CNN Accidentally Tells the World How It Feels About the Little People
In a recent article, leftist news outlet CNN accidentally let slip how it really feels about blue-collar, working-class Americans in flyover country.
On Monday, CNN published an article that compared the recent horrific train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, to the film “White Noise,” which is a film about a family in Ohio that is forced to flee an “airborne toxic event” similar to the disaster currently unfolding.
The article covers the Ratner family, real-life residents of East Palestine, who were extras in the movie but are now experiencing the events of that film in real life.
The beginning of the piece is rather telling: “When Ben Ratner’s family signed up in 2021 to be extras in the movie ‘White Noise,’ they thought it would be a fun distraction from their day-to-day life in blue-collar East Palestine, Ohio.”
The key phrase there is “they thought it would be a fun distraction from their day-to-day life,” essentially implying that middle America, where these blue-collar workers live, is a desolate, empty place with nothing to do and people constantly looking for a way to escape from the drudgery of everyday life.
Is there any other phrase that better encapsulates the attitude of the coastal elites towards middle America?
First off, it is true that life for blue-collar workers in middle America is not always easy or pleasant. States like Ohio and Michigan are dealing with economic troubles as globalization has resulted in the loss of manufacturing jobs that blue-collar Americans relied on for their livelihood. This has had adverse consequences on the lives of people there.
But it is wrong to say that flyover country is empty and life is meaningless and boring. Anyone who has spent time in rural middle America knows that the opposite is true. Life in small-town America is filled with activities, from church activities, to picnics, to town festivals, to little league and school sports, to fishing and hunting.
It is also full of some of the friendliest and kindest people you will ever meet. Neighbors are always ready to help each other, and charities actually work to better their community. Thus, while the people of middle America may not have much, their lives are full of activities.
Second, the activities of the coastal elites are what seem like real distractions from the monotony of life. Broadway, shopping, gay cabarets, overpriced meals, and elite galas are merely ways for people who live on the coast to escape from the fact that they live soulless lives with no purpose whatsoever.
People in middle America are committed to their families, their churches, and their communities, the coastal elites have none of that, they only exist to focus on their careers.
Now CNN meant absolutely no harm in publishing this article. In fact, the article expresses genuine sympathy and empathy with the people of Ohio who are now suffering from this environmental catastrophe.
It is more likely that they are so steeped in the culture of the big cities and the coastal elites that they genuinely think that there is nothing of value outside of New York, D.C., or California.
They are demonstrating complete ignorance of what life in middle America is actually like, and they see things from the narrow viewpoint of the big cities.
It proves that the coastal elites do not understand middle America, its people, or their needs, and it explains why the people of Ohio have been so quick to give support to politicians like former President Donald Trump or Sen. J.D. Vance.
It also explains why people are turning away from CNN and other news sources. If the media is claiming to speak for the American people, then they need to understand that America is more than just the coasts.
This phrase shows not maliciousness but ignorance: ignorance of a part of the country in which people live very fulfilling and meaningful lives.
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