Weapons, inflation, war in Ukraine: what do residents of small US cities think about current problems

Denis Cheredov traveled to Pennsylvania and spoke with ordinary residents of this state. What problems do they care about and what do they think about today's country. Discussed inflation, gas prices, President Biden and crime in the US on his youtube channel The Bureau.

Photo: Shutterstock

You can get to Pennsylvania by car from New York in an hour and a half. Pennsylvania is home to 13 million people. Pennsylvania is neither a Democratic nor a Republican state - it is neutral.

How does “real America” live? Pennsylvanians are not New Yorkers or Los Angeles residents. How they feel about inflation, how much they earn, how they feel about the war in Ukraine and President Biden - all this was asked from residents of Pennsylvania, the state of freedom and independence.

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“If you're in Pennsylvania, be careful. Here in the bushes and grass there are police officers hiding, monitoring the speed of cars. I broke the rules here once, they are different from New York, you literally exceeded the speed limit by 5 km and a police car is already following you,” says Denis.

“Driving through the city of Coopersberg, we saw an old cemetery, it is located near the church. People began to be buried here in the mid-19th century. And they still take care of the graves here. Everything here looks American, truly,” says Denis.

He decided to drive deep into Pennsylvania, not even into the capital. And he chose the city of Quakertown, where he talked with local residents, entrepreneurs, pensioners, hard workers and found out what they don’t like in their lives, and whether they have common problems.

“It's a very small town,” said Will Johnson, a veteran police officer who retired after the crash. He does not have his own home, he rents housing. She pays $1200 a month for a three-bedroom apartment.

“I spent half my career as a detective and the other half as a patrol officer,” Will says. — The criminal situation in the United States is very bad. This really upsets me. Politicians don't support the police, but they want them to do what they want. I didn’t like Biden from the beginning, it’s time for him to leave. I didn’t like Trump either, but then I liked him. I liked Cruise, but he didn't make it. I'm for Trump, he'll get my vote if he runs. Although I like Desantis better.”

Will does not advise people to go to work in the police until the situation changes for the better. He says that the struggle for police funding is “just nonsense”, that today you can run into people with whom it is impossible to negotiate.
“Emergency services have their place, but even the police are afraid to go out and people are now taking advantage of it and doing what they want,” he says.

Denis says that there are only two restaurants in this city, this is a very typical small American town.

On the outskirts of the city, we managed to talk with Scott Bosforf, a garbage collector, and his friend Chelsea Long, who works in the park. The couple met recently, fell in love, and now they have five children in their family - all from their first marriages.

“Unfortunately, now the cost of living has increased. For example, I spent $300 on groceries and that only lasts me a couple of weeks,” Scott says. — To be honest, I don’t really follow politics. I'm an undecided voter. That's why I vote for the candidate I like, I don't choose a party. If I believe what the candidate is saying, then he gets my vote.”

“I'm a Republican,” Chelsea says. “I think that everything that has happened with the presidency now and with everything else is great corruption. Especially with gasoline prices. I can barely afford to commute to work. My work is 15 minutes away. I work for a tree growing company. I have to travel back and forth several times a day. Half of my salary goes to gas and the rest to support my three boys.”

“Under Trump, gasoline prices were also high - they were approaching $4 per gallon, maybe a little more. But it was never $5 or $6 for diesel,” Scott says.

“We have a mutual friend who owns his own company. And the price of diesel fuel for it is now simply prohibitive. This is his whole life, this is how he earns money for his family. This situation hurts everyone,” says Chelsea.

Despite all these problems, Chelsea and Scott bought a house. They paid $150 for half a house. Of course, there are a couple more loans, but that's how all Americans live.

Chelsea says she doesn't like watching the news right now because everything is negative and "everything is very sad."

“All you hear about is shooting, something bad. We need a better leader. We need strict gun control regulations, we need to have checks. I'm a Republican. I support gun ownership, but to get a gun there has to be a serious background check,” Chelsea says. “I am in favor of having more guns for school employees.” This will help protect children. And now I’m just afraid for my children.”

The family has legal weapons.

“Unfortunately, our country only unites when something bad happens. When the September 11 terrorist attacks happened, everyone united, everyone was for each other, the whole country. And now everyone is quarreling, either racism or religion. And when tragedy strikes, everyone suddenly comes together,” Scott says.

As for Ukraine, Chelsea thinks that Biden's policy is devoting a lot of resources to help in the war.

“It’s not that I don’t have a heart, it’s not that I don’t care - Ukrainians desperately need help, I’m all for it, but we have problems here. Very serious problems,” she says. — Problems are neglected every day. It feels like social media and many news outlets don't always tell the truth, even in small towns. They are silent about rape, about shootings, about problems in colleges. This is not reported. We have so many problems in America. I want to emphasize that I am not against helping Ukraine, but we have something to take care of here. It's my personal opinion. My heart is still with those who suffer from the war.”

In America, in different states, you can see the flags and symbols of Ukraine. People support her fight. Here, in the outback, it can also be seen.

Denis decided to check gas prices in Pennsylvania: one gallon cost $4,73. A full tank cost him $82,71.
“This is not New York. There I fill up a full tank for $100,” he says.

Denis was very surprised to see a huge cinema with a parking lot and a ticket price of only $11.

A resident of Quakertown, the owner of a shoe store, Ralph Moyer, does not complain about life. His family business is 70 years old.
Business survived the pandemic, so it will survive now.

Ralph says his shoes are from Europe, China, Wisconsin, Minnesota. He has shoes made in the USA. He says the price has gone up slightly due to shipping and material costs.

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“If this pair used to cost $189,99, now it costs $200. It’s made in Texas,” says Ralph, showing off the shoes.
“We even saw a slight increase in revenue in our business. People go to ordinary entrepreneurs to help small businesses. They’re angry at the corporations and what’s going on, but we’re happy that people are coming to us,” he says.

“We help each other here. We are fine. I don’t want to get into politics,” says Ralph. - Although they shoot often. I don't like it, but I don't know how to change it. I don’t know where our country is now and where everything is going. I don’t have a weapon, I don’t need a gun—I’m fine.”

“I wanted to show you that Pennsylvania and its small towns are not New York. The problems may be the same, but the mentality of the people here is different. But these are Americans anyway,” Denis said.

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