Great Divide: Retro vs. Metro America

by John Sperling, Suzanne Wiggans Helburn, Samuel George

Book Overview

This book reframes the "red state"/"blue state" debate as "retro America" -- the South, the Plains states, the Mountain West, and Appalachia -- vs. "metro America," composed of the populous states on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0976062100
• ISBN13: 9780976062103
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 3.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 9.1" x 12.1"

Customer Reviews

retros and metros are great new names ...

For more than two years I have walked into malls where people just stroll around but don't buy. It also seems that pretty much 80% of stores have a sale going on 360 days per year. Clearly, people have less money. Sperling does a great job telling us why people are poorer. As for Sperling's analysis about black voters: Last Friday I had some business at a school. I was able to give an Afro-American teacher some totally unrelated information that would help her save some money. She thanked me three times and then said ".You know, ... we are poor people". A teacher who has taught more than a decade should not have to say that. Yes, Sperling's book lists the data a bit more intellectual, but then again, taking a closer look at facts requires an intellectual approach. For the one who really cares, the data collection is as impressive as interesting. Last but not least, particularly enjoyed Sperling's naming of groups as "retros" and "metros". It is refreshing that somebody found new names to describe more or less obvious groups. I am more than tired of hearing the word "liberal" pronounced with an undertone which accompanied the word "Jew" during the third reich. "Liberals" used to be a better word, something that suggested the spirit for what we are allegedly trying to do in Iraq. Since obviously the word has become a swear-word "retros" and "metros" works for me.

Just let the retros "speek" for themselves

Take a look at the atrociously spelled, grammatically incorrect reviews below mine if you want proof of the educationally challenged "retros". I am actually from Texas myself originally, a state whose populace has the potential to see the errors of its ways before it's too late. I would urge anyone who remains confused about the upcoming election to at least go to the authors' website (www.retrovsmetro.org) and download any section of the book that interests you. I think it's fantastic that they have made the data in this book available free to anyone who wants it. If you want to remain ignorant, then that's your choice. Personally, I like to cast an informed vote.

Red State Wisconsin proves the point

The earlier review by red state wisconsin proves the point of Sperling's book completely. The review is full of misdirection and fact bending, relying on red herrings to lead readers from the truth. So I will break it down: 1. "Retro Americans" are for class seperation. In the sense that all your Republican leaders are filthy rich and fight for the rich, while many of your Democrat leaders are filthy rich and fight for the poor. See: Edward Kennedy, John Edwards, John Kerry. 2. As for the black churches comment, that is irrelevant. The only relevant statistic is that Bush got 8% of the black vote in 2000, and is expected to get even less in 2004. 8% is the lowest ANYONE has ever received from the black population since black people were able to vote. Obviously, blacks do not believe Bush is acting in their best interests, even if the churches agree with 5% of the Republican platform. Rod Paige may be a great guy, and Jesse Jackson may be the devil, but that doesn't explain why Bush/Cheney has such a low amount of black support. His divisive and racist policies do. 3. Bush has not spent more in 4 years than Clinton spent in 8. That is an obvious falsehood. That would mean that Bush has doubled education spending (4 is half of 8) while simultaneously going to war and cutting taxes. And you think the deficit we have now is bad....that one would be in the trillions. No Child Left Behind PROMISED to spend on education and it has been intentionally underfunded. Google this if you don't believe it, the New York Times has published this among other major newspapers. 4. "jus in bello" and "jus ad bellum?" What he's referring to is the law in war and laws on the use of force and prevention of war. This is just silly. Exactly what kinds of "questions" are the Republicans asking? Abu Ghraib should alert even the most stringent "retros" that the Bush administration is only asking these kinds of questions as a way to get out of them. Using fancy words (which sounds very elitist by the way) will not help you escape the fact that this war has been both inhumane and illegal. It has been admitted by all except those few who cannot stand to let the dream of empire die that the war was based on a false premise and if the questions of "jus in bello" and "jus ad bellum" had been asked from the beginning, we would not be there. In short, red-state-wisconsin's review has more holes than the famous swiss cheese from his/her state (but i'll betcha a million it's a "him") and as I sit here in Texas, where I have had to deal with Governor Bush ruining our state before he did the same to the country, I can't help but marvel at the uncanny way that "retros" insist they aren't deceptive to the highest levels, and how twisted their value system has apparently become.

A political analysis like no other

The Great Divide looks like a coffee table art book and is structured like a political science text book, but it is deceptively accessible and very intelligent. What the authors have successfully done is formulate a path for the Democrats to follow that takes them away from the tired old liberal vs. conservative mantra that no one takes seriously any more except the rabid right. They also make a fairly convincing case that centrism, to the extent it means trying to make the party equally palatable both to gun-toting white men in rural America and dispirited single moms in the cities and suburbs, simply doesn't work. Sperling and Co. suggest a more pragmatic course, which is a program of recognizing and speaking to the real life needs of ordinary people in urban-suburban states that make up two-third of the population and can, therefore, be a reliable base that out-guns the Republicans Retro state base. It's not a screed like the Al Franken and Michael Moore books, although like them Sperling wants the Democrats to win and Bush and the Republicans to lose. But this book also is about making the US a more prosperous and economically secure country for everyone. Read it.

Deep and informative

This book not only shows the depth of information John Sperling has collected on the Great Divide on many levels (social, political, economical, cultural, religious, etc.), but it's presented in a fashion that anyone can understand. Even if you don't read the book, you can still get all you need from it by studying the maps and other visual elements. America is divided right down the middle and here's why and how to fix it.