美国国家公共电台 NPR Leaving Urban Areas For The Political Homogeneity Of Rural Towns

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

We knew there were political divisions in this country between urban and rural areas, but last year's election showed us just how stark¹ those differences are. And one trend we're following - people of similar political stripes are in some cases seeking each other out. Northern Idaho, for example, is becoming a beacon² for conservative transplants from California. Here's NPR's Kirk Siegler.

ADRIEN KOCH: We have dogs. Thank goodness they're in there, and they didn't bark.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE³: Adrien Koch retired⁴ last summer from her job with FEMA in the Bay Area. After vacationing in the wooded mountains of north Idaho, she and her husband fell in love, and they moved here a few months later. It reminds cook of the California she knew in the '70s.

KOCH: It's kind of like a better time that's gone by, yeah. It's a much slower pace.

SIEGLER: Koch is 62 with graying blonde hair. She's sitting on the couch in her Spartan⁵ living room. The house she bought in this quiet cul-de-sac is twice as big and half as expensive as the one she had in California, but that's only one reason why she left.

KOCH: I did not feel safe.

SIEGLER: Why is that?

KOCH: Because of the crime. The crime has escalated⁶. And the element that has moved out of San Francisco and moving farther and farther out so the farther out you go, yes, it's less expensive, but it's also more dangerous.

SIEGLER: Koch instantly felt at home in small town Idaho. She says there are a lot of like-minded Christians⁷. And as she's gotten older, to her surprise, she's become more conservative.

KOCH: I've always been fearful of guns. However, I'm open now to learning. And the gun stores and gun clubs here in Coeur d'Alene are very warm and welcoming. They're very helpful.

SIEGLER: Cook was also struck by just how many expat Californians are here. They're everywhere - the gun shop owners, the retirees at the golf resorts. They hold seats on school boards and in local government.

KOCH: I immediately tell people, especially if they're not from California, I am not one of those people who want to change Idaho. I love it the way it is. That's why we're here.

SIEGLER: But North Idaho, at least, has changed. It wasn't always so staunchly conservative. A lot of people I talked to traced this shift back to the early '90s. That was around the time of the deadly earthquakes in California. There was a lot of racial tension after the Rodney King beating, and out migration⁸ to states like Idaho really picked up.

North Idaho's population has since doubled. And even as late as 2015, the census⁹ shows that more than a quarter of all new residents moving to the state still came from California. In the town of Post Falls, I met C.J. Buck¹⁰, the owner of Buck Knives.

C.J. BUCK: So this is our manufacturing facility.

SIEGLER: They make heavy-duty hunting knives, the kind you might gut¹¹ an elk¹² with.

BUCK: We just picked up and moved. We brought about 60 people with us.

SIEGLER: They left Southern California a few years back because he says the cost of doing business there got too high. He entertained an enticing¹³ tax incentive¹⁴ package from Portland, Ore., but they settled on Idaho.

BUCK: We looked at Idaho as not having a major metropolitan¹⁵ area. That would mean as a state we would stay truer to those rural understandings.

SIEGLER: What he's saying is that there's no major city like Portland or Los Angeles that would swing Idaho's politics to the left, especially when it comes to minimum wage increases.

BUCK: The beauty of Idaho is you just never lose connection. It's the people who need the jobs are the ones voting on the issues.

SIEGLER: Now, that rural vote Buck is talking about played a big role in the surprise election of Donald Trump¹⁶. And if you think about the Electoral College just for a minute, it's weighed disproportionately to rural red states like Idaho. So conservative folks like Buck, if they move up to Idaho their vote has nearly twice as much impact as it did in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Are you ready now?

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: OK. Welcome.

SIEGLER: One frigid¹⁷ night I ducked into a restaurant next to the resorts that were built recently along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Here is the monthly meeting of North Idaho's Progressive Diners. The people in this small crowd half joked that I was looking at the only Democrats¹⁹ left in Kootenai County. Eighty-year-old Mary Lou Reed was the last one to represent this area in the state legislature. She was ousted²⁰ in 1994.

MARY LOU REED: Well, the economy changed enormously. The lumber²¹ mills are all gone. The mines are shuttered down. We do not have labor²² unions that are active.

SIEGLER: Reid also moved up here from California, but in 1956. And she recalls how North Idaho was once the country's top silver producer, and union Democrats ruled up until the late '80s. Now this county doesn't have a single Democrat¹⁸ in office. Reed says the thing that no one's talking about out in the open with all these changes is white flight out of California.

REED: We're very, very white up here.

SIEGLER: Kootenai County is 95 percent white, compared to much of Southern California today, say, where whites are now in the minority.

REED: People who move here from Southern California will never overtly²³ say that they are racist²⁴. They'll just say we left Southern California 'cause the crime was getting to be so awful.

SIEGLER: She insists that race plays a part in some people's decisions to move up here.

REED: No question. The white flight is to flee from a multi-racial situation into one in which everybody looks the same. It's very dull.

SIEGLER: This is definitely an uncomfortable subject. Some of the transplants I met didn't really want to talk about race as a reason why they did or didn't move here. And others told me it just didn't have anything to do with it. Race and politics, it's complicated in North Idaho just like anywhere else.

ANNA OROPEZA: We don't got much time left, so.

SIEGLER: I met Anna and Luis Oropeza in their modest home in one of the new subdivisions sprouting²⁵ up in the pine forests on the western edge of Coeur d'Alene.

A. OROPEZA: Looking at houses it's the first thing, I'm like, oh, there's another Californian moving to the neighborhood.

SIEGLER: The Oropezas relocated last year from California. For Anna it was like coming home. She grew up here. Her parents moved her up from Orange County in the early '90s. When they decided²⁶ to move they were a little apprehensive²⁷ at first. Anna is white and Lewis is Hispanic. They're raising two African-American foster kids, and one who is Latina.

LUIS OROPEZA: When I first moved up here I heard people were like, oh, you're going to get, you know, the eye or whatever, but it's never happened to me. People are just as nice as can be.

SIEGLER: The couple thinks this is a safer place to raise their kids. And they like the politics, too. Luis says Idaho is more live and let live.

L. OROPEZA: You know, the laws are just way too strict compared to up here. You know, here you can actually practice your amendments²⁸. Down there, you get really restricted. You know, and it's - a lot of people like the freedom.

SIEGLER: A gun owner, Luis says that even he was surprised when he first walked into a store here and saw someone openly carrying and it was no big deal. In California, he says, someone would call the cops right away. Kirk Siegler, NPR News, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

1 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

2 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

6 escalated   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The fighting escalated into a full-scale war. 这场交战逐步扩大为全面战争。
• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

9 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

10 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

11 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

12 elk   

n.麋鹿

参考例句：

• I was close enough to the elk to hear its labored breathing.我离那头麋鹿非常近，能听见它吃力的呼吸声。
• The refuge contains the largest wintering population of elk in the world.这座庇护所有着世界上数量最大的冬季麋鹿群。

13 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

14 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

15 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

16 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

17 frigid   

adj.寒冷的，凛冽的；冷淡的；拘禁的

参考例句：

• The water was too frigid to allow him to remain submerged for long.水冰冷彻骨，他在下面呆不了太长时间。
• She returned his smile with a frigid glance.对他的微笑她报以冷冷的一瞥。

18 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

19 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

21 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

22 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

23 overtly   

ad.公开地

参考例句：

• There were some overtly erotic scenes in the film. 影片中有一些公开色情场面。
• Nietzsche rejected God's law and wrote some overtly blasphemous things. 尼采拒绝上帝的律法，并且写了一些渎神的作品。

24 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

25 sprouting   

v.发芽( sprout的现在分词 )；抽芽；出现；（使）涌现出

参考例句：

• new leaves sprouting from the trees 树上长出的新叶
• They were putting fresh earth around sprouting potato stalks. 他们在往绽出新芽的土豆秧周围培新土。 来自名作英译部分

26 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

27 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

28 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。