/lit/ - Literature

I'd be interested in a book on the subject, but I don't think there are any. Closest I can think of is Tolstoy's Confessions, since it's about this at heart. Your intuition is sound though.

Its pretty obvious. Its because the city is less of a community than suburbs

>>16937563
How come people prefer city over suburbs, do they just not know what they're missing?

http://trilema.com/2012/anonimity-or-the-urban-versus-rural-dispute/

The city is more competitive, its a high value and higher stake game

>>16937618
Define "high value"

>>16937628
Major urban areas produce more GDP or wealth for a nation. Rural areas tend to produce less. Im trying to think of a case where this isnt true but I cant think of one unless its some sort of giant farm or firm

>>16937480
And yet the people in rural areas vote for the party that believes selfishness is the highest virtue.

>>16937655
HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHA GOTTEM, BRO!

>>16937664
Wasn't trying to gettem. Just making an observation.

>>16937655
>And yet the people in rural areas vote for the party that believes selfishness is the highest virtue.

not true in my country, maybe in America yes

>>16937705
It's a pretty banal observation. Selfishness is just an inherent M.O. in politics -- and it's really not exclusive to any one party.

>>16937649
Warm bodies waging create gdp and cities have larger population, it’s really that simple

>>16937480
But this literally isn't true

>>16937734
Never been on a subway I take it?

>>16937723
Private property isn’t selfish, what’s mine, worked for and earned, is not yours

>but you’re voting against your interests

Again, what’s mine is not yours, I’m voting for freedom from leeches

>>16937723
Maybe, but better a banal observation than a wrong one such as yours.

>>16937574
Hedonism and a childlike mentality. They mistake having hundreds of bars, restaurants, and bright lights for having a good life. Not sure what triggered this. Subversion of some sort, I'd imagine

>>16937759
>Private property isn’t selfish, what’s mine, worked for and earned, is not yours
So, it isn't selfish because me, me, me?

>>16937776
They will brag about things like gdp but then complain how poor they are and need EVERYTHING subsidized, college, healthcare, housing, food, disposable income

We will ignore the fact one or two billionaires per major urban city are the only reason their gdp appears high, because as happened only a few years ago, one(1) moved away and the entire STATE(some northern state, I want to say it was NJ) immediately had a deficit.

>>16937786
You’re the selfish one, you want my labor.

>>16937738
You can't really use the subway as a fair point of comparison, they don't (and can't) exist in rural environments. I think the obvious explanation is that rural people really only deal with their "in-group," and people treat those close to them with more warmth by default

>>16937813
That’s fair

>>16937809
I'm simply pointing out that wanting the fruits of your labour for yourself is selfish in and of itself. Even if I do agree with you, and the point you are making.

>>16937832
>>16937809
And I do NOT want any part of your money, as I have my own

>>16937734
>>16937813
brainlet take

>>16937801
Cities themselves have more capital, even taking billionaires (and millionaires) out of the question. Obviously, having a million people who work for $40k/year means you have more taxes than a place that has twenty thousand people who have the same.

I don't know enough about the topic to go in depth about it. Still rather weird that that state's GDP was so dependent on one guy and his billions

>>16937861
Ok I'm wrong, you convinced me

>>16937866
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2016/05/01/business/one-top-taxpayer-moved-and-new-jersey-shuddered.amp.html

Odd as it may be it’s nothing I fabricated

>>16937898
NJ residents obviously pay taxes but they’re apparently consuming more than they pay if you exclude less than 5 individual people

>>16937880
it just one of those things that filter people out, sorry not sorry. You either get it or never will

>>16937908
Of course on paper it doesn’t look like this because of those billionaires, how many other cities or states are like this? Idk I’ve not researched it either, I’m just conscious of it

>>16937898
>>16937925
This is fascinating. I never disbelieved you, just I was unaware of it. It makes me wonder what's up with the state. A state being that dependent on one person's income tax can't be healthy, especially if they can't foresee (and plan for) something like that happening

>>16937911
>just trust me bro

>>16937480
San feu ni lieu, by Jacques Ellul. No idea if it's translated.

>>16937655
They... don't? I hope you are not projecting a mutt situation at least. Not that it's true in the US (I admit I assume it's a sort of strawman against the US Republican party).

>>16938673
Well apparently it is translated and was even released first in English.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Meaning_of_the_City

>>16937574
It sounds contradictory but many introverts prefer apartments over the suburbs, exactly because it's more socially isolated, no forced community engagement, better services, high speed internet etc. Just overall a better place to be a shut-in

>>16938888
checked
its because you can be a degenerate and whore around without societal consequences

>>16938888
How do shut-ins afford city life? Asking for myself.

In my experience rural areas are just as judgmental and can be crueler since if you fuck up and become isolated there aren’t millions of other people to turn around and introduce yourself to. If you get along with the people though than yes it’s probably better. College towns are probably the best for people on this site since it has access to plenty of fellow midwits to get along with as well as nicer people overall (in my experience) than either cities, suburbs, or rural areas.

>>16938904
engineer, programmers, people working in tech
also students

>>16937480
because cities are full of leftists who are evil and selfish

>>16937480
Cities are a lot more expensive to exist in. Because of this everyone has to make more money to have the same living standards as in rural life. Everything is a lot more competitive, morals and ethics have been bred out of the markets by pure natural selection which resulted in systems wherein everyone fends for themselves, nobody really trusts anyone anymore as money is more important than people, everyone has trust issues, etc.

>>16937480
There are more people who annoy you.

>>16937738
The New York City subway is an infinitely pleasanter and more friendly place than /lit/.

>>16938968
Rural areas are full of righties who are evil and selfish

>>16937480
Real answer is dunbar numbers. The less populated your area the more likely that how you act effects your reputation. In the city you could be an utter piece of shit to someone and if it's not on camera you'd probably get away with it, in suburbs word might get out, in rural areas word will DEFINITELY get out.

>>16939397
this actually makes a lot of sense

>>16937574
They don't "prefer" it. They are born there and lack the skill, support, or wealth to leave it. The vast majority of all humans live in urban areas.

>>16939397
True enough, though in rural areas just one exceptionally malign & skillfully manipulative person can get away with an awful lot of local damage when inserting themselves into a community that is off its guard for all that, or otherwise naive when it comes to how such people operate. (A whole sub-genre of true crime writing & journalism is devoted to that, which is all for the better for people in small towns who don't have an urban or suburban person's direct experience at sizing people up.) A similar principle is at work when it comes to the politically naive in such communities, who are more susceptible to the deceptive practices & techniques of demagogues.

>>16939698
>politically naive in such communities
There are naive people everywhere, this better not be comparative-
>who are more susceptible
Oh.
You can't seriously think that the cities give a single fuck about who they vote for, they are one of the most bought and paid for voting blocs ever.
Maybe there's some room for debate if you're not in America.

>>16939698
There is far more corruption in large cities. Some cities, like Chicago, were literally owned by the Mafia.

>>16937480
It's just due to reduced likelihood that the average person you interact with will have an effect on your life. If you live in a rural town and piss somebody off, everybody will know. You could literally kill a man in NYC and your neighbors likely won't know unless they see you on the news.

ITT: a lot of fucking city people.

>>16939876
rural people are less educated and fewer people have access to technology or grow up to be comfortable on forums, It's not surprising they're not represented here.

>>16939896
>fewer people have access to technology
We're talking about Kentucky, not Somalia.
>grow up to be comfortable on forums
What the fuck does this even mean.
City people are REALLY prejudiced against rural types, in case that wasn't clear by now.

>>16939913
well the fact that rural areas are less educated are factual and there's lots of statistics on it.
As far as technology goes, I'm just going on experience, I spent half a year on exchange living at a rural house with a family in a wealthy and technologically advanced region of the world, they had dial-up internet because not even copper cables were available in the whole town (5k pop) except one street.

>>16939958
>the fact that... are factual
You're not one of the educated ones, kek.
Also your anecdote is too vague to mean anything.

>>16939913
I mean it's true, rural areas haven't culturally adapted to technological advancements as much as cities. You couldn't even really find any programmers living in rural areas for example. Rural areas have a higher ratio of consoles to computers and more often use smartphones to browse websites than cities.

>>16937574
Different personalities and needs. People with higher degrees of neuroticism tend to do well and find the "pace" and bustle of life more suitable in big cities.

There's also arts and culture. Museums, opera houses, ballet, theater, local art installations, community parks, parades and public performances, different places of worship, universities, various other artistic and academic centers, things of this nature. If you live in a European city or good area of an American city, you get to a lot of places on foot and don't have to spend your transit time locked in a motorized couch.

Due to general population and diversity, you're also more likely to find support for niche hobbies/interests and overall just encounter a more diverse representation of life. There's an occult magic shop down the street from me. The other day I gave a homeless man $2 for one of the shirts he had in his shopping cart. I find this variety of life charming and poignant, but that's just me.

>>16939987
Wow, the adapted to smartphones better than city dwellers?
See, I can use data to push a narrative too.
Besides, that's moving the goalpost from saying that rural americans are underrepresented here (if they are) because they can't access the internet.

>>16937655
Hmm

civilization and its discontents by freud

some of john zerzan's writings also talk about this indirectly

>>16937480
Durkhiem Division of Labour in Society.
Mechanical vs Organic Solidarity brudda

>>16937786
Life is merit based you fucking moron. Have you ever considered those you perceive as "selfish" are just truly better than you? If you want to live up to a certain standard, then make it be so. No one is going freely to give to you steadfast principles; that is only achieved by assiduous attention to self improvement through innumerable failures during life. The same applies to material goods. Why should you expect anything from anyone else?

>>16937655
Selfishness and in-group preference is not the same thing tranny

>>16937480
do you really need a book to figure that out?

>>16939896
They're not "less educated" than you, they simply have an education on different subjects and ways of life than you.
They certainly are less egotistical than you, though.

>>16939987
Jesus christ. I'm literally a compsec graduate from the deep, redneck backwoods of Maine. I've seen the news stories you're talking about. Rural people are not somehow less educated than city people, they just get educated in different things.

>>16939987
>rural areas haven't culturally adapted to technological advancements as much as cities

Holy fuck.

>desert dwelling people haven't culturally adapted to water travel advancements as much as coastal dwelling people

>>16937759
Dude, property is literally the basis of political liberalism.

>>16940325
To claim a person is just their accomplishments leads to people being unsatisfied. To compare different groups or whatever is categorically nonsensical from a non-liberal perspective. Blacks and whites/men and women/etc are different and not "better" or "worse". When blacks or women lose to white men constantly either there's a conspiracy or liberalism isn't a viable political project and by giving people false hopes you've led to your own political destruction.

>>16937480
I think it's because they are afraid anybody could scam, mug, harass them. Those type of people are rarer in small cities or in the country.

>>16939249
This. Immigration doesn't help.

i might need to re-read Catcher in the Rye, but that's what came to mind first

>>16937480
It takes less energy to be kind to less people. not rocket science

>>16937480
Urbanism as a Way of Life

>>16937480
The Metropolis and Mental Life by one of the founding fathers of classical sociology, Georg Simmel

>>16937480
Your picture literally answers your question.

>>16938904
I am a coder. I dont remember when I left the house.

>>16937574
It’s actually easier to be an introvert in a major city. I moved to a rural community for peace and solitude and now I spend all my time at community meetings, cookouts, church events, little league, hunting and fishing excursions, etc. It was a mistake moving out here, in spite of the nature and fresh air.

Tribe by Sebastian Junger is similar but not exactly what you're looking for. Quick and easy read though.

>>16937837
The reason you're arguing with that anon is because you believe that self interest is bad in the way the other anon is representing it

>>16937480
The City in History by Mumford

>>16937480
The Limits of Human Scale

Because of Africans.

>>16941906
>compsec

>>16937759
>>16937809
Selfish isn't a bad thing in the first place skipper

Humans are mostly obstacles to you in a city. Last few apt buildings I lived in I couldnt name a single person in it and my friends cant name anyone in their buildings either. Its kind of sad