In every country, there are social traditions that provide societal glue. Common among these is folk music, which not only brings countrymen together, but also served as a political tool to help form an identity as a country. Think about what America would be without its long history of racism, folk tunes, and eventually country music. It has changed and influenced the cultural landscape for over a hundred years and helped provide the political climate we find ourselves in today. Having a particular kind of music belonging to your country helps those that listen to it feel stronger and a more cohesive group. It solidifies their way of life as legitimate, and nowadays it even confirms for a lot of people that their way of life is the best way of life and everyone else across the globe lives in an inferior manor. The Internet has only expanded upon this, bringing together the racist from Arkansas with the racist in Arizona. Without this music to bong all the rural folk together, how would they have developed so much convert (and recently not so covert) racism against anyone that doesn’t fit into their 3:30 second ideal view of society.