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1. bland, boring landscape (with the execeptions noted elsewhere in this thread)
2. dying industrial cities w. poor job opportunities (AKA "rust belt")
3. socio-cultural conformity and conservatism of small towns and rural life (cf Winesburg Ohio, Main Street, Spoon River Anthology)
4. did I say boring.
I was thinking about this thread after I finished watching Badlands, which is the movie about the original spree killer, Charles Starkweather. Today, in fact, the last 20 or so years, there has been an ever increasing or pervasive 'glamour' factor that has made its way into mainstream American culture. Star worshipping, etc, fawning at the altar of celebrity. In that vein, I think the midwest produces a murderous disappointment which in turn, often turns into murderous resentment (ala Starkweather, Tim McVeigh, etc). The disappointment and ultimate resentment stems from what I believe is a lack of glamour in the regon and the associated culture. After all, if the American mass media promises us anything, it is glamour. Everywhere, everyday we look, we see it, on TV screens, on our home computers, billboards, it' everywhere. Glamour has become part of the American promise, but it's hard to scare up much of it in the midwest. Kids and adults that live in this region, though, like every other region, only have to turn on the TV, read a magazine, and see people in other places wearing better clothes than they wear, eating more interesting food than they eat, and having a better time than what they are having. Kids in the midwest might only gain modest exposure to glamour if they were to foray into some of the regional cities, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapolis, etc. In some, this lack of glamour festers. Flash back to Starkweather. After he was captured, he was asked why he did what he did. He had this to say: "I've never been in a high class restaurant before. I've never seen the NY Yankees play. I've never been to Los Angeles".
There, in a sense, you have it. A longing for prettier things, prettier places, prettier people. The glamour of Park Ave, Rodeo Drive, Spago, is as remote to a lot of midwestern people as Camelot or Troy. What do boys do when another family farm is lost? You turn to other blue collar pursuits, perhaps, fixing cars or engines, working in a feed store, etc. Unless one has enough scholastic or athletic ability to get scholarships and leave, that is the reality for many.
This is at once the dumbest and funniest post I've seen on this forum in history.
I think somebody should inform Mike that there are rural areas all over the country and he's talking out of his ass. Only data and stats and actual facts matter to thinking people who live in a world where logic prevails over an overly-fertile imagination no doubt fueled by an overwhelmingly abundant life that must come from living in a land of such unbearable coolness, glitz and endless opportunities that brains cannot help but spontaneously explode from over-stimulation..
Criminals with guns rob convenience stores all over the US, but in California, race-based gangs openly take out each other in broad daylight with guns. Lol. That state also attracts disgruntled former cops who go about shooting kids of his former colleagues and even go on the run hijacking automobiles and eventually had to be taken out by the cops when he hid out in a house! Chris Dorner anyone? Barely months later, John Zawahri. http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun...a-gun-20130613
As for the glamour thing, that's the reason why most of the people who love the Midwest love it. I find that if all the regions were people, the Midwest is most like me. That's why I'm drawn to it.
The Midwest is comfortable in its own skin. It knows in what ways it is awesome, and knows what it offers, and it's sure enough of that, that it doesn't feel the need to holler and announce it to everybody like some desperate wannabe. It knows other people have great awesome things too, and doesn't feel the need to bash other people or over-compensate for its deep-seated insecurities by developing some unauthentic, contrived snobbery that's seen through by everybody else in a second.
The insecure kids who are actually affected by the garbage on TV you described do move out. Most stay after college because the Midwest raises them to be better. And then the Midwest receives inbound migration from the Northeast and West Coast as well. Don't give me **** like it doesn't exist. It does, there are living breathing examples in this forum.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/censr-7.pdf
As far as figures go, only net migration counts and guess what, the only region that has seen net inmigration is the South, a gain of 20.2 people for every 1000 people. The Northeast, West and Midwest all reported net outmigration and the Northeast has the worst figures, with net outmigration of 25.5 for each 1,000 residents in 1995. In the Midwest, the net outmigration rate during the same period was much lower, at 9.1. Although the second-highest level of inmigration was in the West, at 2.7 million people, this figure was balanced by an almost equivalent number of outmigrants, creating a net inmigration rate for the West of just 0.2.
Enjoy the West Coast crazies, and...looks like your "glamour" of Park Avenue and NY Yankees isn't enough to keep Northeasterners from FLEEING the place.
Last edited by sadgirl80; 08-24-2013 at 02:30 PM..
Only numbers are objective. All the rest is just jibber-jabber.
A better thread to start is:
Why are people FLEEING the Northeast? 2.8 million left the Northeast and within that period 1.5 million moved there, let's not forget like so many have pointed out, the Northeast has most of the best universities in the country. Many of this 1.5 million consist of foreign students there for the short term, who no doubt leave the country after completing their studies or move to another region of the US to work. The net outmigration is weird. Both domestic and international college enrollment has been climbing upwards, in one direction. There are more rich international students from Asia who come to the United States for their college education now than ever.
2.6 million people went to the West (compared to 2.4 million for the Midwest, not too shabby since the West has a population of 6 million more people anyway), ohhh..but I think most of the 2.6 million people recorded moving to the West are Mexican illegals to CA alone.
What is going on? This blows our minds. What about the beautiful mountains, gorgeous non flat land, mind blowing cultural amenities, the great lifestyle, oh living so close to Vegas and San Diego..don't get me wondering about the glitz and glamour of Hollywood too, as said by so many here. And what about your wonderful weather???
Last edited by sadgirl80; 08-24-2013 at 02:45 PM..
I'm a Midwest native, from the state of Missouri. You can't get anymore Midwestern than Missouri. I love my hometown but I would never move back there.
Racism is the worst in the Midwest. People stereotype racism with the south, but it's far worse in the Midwest.
Midwest lacks a lot of industry. Many major Midwest cities were manfacturing towns. With most manufacturing jobs gone, most Midwest towns don't have a lot of jobs. There are some professional class jobs but they are limited. Very few startups come from the Midwest.
The Midwest is cold. Some of the harshest winters in the country.
The Midwest isn't very scenic, but honestly taking the bus from Seattle to the Bay Area didn't have a lot of scenary either until we passed Mt. Shasta. Washington state is very green with a ton of trees but it gets boring after awhile. Oregon looks like any Midwest state. Cali is desolate until you get to central valley.
Crime is terrible in the Midwest. From St. Louis, Kansas City, Gary, Flint, Detroit, etc, the crime is horrible. Allcities have made their rounds in top 10 murder capital cities plenty of times in the past 20 years. Midwest cities make up some of the highest murder rates in the country.
People in the midwest are provincial. If I wasn't born in the midwest I would hate it. As much as I complained about Seattle being that way, I know for a fact the midwest is far far worse on that regard.
Poverty is the worst in the Midwest. Ghettos in other regions aren't close to being as run down as you'd find in the midwest.
Midwest cities are dangerous. I mentioned crime, which is bad in cities in other regions. But midwest core issue are mind blowing murder statistics. Even outside of Chicago the midwest is just dangerous. Period. Sure property crimes or drug crimes are issues. But a city is truly and legimimately dangerous when you talk about murder.
There aren't really a lot of gangs in the midwest. Crimes are actually committed by desperate people. People blame crime in gangs, but it's really desperate people who murder others. Midwest breeds desperate people.
All in all, the midwest sucks. People mentalities are hopeless there. There are a lot of people on the midwest who aren't well travelled either, leading massive disenfranchisement. The class and race seperation is hands down the worst I've ever seen anywhere. Ovwr the years I had to unprogram myself to the midwest way of thinking.
I love my hometown but there is a reason I don't live there anymore. And haven't moved back.
Other regions tend to respond to criticism in a not so childish manner. In the midwest (doesn't matter how big the city is), it's often taken as a personal insult, for the most part. There is a heightened sensitivity in the midwest, and this does vary by city as well. The mid-sized cities in the midwest might as well be modern villages.
A lot of this has to do with the fact that most midwestern cities above 100k are still disproportionately made up of "state natives" compared to other cities in the country. Most of the migration to the midwest has been lower-class immigrants, many of whom are not assimilated and/or educated.
Other regions tend to respond to criticism in a not so childish manner. In the midwest (doesn't matter how big the city is), it's often taken as a personal insult, for the most part. There is a heightened sensitivity in the midwest, and this does vary by city as well. The mid-sized cities in the midwest might as well be modern villages.
A lot of this has to do with the fact that most midwestern cities above 100k are still disproportionately made up of "state natives" compared to other cities in the country. Most of the migration to the midwest has been lower-class immigrants, many of whom are not assimilated and/or educated.
Your posts are special. Where are you from? It's always interesting that people who bash, sometimes don't indicate where they're from.
Your posts are special. Where are you from? It's always interesting that people who bash, sometimes don't indicate where they're from.
Born in Hawai'i, raised on the mainland midwest, so I have a good understanding of it.
Anything going on in WI besides the Packers lately??
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