Most of The Discourse in the US about the heartland versus the coasts is dumb, in part because it's coastal elitists who are running this conversation and, proving their own point, not actually including the voices of the forgotten heartland, except the ones which cater to their prejudices. While the discourse is mostly dumb, the issue is less dumb. It shouldn't be about old white guys in diners who aren't comfortable with all the wimmen and gayz and coloreds, it should be about the fact that the local airport can't take you anywhere anymore, and if it does it'll cost you an absurd amount of money. For example.
On a related note, public transit in London is mostly awesome if it is under the thumb of TFL. If it isn't, it's often a disaster. In the rest of the country, public transit is mostly a disaster because none of it is under the thumb of TFL. Privatization for thee, not for me. The rest of the country has reason to be mad and while Brexit is not the answer, it was the answer some savvy people gave to them.
Lessons for our own country are, also, too, obvious.
