It seems to me that extreme environments breed (or attract) extreme kinds of folks.
But, as an immediate argument against that, it doesn’t appear that Innuits were that conservative based upon Western European standards. Perhaps they were by their own standards.
Maybe it a result of the intersect between patriarchy and extreme environments.
That would explain radical Islam.
But not the Deep South. Except maybe before the advent of AC.
Hmmmmm…
This isn’t the best example of ND on the whole though, Devil’s Lake is tiny compared to Bismarck, Fargo, G.F., or Minot. Even Dickinson.
I was born and raised in Bismarck until I moved to Vegas in 2005; I’m 30 now. Granted, ND has it’s share of religious and right wing extremists, but it’s not the rule among the 30 and under crowd.
The small towns are disappearing and people are moving on, no question. The ones who are still there are much more moderate though that who you’re referring to Dio. Given that the populations of most small towns were, and are, in the 200-500 range; religion is what brought everyone to a common ground.
The same goes for politics. There are many right leaning people there, but it’s not everyone. Nor is everyone a gun nut. Most people would fall more into a Libertarian bent; my old man just doesn’t like the government and would rather be left alone by them.
The key thing is he dislikes both sides equally. As do many people there.
Meth is bad, but it’s more Oxy and prescription stuff these days. A lot of people think the drugs are running through the state more frequently now and there’s certainly been a spike in violence as of late.
As for the winters, it’s fucking cold and it’s always been the length of that cold that got to me. I’d rather have that than Mojave heat at any rate.
I dunno on that one. I’m from Saskatchewan, mentioned up-thread as basically Northern ND, and for the most part, we don’t really fit into the right-wing mold. Socialism still has a strong presence here - health care, unions, co-ops. There’s a dislike of gun control, but it’s more because no one wants to go through the licensing process if all they have is one rifle to shoot the coyotes going after the livestock. We’re still kind of backwards in some regards socially. A lot of people would think it was gross to see a same-sex couple kissing on the street, but there isn’t an active anti-gay sentiment or anything.
Teddy Roosevelt loved North Dakota.
Yeah, Saskatchewan was the cradle of Canadian socialism. Tommy Douglas, public health insurance, co-ops, unions, the Wheat Pool, the Regina Manifesto… sharp contrast to Alberta next door.
I’ve always suspected that this was at its roots due to a farmer/rancher cultural split: Saskatchewan being based on farmers having to work together to survive versus Alberta being based on independently-minded ranchers.
North Dakota’s unemployment rate is so low because who would stay in North Dakota if they weren’t being paid?