Page 10 - Georgia Forestry - Winter2017

POLICY
The
Great
Divide
by Charlie Harper
Increasing understanding between urban and rural residents
The results of the 2016 election cycle will be analyzed for years. There are more questions than
answers, but one safe assumption is that we’ve seen significant realignment. Whether that is permanent or a one- time deal is largely up to what the major parties do.
While many are still trying to put events into the political framework which they understand, one thing that seems clear is that blue-collar voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio no longer feel Democrats represent their economic interests and are willing to give Republicans — or at least Donald Trump — a chance.
Democrats have largely become the party of cities. Solutions are focused on large numbers of people who require interdependence on a daily basis. The rural voter has grown more distant from the Democrats and their solutions.
Here in Georgia, Republicans still rule the roost. And yet, many rural Georgians
question whether their concerns are being and will continue to be addressed as populations shift. Here, it’s more of a function of basic math. The metropolitan area of Atlanta is now roughly 5.5 million Georgians when the widest geographical definition is used. In a state of 10 million people, that’s more than half. Majorities
decide elections, and the majority now lives in Atlanta.
Many of the challenges discussed in Atlanta focus on how to manage growth related to transportation, development, energy and water. However, large swaths of the state are totally unfamiliar with those issues. Farming and forestry communities,
8 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
CHRISTOPHER T. MARTIN