I just read TCH's post and he is mostly correct in what he says (he is wrong about the Liberals supporting working class rights in the 19th century, that was actually the Tories) but he leaves out a lot about the exact nature of the relationship between the Tory party and the countryside, and about the visceral hatred felt in rural parts for the Labour Party. It is also worth remembering that the present day Conservative and Unionist Party has absorbed earlier version of the liberals on at least two occasions. Some would say they did it again at the end of the coalition period when they annihilated the 'Orange Book' strand of the Liberal Democrats, but there still remains strong support for the remnants of the Liberals in parts of the countryside, especially the West Country and Scotland. So the modern Conservative Party has a very complex history, incorporating many strands, and nothing is entirely clear cut.
The examples you give around housing do not reflect the reality in southern England, nor to some extent the wider UK. House prices here in the rural south are somewhere around £350,000 for an average house. That's $447,895.00 at today's exchange rate. But there are hardly any houses priced that low in the truly rural villages - £500,000 is about the cheapest in my own village. There are perhaps three properties worth as little as that. And any small property that does come on the market is liable to be bought by a developer and enlarged into something worth £1,000,000+. The housing crisis is an ongoing nightmare for everyone. And it is caused, incidentally, by immigration and environmental legislation - everyone agrees about that, they just don't know what to do about it.
State schools and the NHS cost the same for everyone, private schools and medicine (to the extent private medicine exists at all in this country) are available to everyone at the same price and convenience since they always require travel so are not dependent on locality.
So although my rural outlook affects a lot of how I see the world, I don't think it is operating in quite the way you envisage.
One obvious difference between rural and urban life is that rural life is far more mixed, with friendships across the classes and ages being normal. I think that gives everyone a different outlook. The age profile is also older than in cities, and many people develop more right wing views with age.
The thing about rules and regs does probably apply. In rural areas, things are done more by custom and incomers are sufficiently few they can be assimilated, and thus written rules are seen as more intrusive. I can imagine in urban areas you need written rules or the constant flux of incomers would drive everyone mad all the time by not knowing what the rules were.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2017-06-25 01:09 pm (UTC)The examples you give around housing do not reflect the reality in southern England, nor to some extent the wider UK. House prices here in the rural south are somewhere around £350,000 for an average house. That's $447,895.00 at today's exchange rate. But there are hardly any houses priced that low in the truly rural villages - £500,000 is about the cheapest in my own village. There are perhaps three properties worth as little as that. And any small property that does come on the market is liable to be bought by a developer and enlarged into something worth £1,000,000+. The housing crisis is an ongoing nightmare for everyone. And it is caused, incidentally, by immigration and environmental legislation - everyone agrees about that, they just don't know what to do about it.
State schools and the NHS cost the same for everyone, private schools and medicine (to the extent private medicine exists at all in this country) are available to everyone at the same price and convenience since they always require travel so are not dependent on locality.
So although my rural outlook affects a lot of how I see the world, I don't think it is operating in quite the way you envisage.
One obvious difference between rural and urban life is that rural life is far more mixed, with friendships across the classes and ages being normal. I think that gives everyone a different outlook. The age profile is also older than in cities, and many people develop more right wing views with age.
The thing about rules and regs does probably apply. In rural areas, things are done more by custom and incomers are sufficiently few they can be assimilated, and thus written rules are seen as more intrusive. I can imagine in urban areas you need written rules or the constant flux of incomers would drive everyone mad all the time by not knowing what the rules were.