Why do many political issues seem to divide along urban and rural lines?
Does the urban and rural generalized mindset highlight an innate desire for complexity and simplicity, respectively?
Does degree of socialization or interpersonal trust play a role?
Could the urban vs rural divide be a manifestation of collectivist and individualist leanings a la East vs West?
Does urbanity shield from harsh realities (fragility of food production, for example) that make ruralites more risk averse?
Maybe it is a natural thing exists in humans because we had a need for it. In most of human history, if there was any small group of people that managed to get their shit together long enough to have some sort of settlement, any change introduced to that group would almost certainly be problematic. New people showing up is bad, a change in the weather is bad, literally anything that disrupts a small part of daily life is bad.
If these people were so dissatisfied with the monotony of living within a small population where fuck all happens, they would not be there. Some people move away from the communities, leaving a group that is just naturally resistant to any sort of change, I suppose.
MMmmm. Social butterflies seek each other out, and the best place to find social butterflies is...the city.
This video might be relevant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs41JrnGaxc
But why are they reluctant to change? You mentioned immigration and jobs but also that it doesn't really affect ruralites. Is there a personality trait or life experience or similar that could explain why people identify with those reasons? Or maybe there is an opposite dissatisfaction which drives urbanites to change and novelty.
I agree about the young/old split. Young people tend to be riskier and more open to change and cities do attract more young people. I don't know if it's enough to explain the urban vs rural divide, if it exists.
Dissatisfaction with the government and career politicians does seem to drive a lot of the "populism" today. It's not unwarranted, but it comes with its own dangers.