[rhombus]

I am not going to knock ‘Yankees’ per se, as a very great many of them are splendid people, but I cheerfully and utterly reject their culture, which itself is no monolith.

Since you're doing your best to be open minded, how about this? As a country mouse you reject the culture of city mouse. Isn't that more appropriate than to say there's a "yankee" culture you reject? Heck, have you visited down town Atlanta lately. I'd hardly call that Southern or Northern culture and I'd expect you'd be more at home in some of the very rural parts of the North than some of the urban areas of today's South. I've lived in both the North and the South... give me that country living any day.

[ExTxMarine]

As a country mouse you reject the culture of city mouse.

I concur that this is a more accurate comparison. One of my best friends is from Ipsilani, Michigan, and he has the same conservative beliefs as most of us on this blog! And yet my own daughter, bless her heart, moved to Arlington and became a died in the wool, liberal idiot! I mean, even her own sisters ask me, "What house did she grow-up in?" But, as far as conservative versus liberal, it is much more of a country versus city thought process!

[Psalm 144]

Your country mouse and city mouse comparison -is- central, and is a large part of the picture, but it is not the entirety.

An agrarian affinity is a major part of the mix but does not cover all. I do indeed find much of the Midwest, the Southwest and some of the northern mountain and prairie states to be very congenial, pleasant places. There are however other perspectives regarding history, religion, the individual, family and community which make these areas very different, and they are not home. For me, they never could be home, although they are nice places to visit and I do like most of the people very much.

I heartily agree with you with respect to areas like Atlanta. Those are no longer culturally southern any more than Miami is.