Tompkins County appears so often in this book; because it is so often what affects my life – and because its causes and effects are both ubiquitous and accessible – although “in your face” would probably be a better description.
Tompkins County is important because of its overwhelmingly Progressive government and policy agenda – in a Liberal dominated county – in a Liberal dominated state — it’s the perfect laboratory to study the reality behind their “Vision” – a dictatorship for the benefit of the Elite.
It is uniformly agreed upon by Tompkins County residents – regardless of political affiliation – that their government is corrupt and that here is no meaningful public participation: everything and everyone who does not conform is at risk to be eliminated.
As I quoted last February: “The real tragedy of these small enclaves of marginality and poverty is that people are playing a game of life that has been structured in such a way that they are required to play but prevented from winning.” — Janet Fitchen, Poverty in Rural America
It’s the only playing field left open to rural residents in Tompkins County.