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The power structures (formal and informal) in towns are stifling. They tend to be fairly unified or homogenous.

Formal (new businesses challenging established players, even indirectly such as competing for talent) and informal (personal and/or political nonconformity) challenges to these power structures are punished mercilessly.

This is less true in cities, because with greater scale (and broader power structures with more players,) small "threats" to the established order can emerge and incubate, or even be nurtured by large competitors (think VC) without being directly crushed.

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Having lived in both, I have found that informal challenges to power structures in cities are much more merciless. Ask any (nonconforming) conservative in nearly any large city, especially on either coast. Or in any online forum dominated by people from such places, for that matter.

On the other hand, people in the small towns and small cities that I have lived in are much more tolerant of the nonconforming aspects of my personal views and lifestyle -- which, ironically, they tend to view as 'liberal,' even though objectively I am much more 'conservative' than they are in most respects.

This new world driven by the constant emphasis on differences rather than on commonalities is exhausting, frankly.

> This new world driven by the constant emphasis on differences rather than on commonalities is exhausting, frankly.

I know this is technically off-topic and I'll likely be down-voted for an "Amen" post. But, Amen.

I seek, and have yet to find, a venue where folks regularly embrace commonalities, much less celebrate them, while together seeking solutions to society's ills from politically-competing perspectives.

isn't that supposed to be how church works?

> This new world driven by the constant emphasis on differences rather than on commonalities is exhausting, frankly.

Where "new" is "pretty much all of human history".

This is absolutely backward. Cities enforce cultural homogeneity _much_ more than small towns. Try being conservative (or even moderate) in NYC or San Francisco.

NYC is home to one of the biggest Hasidic communities in the world. You can hardly get more conservative than that, and they seem to do just fine.

Also, the perceived mainstream culture of a city should not lead you to ignore the presence of ample subcultures within that city that are opposed to it. In those big cities, it might be hard to be a conservative if you still insist on having liberals be the main demographic of your social life, but if you actually seek out those with similar views to network and build community with, then the conservative population of definitely NYC and probably even SF is more than big enough to live your life among.

> they seem to do just fine

A Hasidic community is an identifiable minority group so would receive no criticism, similar to how ultra-conservative Islamic people are given a free pass by progressives and feminists.

> ultra-conservative Islamic people are given a free pass by progressives and feminists.

This is not how the world works; if you are in a group with differing opinions it's a bad strategy to think that everyone who do not share your ideas are colluding against you. Over here ultra-conservative religous people are much more likely to agree on topics, than some strange mismatch of other ideologies.

I also find it strange to state that Hasidic communities receive no criticism, I know nothing about how they live in NYC but based on world events I doubt they live a frictionless life.

> This is not how the world works; if you are in a group with differing opinions it's a bad strategy to think that everyone who do not share your ideas are colluding against you.

This is fine advice, if I personally did that I would certainly take it under consideration.

> I doubt they live a frictionless life

Considering no one leads a frictionless life, you're probably correct. However, you may have noticed that criticizing Jewish people is generally frowned upon moreso than other groups. Or, would you have me believe that all groups are treated mathematically identically by all other groups across all cultures?

I'm sorry, I've must have misinterpreted your post, but it seems unlikely based these short comments, you concentrate on how other groups affect you but seems to miss the reason the people might have for saying or doing certain things, and these ideas seldome represent homogeneous groups. From my perspective you should always take a step back when you think "those OTHER GROUP are so SOMETHING". The long european monotheistic struggle is a sign post of fear, uncertainty and doubt (I'm sure the Islamic conquests also did something similar, re: my comment above).

I'm not sure what part you mean should be mathematically identical it seems like a strange measure for social interaction, too many unknown variables, and too many individuals.

I suspect the problem might be on topics like this, the human mind has a bad habit of becoming impractically pedantic. So, when I write "ultra-conservative Islamic people are given a free pass by progressives and feminists", your mind interprets that (correctly) as an absolute statement, rather than a (correct) generalization.

> I'm not sure what part you mean should be mathematically identical it seems like a strange measure for social interaction, too many unknown variables, and too many individuals.

This was me returning the sentiment of extreme pedantry.

I've seen your meme before and I wondered why this specific connection is popular. Because your statement goes beyond being a generalization it might be acceptable in a closely knit group where everyone know who specifically you are talking about, but know this there are alot of feminists, you might as well be generalizing about drivers. So unless you are aiming for a chuckle from your friends the statement above will get you nowhere.

Your statement is a very radicalized view of reality, in this specific context and worse without context.

NYC? Rush Limbaugh lives there.

No he lives in Florida.

I'm not sure homogeneity would even be in SF, given the ethnic and cultural mix.

I've heard this gripe but seen little evidence of it. The bay area has plenty of Republicans.

> The bay area has plenty of Republicans.

There are even Bay Area towns that are majority Republican (Atherton, Hillsborough). If we are talking San Francisco, look at the recent organized opposition to marijuana dispensaries for evidence of conservative values in action.

> Try being conservative (or even moderate) in NYC

Like Donald Trump? Hell, NYC elected a conservative as mayor (Rudy Giuliani).

Staten Island is notably known to be conservative (having voted for Trump in 2016). And it is in NYC, so...

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