For decades, the American Right has been dominated by the image of the rural conservative — the pickup-driving, small-town patriot with deep roots in red-state soil. You can't help but love this guy.
And I certainly do. But there’s a new archetype emerging on the New Right: the citycon — the disaffected conservative trapped behind enemy lines in a blue-state metropolis. And when it comes to law and order, mass immigration, and crime, the citycon is often more radical than his rural cousin. The ruralcon typically lives in a place where crime is relatively low, immigration is minimal (though this is changing rapidly), and the local sheriff probably knows his name. Problems are abstract, filtered through national headlines.
The ruralcon votes Republican, supports the police, and waves the flag — but daily life reinforces the idea that America is still salvageable without drastic change. The citycon lives in another reality entirely. He has seen the tent cities, the open-air drug markets, the unchecked shoplifting, and the revolving-door justice system. He has watched as waves of illegal immigration and Section 8 hordes transform entire neighborhoods in real time — not in theory.
He’s dealt with DA’s offices that won’t prosecute violent offenders, police departments demoralized and defunded, and local media gaslighting him about what his own eyes see. For the citycon, this isn’t a debate about “policy.” It’s about survival. He knows the system is not just broken — it’s hostile. And that lived experience breeds a harder edge: harsher penalties for criminals, zero tolerance for illegal entry, and a willingness to challenge sacred cows about policing and public order.
It is no accident that the MAGA Movement was born on a golden escalator on 5th Avenue by a New York City billionaire.
The ruralcon defends an America that still exists in his county. The citycon fights for an America that has already been stolen in his zip code.
And I certainly do. But there’s a new archetype emerging on the New Right: the citycon — the disaffected conservative trapped behind enemy lines in a blue-state metropolis. And when it comes to law and order, mass immigration, and crime, the citycon is often more radical than his rural cousin. The ruralcon typically lives in a place where crime is relatively low, immigration is minimal (though this is changing rapidly), and the local sheriff probably knows his name. Problems are abstract, filtered through national headlines.
The ruralcon votes Republican, supports the police, and waves the flag — but daily life reinforces the idea that America is still salvageable without drastic change. The citycon lives in another reality entirely. He has seen the tent cities, the open-air drug markets, the unchecked shoplifting, and the revolving-door justice system. He has watched as waves of illegal immigration and Section 8 hordes transform entire neighborhoods in real time — not in theory.
He’s dealt with DA’s offices that won’t prosecute violent offenders, police departments demoralized and defunded, and local media gaslighting him about what his own eyes see. For the citycon, this isn’t a debate about “policy.” It’s about survival. He knows the system is not just broken — it’s hostile. And that lived experience breeds a harder edge: harsher penalties for criminals, zero tolerance for illegal entry, and a willingness to challenge sacred cows about policing and public order.
It is no accident that the MAGA Movement was born on a golden escalator on 5th Avenue by a New York City billionaire.
The ruralcon defends an America that still exists in his county. The citycon fights for an America that has already been stolen in his zip code.
