they can stretch resources.So, I think Bullock is right, to an extent, that Democrats simply don’t campaign or message in a lot of those areas, at least not on issues that my people care about, or in eliciting their help in fixing the problems we all collectively face in a way that also helps rural people.They’ll talk to you about those things. They absolutely will. Pull up a chair and let them complain? Everyone loves to bitch about the weather and the state of affairs.But they won’t respond to outsiders coming in to tell them what they “really need” or what their interests “really” are. You haven’t earned that.They might even be skeptical at first of why you’re asking them about it in the first place; they’ve learned the hard way that these kinds of discussions aren’t really about getting their input or knowledge, but to gather data for some report somewhere. There’s a lot of lost goodwill that’s going to take some serious time and effort to rebuild.But start asking them questions. Real questions, not pointed, closed, leading questions. Start listening to them.I think that’s where Bullock was going with what he was saying.Now, I’m sure I’m highly likely to get a bunch of people who will comment here “But WHY?! They aren’t suffering as much as we are suffering!”Are there people who are much more marginalized than my people? Hell yes.Are there people who have a lot less political power getting crapped on by my people? Hell yes.Is the perception of how much they receive from the government differ entirely from the reality? Hell yes and then some.All of that is true.Doesn’t matter.It doesn’t.This is how they feel about it.Telling them they shouldn’t feel that way is like telling a person who is depressed to just not feel sad. It doesn’t address the reasons why they feel that way, rational or otherwise.You have to start by affirming the fact that they feel that way and digging into why, or they will never listen to you.As my people say: “If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got.”Keep that in mind as you approach strategy around rural voters in 2020, Democrats.This was long-ish and without pictures. Here you go.Mostly Standard Addendum and Disclaimer: read this before you comment.I welcome rational, reasoned debate on the merits with reliable, credible sources.But coming on here and calling me names, pissing and moaning about how biased I am, et cetera and BNBR violation and so forth, will result in a swift one-way frogmarch out the airlock. Doing the same to others will result in the same treatment.Essentially, act like an adult and don’t be a dick about it.Getting cute with me about my commenting rules and how my answer doesn’t follow my rules and blah, blah, whine, blah is getting old. Stay on topic or you’ll get to watch the debate from the outside.Same with whining about these rules and something something free speech and censorship.If you want to argue and you’re not sure how to not be a dick about it, just post a picture of a cute baby animal instead, all right? Your displeasure and disagreement will be duly noted. Pinkie swear.If you have to consider whether or not you’re over the line, the answer is most likely yes. I’ll just delete your comment and probably block you, and frankly, I won’t lose a minute of sleep over it.Debate responsibly