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Lots of people bash the Midwest and I would like to know all your thoughts on what would happen to the United States and world if suddenly the Midwest disappeared? Midwest as defined the Dakota's, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Many people view this area as fly over country. What happens when so called fly over country is gone?
Chicago area has a ton of things headquartered in it and a lot going on and Minneapolis area has a number of well known/fortune 500 companies centered in it too. Detroit for the auto industry and once big time the music industry.
I mean, the NE beats the Midwest and probably the Bay Area too nowadays, but I think people would be shocked to learn just how much the midwest has. Even outside of areas like Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis...there's still random stuff going on and headquartered in areas that have an impact on the world (Yes, Caterpillar and John Deere, for example, is actually heavily used around the world, not just the US or midwest)
For one thing, it's called the breadbasket for a reason. The agricultural importance of the Midwest is absolutely vital to the nation (and to a lesser extent, the rest of the world). California does help share the load, but it doesn't produce NEARLY as much as its residents say it does (yes it's a fairly big producer of potatoes, corn, wheat, dairy, beef, etc but it skirts the bottom of the top ten instead of being #1). On top of that, there's the automotive, insurance, and telecommunication industries and the Midwest is a leader in public education (only the Northeast has public elementary, middle, and high schools that are in the same ballpark as the Midwest, most Western and Southern schools are woefully behind - it sort of evens out when it comes to college, however). Finally, while not exactly a tourist mecca, it is a prime ground for sportsmen - some of the best hunting and fishing in the world can be found in the Midwest.
To make a long story short, it's not as hip or exciting as the other major regions of the country, but it's an extremely valuable asset to our nation's welfare.
Seriously though, the Midwest is important. If the Midwest were to just disappear, food prices would jump through the roof. We also can't forget all of the East Coast and West Coast kids that come here to party at their favorite Big Ten schools for college. The country would be deprived of many of the best small towns that turn into binge drinking hubs for 8 months of the year.
Contrary to some people's perceptions, much of the midwest is actually a substantially populated part of the United States. It has a total population of 67.3 million.
Ohio is more densely populated than California. Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin are also more densely populated than Texas or Washington state.
Total GDP of the midwest? $3 trillion, or about 19% of the U.S. economy.
Historically much more important, but still a very important region today. I'm not sure how the Midwest would up and disappear, so it's pretty hard to answer this.
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