Cliven had refused to stop grazing cattle on federal land, or to pay grazing fees. Longstanding tensions over Western federal land and deep conflicts between city “elites” and country “non-elites” help explain why some view Cliven Bundy as a folk hero and others see him as a domestic terrorist. Cliven Bundy’s gripes are nothing new. High rates of poverty persist in rural areas, fueling public health crises such as the opioid and suicide epidemics. Urban residents, on the other hand, are more used to obeying rules that limit property freedoms to make city life more livable for all.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 23, 2017 12:01 UTC