Trump Era Mountain Community Social Media

Ever since I moved up the mountain from Denver over four years ago, I’ve been fascinated with the back-and-forth on social media sites—primarily Facebook. And that fascination intensified when Donald Trump entered the scene or, to be more precise, consumed the scene by capturing the interest and eventually the passions of a great many folks up here.

Firstly, my situation: Park County, four bedroom home on ten acres, well water, septic, 8800 feet high, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, aspens, critters who come and go across the property with sublime temerity; undergraduate degree in history, minored in psychology and English, the psychology courses mainly focusing on comparative, and abnormal.

Okay. I’ve been reading a great deal about tribalism. The latest from The New Yorker, by George Packer, October 12, 2018:

“We live in a time of tribes. Not of ideologies, parties, groups, or beliefs—these don’t convey the same impregnability of political fortifications, or the yawning chasms between them. American politics today requires a word as primal as ‘tribe’ to get at the blind allegiances and huge passions of partisan affiliation. Tribes demand loyalty, and in return they confer the security of belonging. They’re badges of identity, not of thought. In a way, they make thinking unnecessary, because they do it for you, and may punish you if you try to do it for yourself. To get along without a tribe makes you a fool. To give an inch to the other tribe makes you a sucker.
“I’m using ‘tribalism’ to refer to what George Orwell, in an essay he wrote at the end of the Second World War, meant by ‘nationalism’: “…the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests. . . . The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality.” ‘Our tribes are competing for power over the state, the media, public opinion, the verbal battleground. When politics becomes a perpetual tribal war, ends justify almost any means and individuals are absolved from the constraints of normal decency. People who would never tolerate cruelty or lying or even ordinary impoliteness in their children cheer every excess of their leaders, none more so than President Trump’s.”

The anonymity of social media enforces a no holds barred denigration of niceties that would otherwise be expected if folks were speaking over a dinner table, sipping beer, with Waylon and Willie in the background, admonishing mamas to be careful how their babies grow up. And, that anonymity provides an opportunity for folks up here to reveal not only their aggressive intolerance for differing opinions, but also their blatant devotion to the mountain tribe, a decidedly red-tinged nationalism that harkens back to a laisse faire America where Manifest Destiny became the code word for a conquering greed that has yet to be satisfied.

Then comes those not part of the predominant tribe who, at times, are equally comfortable abusing their anonymity to excoriate the tribe with righteous certainty. (I admit I have done this myself.) What I’ve noticed, though, is more often than not non-tribal comments are assumed by the tribe to be condescending, loaded with the vitriol of ‘libtard’ learning from the dismal swamps of higher learning indoctrination morasses—‘fake news’ of the most despicable kind.

Then there are the memes. I will admit I didn’t know the pervasiveness of memes on social media until I started watching mountain community social media sites. While some are incisive social commentary, most are silly-assed tripe that expose the notion that some believe the sound bite is equivalent to “…the whole gamut of culture from Plato to Goethe.”

What I learned from coursework in comparative psychology is that it is the study of critter behavior to glean some insight into the origins of human behavior. And we all know what abnormal psychology entails. I believe both disciplines are useful in trying to come to some logical conclusion about the nature of mountain community social networking. At least I would hope so.

Not sure if my thoughts here will result in any meaningful adult conversation about the subject matter, but one does hope for such a thing. And, maybe the only conclusion is that mountain community social networking is simply a microcosm of the whole, a snippet of what's going on everywhere, mountains or not.

Insightful commentary is ALWAYS welcome from my POV.....and I truly appreciate your attempt at addressing the trend in a thoughtful (read NOT vitriol) way.

I am an outlander (I guess that would be the term)......I am not on Facebook,I do not own a smart phone or I phone, my use of social media is on this board ONLY. I prefer phone contact, alto I know the majority of the populace HATES phone calls. E-mail is my second choice...altho I know even that is passe. The art of conversation/personal contact is extinct...sad to say.

My political affiliation as an indy is in the minority and I observe the same trend you have observed
(it has been that way for a VERY long time)......but getting worse. It is now an addiction. JMO

The predominant tribe up here provides a temporal, observable tendency to focus much of their social media vitriol on immigration, primarily that from the southern border. As was the case with the recent so-called caravan of migrants from South American countries, the POTUS’s characterization of this event as an ‘invasion’ became the tribe’s rallying cry for much of the lead-up to the 2018 mid-term elections. (No one has yet to convince me that presidents are blind to the political expediency of warfare or, at least, the benefit of shaping a caravan of ants into a mountain of threatening hyenas.) Indeed, many posts went the predictable step further and accused George Soros of funding the caravan, supplying them with food, cell phones, and other necessities they’d need to complete their ‘invasion’ of America.

Years ago, I bought a good horse from an elderly woman in Oak Creek, Colorado. She had loved horses all her life and by the time I met her she had collected a great number of horses as some folks collect cats. The State of Colorado was breathing down her neck to either properly care for the horses, or get rid of them.

Oak Creek, Colorado is a wide place in the road in Routt County bisected by Colorado Highway 131. It is north of Yampa, and south of Steamboat. The Flattop Range is nearby as is the Twentymile Coal Company—retrieval of coal from the earth is the historical reason why Oak Creek exists.

This woman had lived her entire life in the area around Oak Creek, and she gave me a tour of her ancestral heritage, pointing out the places where her family had settled, lived for some time, and relocated to over generations. It was fascinating, and I enjoyed her company.

When I eventually got my horse to Denver, the first vet that checked him out asked me where I’d found him. “Oak Creek,” I told him, mentioning from what I saw up there I wouldn't be surprised if some horses were inbred. The vet smiled and told me he was familiar with area. “And horses aren’t the only species inbred in Oak Creek,” he added.

I mention my Oak Creek experience because that elderly woman is typical of the predominant tribe in this area. Her Facebook posts erupted after the POTUS threw the ‘invasion’ bait during the mid-terms. Meme after meme after meme declared the southern border a war zone of epic proportions, where dismal hordes of future welfare queens were on the verge of threatening her way of life in Oak Creek, Colorado. From a thousand or more miles away, the ‘invaders’ were standing on that elderly woman’s front porch about to savage her daughters, steal her horses, and demand she learn Spanish.

Sometimes I think tribes display signs of inbreeding, not physically, but certainly mentally. Kind of like cult behavior—the Grand Poobah says it’s so, therefore it is.

From an academia pov the book by Howe and Strauss "The Fourth Turning"has a historical narrative that explains what is occurring (change within society/government and mindset). Bannon,when he was in the "inner circle",was enthralled by the book and had the authors come visit with him. He desperately desires a "new" government and initiated much of the chaos.....
because chaos is good and creates radical CHANGE. (think the original Boston Tea Party paradigm.) REVOLT off the masses is the main theme......thus creating a NEW structure.

Thank you for that. Haven't read the work, and a quick read of the detailed Wikipedia entry on it is fascinating. You mention Bannon was enthralled by it, and it's interesting to note from the Wiki entry that Al Gore found the earlier Strauss-Howe work, "Generations" (1991) "...the most stimulating book on American history he'd ever read. He even sent a copy to each member of Congress." That those two disparate individuals valued the theory is notable.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%E2%80%93Howe_generational_theory

For those who do not have the time to do research........(I'm retired so NOT an issue for me)

The read is rather dry and tedious for the first third, but the picture comes into focus rather
quickly after. The link is a good overview. THE PRESENT FUBAR is part of the equation. We are in the fourth turning.......CHANGE is imminent.

Well,l I have devolved from being tribal to being inbred, mentally. I am interested as to what you use as a basis for making this statement. Having spent much of my career reading submissions from undergraduates, I would send this article back, so that you could rewrite. Probably one of your instructors read this comment and told you that the body of the document does not support your premis. By the way, how did you know that this inbred person sold you a good horse? You mentioned that the first vet mentioned inbreeding, you beg the question that there was a second Vet was examining the horse, what was the opinion of that Vet? "
So a Denver Vet thinks that we are faulty in breeding our horses in the mountains. Pay tell what is his experience with horses in the mountains? What is your experience with mountain horses?

Ah… Interesting but not an unexpected response. Forgive me if I assume formal logic was not your primary academic discipline. It wasn’t mine either, but I did glean the basics.

The anecdotal Oak Creek narrative was intended to describe the insularity of tribal cultures. Unless the undergraduate’s assignment was to submit a paper containing true premises leading to valid conclusions, the submission would stand as what it was intended to be—an anecdote from one’s experience in a mountain community. (The anecdote, by the way, is 100% true. One of my most treasured memories.) I knew when I mentioned inbreeding the tribal knee-jerk response would be automatic. Tribes, in my experience, generally, illogically, gleefully in some cases, perceive insult from whole cloth.

Also interesting that the horse becomes tantamount. So, let us spend some time on the horse.

As I noted, the old woman kept horses as some folks keep cats. She was a collector. When I visited up there, her herd was probably close to forty or fifty animals. Maybe more. Incidentally, I didn’t go there on a lark, but was told by a close friend who’d grown up in the area and whose family still lived there, that he knew of a woman who had to get rid of some horses because the state was after her to thin out her herd. He told me—and I saw it for myself—she had not yet had the wherewithal to construct adequate facilities for the herd, and mares and stallions mixed freely throughout the year. He said there was inbreeding going on but so far he hadn’t seen any “…two-headed horses, but you could probably get one for a pretty good price.”

I picked out a small boy, a quarter horse with a white pastern on the left rear side. He was four years old, still a stallion, his hooves had never been clipped, he’d never had a single inoculation, he’d never been socialized to people, and he’d never been haltered. He’d let the woman get near him, but he’d shy away from anybody else. That’s why I named him Shy. He was green as could be, and I didn’t fully realize the implications of that. This was the first horse I’d ever purchased.

The vet situation in the area was precarious. I was told they were itinerant, traveling the area on iffy schedules. One vet even flew a small plane from place to place. This was, of course, an important concern—I couldn’t move the horse until the brand inspection and other requirements were completed. The initial vet who cared for Shy in Denver had been one of those itinerants who had intimate knowledge of the Oak Creek area, and repeated the homey lore of the place with a smile and a wink, including the inbred comment.

Suffice it to say, preparing Shy for transport to Denver was a long-distance nightmare. I relied on the elderly woman to arrange for gelding, and to transport Shy to Craig where I’d hired a trainer to gentle him as much as she could, and coordinate all the State Ag requirements for transport.

“What is my experience with mountain horses?” There you have it. I won’t go further into the Shy saga, but will tell you Shy was a fine horse—he was smart, tough-as-nails, and a gentle soul who captured my heart. Inbred? Hell, I don’t know. And it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference anyway.

I’ve noticed the tribe rarely acknowledges the veracity of non-tribal commentary. That is after all in my experience one of the main components of tribalism.

“I was a boy, and I believed deeply in the sightedness of horses. I believed that there was nothing that they did not witness. I believed that to have a horse between my legs, to extend my pulse and blood and energy to theirs, enhanced my vision. Made of me a seer. I believed them to be the dappled, sorrel, roan, bay, black pupils in the eyes of God.”

‘Where Rivers Change Direction’ – Mark Spragg

Expanding the ORIGINAL idea.......tribes/mountain community. As a 3 generation native AND
having lived in Alaska before it was a state(1955-65) and again in 1999 -2002,THIS is what I have observed.

Before the mass migration of east coasters and west coasters to the front range, it was a "cow town" moniker......(which was a negative connotation back when Mayor Pena was in office). He wanted to change that image and proceeded to do so). Livestock,ranching and farming were
what Colorado WAS. The town was friendly,accommodating and a "good neighbor" vib. We moved up the mountain to Bailey in 1997 (things were starting to "morph" into an Unpleasant
atmosphere.) WINDY POINT was a two lane (OMG what was I thinking of winter driving). What
I observed back then was the mountain community and Alaskans have a independent streak,a
live let live approach to life......BUT if help/aid is needed, there to help out.

Pinecam was one of the first community websites that the mountain people heavily relied on . It;s creation was a blessing back in the day( with the Buffalo Creek Wildfire), your very life and your livestock depended on life saving information.

Fast forward to the Obama era (our first black POTUS) the websites started to morph. becoming vicious and vitriol.......and has continued to Trump.

Unless you are posting something provocative and "push a button" post,there is generally NO
participation. (case in point, the hi/lo game I posted most recently)

I believe isolationism is the real problem (self imposed)......because the nature of the populace is egocentric (you see that in the driving habits,both in the city and the mountain) Wildlife is no longer respected,common courtesy is sadly lacking and common sense is non existent. JMO

Yeah Homeagain. Third generation on my mother’s side, born and raised in Denver, lived there for most of my life, and moved up the mountain four years ago. Coming from that background, I guess it’s no wonder the tribal mentality up the mountain was so starkly evident when I got here.

The ‘cow town’ reference sent me back a ways. I think the real push to shake off the ‘cow town’ image was the Skyline Urban Renewal project approved in 1967 that would eventually raze 27 blocks or 120 acres of lower downtown Denver. It was a time when the high rise was the ultimate definition of modernity. The project went full-speed ahead, and the destruction forever removed a great deal of the city’s history, properties that many now wish had been preserved—the Tabor Grand Opera House, Windsor Hotel, Mining Exchange Building, Central Bank Building, Post Office and Customs House Building, etc.

Interesting to note that the last Republican mayor of Denver was Richard ‘Dick’ Batterton who served from 1959-1963. He is probably best remembered for describing what would become an epic scandal in the Denver Police Department as just “…a few bad apples.” He also was responsible for hiking sales taxes as a means of balancing the city budget, and arguing for the closure of Denver General Hospital. Yes, he served only one term, losing to Tom Currigan. Currigan was followed by Bill McNichols, then Federico Pena, the city’s first Hispanic mayor, then Wellignton Webb, the city’s first black mayor. Seems the last hurrah of the ‘cow town’ image was lorded over by the last hurrah of the Republican party in Denver.

One of my first observations of the tribal mentality up here focused on the apparent self-image of many residents in Park County that harkened back to a kind of wannabe frontiersman lifestyle. Incorporated in that focus was all the components of Manifest Destiny—an individualistic unrestrained tendency to conquer the earth and the earth’s critters because God said it was their divine right to do so. And, anyone who disagreed with their perception of themselves was ipso facto committing snowflakery libtardness.

Notable in your comments was the observation that when Obama (the first black POTUS) was elected you saw a viciousness arise on social media up here that you hadn’t seen before, something that has only continued with Trump. I wasn’t up here when Obama was elected, but was certainly here when Trump came on board. To define that phenomena as racial animus may or may not be a valid conclusion. What is, I believe, a valid conclusion is what you characterized as isolationism. Isolationism is the first cousin to nationalism. Nationalism is essentially tribal—the blind devotion to a geographical space inhabited by folks who reflect your own perceptions of the universe. Patriotism is not nationalism. Patriotism is studied devotion to the essential moral principles upon which a nation is founded regardless of its geography and encompassing all its inhabitants however diverse their perceptions of the universe may be. You know, the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness thing…