The Corona and the College
One thing is certain: City dwellers are fleeing municipal areas and flocking to the countryside. Link, link, and more links.
And presumably bringing cases of Corona with them.
Yeah, it's not cool. I've always been a little bit annoyed with city dwellers who go to the countryside to "get away from it all" and, by coming, bringing "it all" with them: the crowds, the traffic, the noise. My postage stamp of America gets quite a bit of city traffic during the summers, but it's not bad. The increase actually adds to the spice of the area. But in more touristy areas, like northern Michigan? It's awful.
Regardless of your feelings about municipal areas contaminating the countrysides with whatever--cars, cacophony, Corona--you have to admit one thing: It highlights our need for an electoral college instead of a popular vote.
A strong nation needs separate parts and all the parts need to be strong. We need vibrant cities, but we also need vibrant rural areas. We need commercial centers, but we need to feed those centers. We need the creative stimulation of urban living, but we need the relaxing calm of the country.
If the municipal areas can appoint their preferred president every four years, they will reap the benefits of government. Federal dollars will flow almost exclusively to the cities to the detriment of the rural areas, leaving the rural areas weak.
Moreover, it simply wouldn't be right and would be, I believe, illogical. The rural areas are rural because the nation wants them to be rural in order to grow the food that the cities need, to provide the get-aways urbanites want, to be a safety valve when city life gets dangerous. They simply can't be urban if we want to have a vibrant country. It makes no sense to punish them for not being urban (i.e., densely-populated) when we want/need them not to be urban.
The next time you hear calls to eliminate the electoral college, remember the people fleeing Corona, look at a field of corn, go to the countryside and feel the calm. And then slowly raise your middle finger . . .
