Actually, Puggs, your question, "What is it about urban centers that seems to make them a breeding ground for this type of masochistic ignorance?", has a very simple answer:

CITIES BREED DEPENDENCY.

Think about it. In a city, you can't grow your own food; it must be provided. Drinking water flows from a tap, from a system that must be maintained on such a scale that one person can't do it. Even self-defense becomes problematic, when there are so many innocent people around who might get caught in the crossfire.

A city requires you to rely on others for the necessities of life, and it also requires you to conform to the dictates of your fellow man even if those dictates seem or are unreasonable. I could write a PhD thesis on the subject, and found a religion if I came up with a solution to the dilemma, but I think you see where I'm going.

Yeah, you're probably right about the why. But you know it get's so tiresome listening to these guys trashing the very system that creates the surplus that feeds their ass's. But Yeah I understand your point.