Somewheres vs Anywheres

When I taught high school English, I explained to my students how to achieve "style" in their writing. The four methods are: sentence structure, diction, tone, & figures of speech. I also taught them to read critically for bias by identifying these methods. So when I read Aaron Wherry's CBC article entitled "Erin O'Toole and the new Cultural War," I knew by the tone and diction of the first sentence that it would be critical of Erin O'Toole. I found Wherry's opinion interesting but mostly I realized I needed to learn more about politics! I have usually left that up to my husband and his Zoom meetings with members of Parliament and the Ag minister. But this article piqued my curiosity. What were "somewheres" and "anywheres"? That led me to Stephen Harper's book, Right Here, Right Now, and to David Goodhart's book, The Road to Somewhere, and to articles by Ken Boessenkool, Sally Barnes, and Bruce Pardy, professor of Law at Queen's University. Then I wondered where I fit; am I a somewhere or an anywhere? And do I agree with O'Toole that there is a division or with Wherry that O'Toole is creating a divide?

Anywheres are defined as well-educated professionals living in a large city away from where they grew up. They are mobile and internationalist. They usually vote left of centre and are egalitarian with a need to push farther on attitudes of race and gender. They generally believe in cancel culture and are in agreement with the toppling of John A. Macdonald statues. This is a pretty simplistic view but I don't want this blog to be a 10 minute read! So am I an anywhere? Well, I like to think of myself as well-educated. I graduated with a B.Ed. from the U.of A. in 1986 and in 2002 I took 3 post-grad courses from the University of Athbasca on school counselling and attended multiple weekend courses throughout my years of school counselling. My husband graduated with a B.Science from the U.of A. in 1988 on the Dean's Honour List and has constantly taken online business courses and biotech seminars. However, we do not live in a large city away from where we grew up. We live one mile away from where my husband grew up and are the fourth generation to farm this land. Our farm is not mobile so I guess we are out on that one, but we are internationalist as our farm markets depend upon international trade. My husband worked for Bayer for 31 years which is a multi-national company so he understands how events in one country affect Canadians. We do not vote left but we do believe in equality for all races and genders. We do not believe in cancel culture. For a great perspective on the renaming of the Macdonald Hall at Queen's University, read this https://nationalpost.com/opinion/bruce-pardy-in-universities-the-revolution-is-now-complete. For simplicity sake, let's say those are the seven qualities of an anywhere; I guess that I match three of them.

Somewheres are defined as less-educated, have lower income, and live in small towns. They value tradition and security; they vote right-of-centre. This definition frustrates me because it implies that anyone in a small town without a post-secondary degree is not intelligent. I know many people with Master's Degrees that I wouldn't let balance my cheque book! I also know many people with absolutely no post-secondary schooling who run extremely successful businesses that employ many people, including some of the Anywheres! While reading up on these definitions I came across an article by Sean Speer on the Netflix movie, Hillbilly Elegy with Glenn Close and Frieda Pinto, about JD Vance's best-selling memoir. I had just watched the movie the night before so I found the article interesting because it explains why the professional film critics rate it 25% on Rotten Tomatoes while ordinary viewers give it 85%. The theme that Somewheres believe in personal responsibility and learned helplessness irritated the elitist critics as too simplistic. It is a simplistic view but definitely was what encouraged JD Vance to graduate Yale Law School. I do believe in personal responsibility; everyone has choices.Out of the six qualities of a Somewhere, I found myself identifying with four of them.

Wherry's article about O'Toole's cultural war stated,

O'Toole's Conservatives like to say that Canada has become more divided

since Justin Trudeau became prime minister, an argument that rests heavily

on the idea of "Western alienation." But would O'Toole's approach produce

less division — or would it simply anger a different set of people? Should

those whose opinions are more in line with the Anywheres worry that their

priorities would be neglected or attacked under an O'Toole government?(Wherry, Dec.4)

This is the excellent question that started me researching. Is there a division? I believe there is and I believe it has a right to be pointed out, not shamed away. Just after the last federal election in Canada in October of 2019, I expressed my disappointment that we would have another four years of Liberal spending. As I was at a school, this was not a popular sentiment. In fact one of my colleagues put up his hand and said, "I don't want to discuss this." And that is the problem. How can we as a country move forward without open and honest discussion and debate? Our left media does an excellent job of promoting Anywheres' agenda while demonizing the Somewheres' points of view. Wherry wonders if the Anywheres should be worried under an O'Toole government but the mere fact he is not worrying about the Somewheres now is an elitist view telling the Somewheres that how we feel just doesn't matter. We are just not "woke" enough. (I tend to agree with Obama's opinions on "woke cancel culture." He stated, “This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff, You should get over that quickly.” Yes please, get over it!) I don't agree with tearing down historical statues but if I were to post that on social media, the comments would be how I am racist and not woke. And of course these people also have social media posts that state, "Choose Kind Always." I guess they mean "kind to those who think the way they do." I believe there is a division but I'm not sure it is as simple as the Somewheres and Anywheres because as I pointed out, I have ties to both. I have also seen the division between rural and urban. Urban people believe that farmers are poisoning them with pesticides and GMOs and are buying organic because it's "healthier" without any scientific proof to back any of their claims. Many of them have never even been on a farm! During US election week, one of the American stations described the typical Republican or Democrat voter. In true American news fashion it was very dramatic and simplistic. What made my blood boil was a video of a tractor in a field as the narrator described Republican voters as being less educated. Please read my last blog, Just a Farmer, to see how "uneducated" farmers are! What frustrates me the most is that as we rural Somewheres continue to work everyday on our farm or small town energy sector, there are many Anywheres relying on our food and gas to keep them alive, all the while they tell us our opinions don't matter. But again, it's not as simplistic as rural vs urban either. There is a division though, and it is not being created by O'Toole, it is being acknowledged by him.

If I had to categorize myself, I would be a Somewhere with knowledge of internationalism, and an appreciation for some of the contributions Anywheres make towards a more egalitarian society. The division in society does need to be noted and all opinions need to be appreciated. All that Canadians need to do is look south of the border at the election of 2016 to see what happens when the Somewheres get tired of being ignored. We need discussion and understanding of each other's opinions as we navigate our way through the 21st century and especially during this pandemic.