If you look at a colored map of election 2016 separated by how states voted, the country looks pretty evenly divided. But if you switch that map to show how counties voted, the United States looks like a sea of red, with blue dots here and there, mostly along the coasts.
It looks like a Republican landslide.
That’s not the case, however, as Hillary Clinton actually won the popular vote by over two million votes. As we all know, she lost due to the Electoral-College system.
Still, this country is now deeply divided along rural and urban lines. And we’re not alone.
On Sunday, as CityMetric notes, Austria narrowly elected independent green candidate Van der Bellen as its new president. Van der Bellen won because his voters came overwhelmingly from the cities. Voters in the countryside were far more in favor of the far-right candidate, Norbert Hofer. England’s Brexit vote fell along similar lines.
The lesson? This is the way of the world now in Western countries: If you’re progressive, there's a good chance you live in a city.